Las Vegas, NV — While some fans and even Julio Arce’s opponent might have thought it was an early stoppage at UFC Vegas 32, Arce himself was fine with it — because he did his job.
After not fighting for a year and a half, New York’s Arce got back to action at on Saturday against Andre Ewell. Arce would win via TKO in the second round. There were some complaints that the fight stopped a little prematurely, and Ewell even put out a video saying it was “an early stoppage, but it is what it is.”
My apologies everyone. All I can say is “on to the next one” 😭😭 #145? Yes… #UFCVegas32 pic.twitter.com/zjfIi1RN2m
— Andre Ewell (@daii24_dre) July 24, 2021
Nevertheless, Arce was fine with the stoppage.
“You know what, people can say it’s early, people can say it’s late. The ref stepped in. I just did my job. I punch until the stop it or until he would have dropped. I just kept going; I did my job,” Arce told Cageside Press during his post-fight interview.
This was Arce’s first fight at bantamweight in the UFC and his first fight cutting down to 135lbs since 2016. He said the weight cut was one of his best.
“You know what, the cut was super smooth. I was pretty nervous because I hadn’t done it in a while, but it went great. Super smooth, and it was 135.5 on the dot. When they read the number, it was like ‘we’re in business,'” Arce said.
When asked why he fought at featherweight during his five fights in the UFC, Arce said he wasn’t as structured as he is now — and that he learned over the three years he can do it.
As for what’s next and who, he wants to fight in New York again, where he fought four of his five UFC fights, but has no one is on the tip of his tongue.
“[I have] nobody in mind. Whoever I’m deserving of next, that’s who I’m going to get. I’m just focused on healing this thing up, getting back to training, getting back on the horse,” Arce said. “I want to stay active this year. Um, I know a lot of the cards are full, so hopefully September, October. There are rumors of November coming back to New York. But if that doesn’t happen, at least two more fights this year.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 32 post-fight press conference with Julio Arce above.
