Las Vegas, NV — Following a successful debut at UFC Vegas 69, flyweight Clayton Carpenter revealed the reason for his seemingly ever-present confident demeanour. Sort of.
Carpenter (7-0), another product of Dana White’s Contender Series, submitted Juancamilo Ronderos at the Fight Night event, kicking off the card.
As for that calm, confident presence, “who knows? Who’s really to say? But countless beatings,” Carpenter told media outlets including Cageside Press. “I’ve been in the game, I’ve been in this for a little while, and I just am the way I am. I think a lot of people recently have been talking about my demeanour and this confidence that I have. That’s cool. That’s cool that people think that, but I’m just me.”
As far as his performance is concerned, Carpenter was happy to get the finish. “It feels nice to get a first-round sub for my debut. The submission just kind of found me, and it was smooth,” he stated. Asked if he had expected the fight to play out that way, “in the back of my head, yes,” said Carpenter. “Because I knew that, especially in his previously fight. he kind of gave his neck up pretty easily. And instead of going for it, being overly persistent, I think I was just smooth and just sunk it in, like an anaconda.”
On the topic of whether his debut felt any different from the Contender Series, “it all feels the same. It’s just business coming in here,” said Carpenter. “I don’t feel any which way about it.”
However, Carpenter admitted that he’s “really looking forward to the arena experience. This one did feel the most real. I feel like my Dana White Contender Series fight was like, now I’m in the dance. That got me to the dance, and I didn’t really feel like I was in the UFC, even though I was a contracted fighter. It wasn’t until, for me, personally, it wasn’t until I won my debut that I really felt like I’m in here.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 69 post-fight media appearance by Clayton Carpenter above.
