At UFC London this coming Saturday, Scotsman Paul Craig will make his middleweight debut against fellow grappler Andre Muniz.
The 35-year-old has had a tough time as of late, coming in off back-to-back losses in the light heavyweight division. “Bearjew” admitted that his reason to finally move down to the 185lb division came when he was stood across from Johnny Walker. He also stated that he was already thinking about moving down, but his fight in Brazil confirmed to him that he needed to.
“We were playing at it, and it became more apparent when I stood across the Octagon in Rio from Johnny Walker and I could see a physical difference. We definitely weren’t the same beast that night. I think he was maybe something like 7-8kg’s heavier than I was which might not seem a lot, but it’s massive in the scheme of the fight world.
“So using my long reach and the skills that got me to the UFC in the first place, that wild triangle, that ability to take it to deep waters, I think it fits better in this middleweight division.” Craig said.
Someone Craig has previously shared the cage with and has a win over, is recently vacated light heavyweight champion, Jamahal Hill. Since their fight in 2021, Hill and Craig have become good friends, but Craig admitted that he would like that fight again.
“It’s a bitter shame that Jamahal Hill has dropped the belt because although i’ve moved to middleweight i’m going to jump between weights. If the fights are at light heavyweight i’ll go to light heavyweight, if the fights are at middleweight i’ll go there.
“So that kind of puts a spanner in my works because a couple of fights and I still believe that there’s opportunities to get a victory and because I’ve got that victory over Jamahal Hill there’s still an opportunity to get that fight (light heavyweight title fight). Him vacating the title puts that just a little bit further out of reach.”
Because of there being a lack of new opponents for the middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, Craig believes he is a few middleweight wins away from a title shot with the star. Rumours have recently surfaced that the UFC are looking to book Adesanya vs Sean Strickland. With that, Craig believes there’s chance for him to slip into the mix.
“It’s exciting times in that division (middleweight), because you’re going to see a little bit of movement and i’m glad to kind of be in the mix with these guys. A victory on Saturday night would put me in title contention.
“Maybe not title contention but in the top 10, then i’d be looking to get these kind of fights and definitely moving forwards to get closer to that ranking.” Craig said.
Watch the full UFC London media day appearance by Paul Craig above.
