Las Vegas, NV — After eight months or so off, heavyweight Augusto Sakai returns to action at UFC Vegas 59 this weekend, where he takes on Sergey Spivak.
Brazil’s Sakai (15-4-1) will be looking to snap a three-fight skid in his return. The time off, he told media outlets including Cageside Press this week, was in part his own doing. It came on the heels of stoppages against Alistair Overeem, Jair Rozenstruik, and most recently Tai Tuivasa.
“There was a time [away], especially with the suspension from the commission. As well, I did ask for some extra time, some additional time to kind of step back a little bit, and come back full on.”
During that time away, Sakai has relocated his training camp, heading to Florida’s renowned American Top Team.
“I think the biggest change was actually changing the place of training,” he said when asked about what he’d worked on between fights. “Coming to ATT, it’s been about two and a half months I’ve been in Florida. We had to correct a lot of things standing up, but we worked a lot on my grappling as well.”
In Spivak, Sakai sees “A tough opponent, a guy who’s coming off some very good fights. I understand he’s kind of alternating wins and losses, and he does come in with some Sambo as well. But I think I’m ready to break his game and move on with things.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 59 media day appearance from Augusto Sakai above.
