UFC middleweight Trevin Giles had an overwhelming few months working as a police officer during his day job. Which makes him happy to return to action on August 1 opposite Jun Yong Park.
“At one point it got kind of crazy,” Giles told Cageside Press. “We had a lot of people coming out through our downtown area (protesting). So we had some pretty crazy hours that we had to work and with no days off and everything. So it was kind of rough, but it wasn’t too bad.”
Giles (12-2) is coming off a controversial split decision victory over James Krause at UFC 247 in February. The win snapped the 27-year-old’s two-fight skid but Giles faced a ton of backlash on social media with the judge’s decision. Once COVID-19 hit shortly after and the protests, Giles admitted he didn’t get much time in for training.
“Yeah for a little while it’s been pretty tough,” Giles explained. “Like I said we were on some pretty long shifts and no days off. I mean it was literally going home, cleaning up, seeing the family as much as I can, and then honestly waking up and going straight back to work.”
Park (11-4) is coming off his first win in the octagon after he defeated Marc-Andre Barriault at UFC Busan in December. While Giles respect’s the skill level of his 29-year-old opponent, the Texas native believes he can finish “The Iron Turtle.”
“I think we’re going to come out, we’ll kind of get a feel of each other,” Giles said. “I’ll be trying to mess with his rhythm and stuff. I think once I kind of get a hold of his timing and stuff like that, I’ll just start picking him apart. I expect to finish him. Just like I expect to finish everybody, but I expect to finish him maybe early round three. Maybe. He might be tough, I’ve seen him take a couple of shots, and it looks like he might be a little bit solid. We’ll see.”
UFC Fight Night 173 takes place on August 1. With Irene Aldana forced off the card, the main event now features Edmen Shahbazyan against Derek Brunson.
