Former Ultimate Fighter Season 27 competitor and now PFL featherweight Tyler Diamond is ready to get back in the cage this Friday after a decent layoff. He returns this weekend at PFL 1, after a 2020 that didn’t see Diamond in action all. That being said, the down time actually helped the Alpha Male fighter better himself as a fighter and a person. And he is now counting down the days to face UFC veteran Sung Bin Jo.
“I’m expecting to go in there and just be me,” Diamond told Cageside Press ahead of the bout. “Be mean and violent, look for the finish. Find every opportunity to grind this win out, do whatever the hell I gotta do to win,” Diamond continued. “I got to go in there and freaking just be me.”
In PFL’s system, a finish, especially in an earlier round can guarantee you extra points, and this will be needed in the tournament point system. The 30 year old Diamond admits it changes the way you go into a fight, essentially chasing a finish at all costs.
“It really incentivizes you to get that finish,” Diamond stated. “With it only being a four-man tournament [in the playoffs], you have to win both your fights and you probably got to finish at least one of them. I’ll be gunning for the finish right from the start, hunting that thing down, I’ll be happy if I win but be extra happy if I get the finish.”
Diamond was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter 27, and the UFC just recently announced the roster for this season’s edition of the show, featuring Brian Ortega and Champ Alex Volkanovski as coaches. Diamond shared his thoughts on the TUF household.
“My experience was good, I went in super confident,” Diamond admitted. “Thinking I was going to win the show, heck if it happened 100 times maybe I would have won it 75, 90 times, who knows? I’m a guy who, when you get an opportunity, you have to take it,” Diamond continued. “Whether it be Ultimate Fighter or Contender Series, you got to take it.”
Watch our full interview with PFL 1’s Tyler Diamond above. The event takes place this Friday, April 23 in Atlantic City, NJ.
