It seems almost like a different career entirely when you look back to Boston Salmon’s Contender Series win. Some of that difference is thanks to the time – it was nearly five years ago at this point. Some of that difference is due to the circumstances.
When Boston Salmon won his contract on Contender Series, he beat future Ultimate Fighter champion Ricky Turcios at bantamweight. That weight never really felt right for him, which he really feels hurt his performance over the years.
“[Ricky’s new success] just showed for me that 135 is his natural weight. For me, I don’t think people highlighted that 135lbs was never my natural weight,” Salmon said. “When I came up, everyone was like ‘oh, look at all these crazy knockouts and highlights that Boston is making at 135lbs’ – not knowing the severe cuts.”
And those severe cuts led to a Boston Salmon that was drawn out in fights. Even though he was putting up great numbers and getting the results he wanted, he always felt like something was a touch off.
“I was just never me. All my performances at 135lbs, whether it was a unanimous decision or a knockout, I’ve just never felt great,” he admitted. “I never felt like I had optimal performance.”
It wasn’t even just his body that felt off. The stress put on Salmon from the weight cut led him to feel bogged down on the mental side of things too – possibly harming performances there as well.
“At 135lbs, I had a way more strict regimen and there were a lot of ways my body was limited,” Salmon said. “At 145lbs, I’m kind of just being myself, the whole fight camp. I don’t have to stress about eating certain foods or switching over to a Vegan diet. I can have the rich proteins that I need. I can eat meat and I can just have a free mind – a clear mind.”
Now back to where he believe he belongs, and where he started his career, Salmon is feeling unencumbered. This are going much easier for him in the weight cut. He’s feeling strong and ready to make a run at the 145lbs PFL championship. Plus, the ease of making that cut even allowed him to make a fun trip to Disney in the latter stages of his last fight camp.
Boston Salmon will look to show off the more relaxed version of himself as he takes on Sheymon Moraes on PFL 2 this Thursday.
You can hear the entire audio of this interview at 26:45.
