Coming off a tough fight with Kennedy Nzechukwu, Devin Clark took some time away from the fight game – partially due to his choice and partially due to outside circumstances. Nine months later he’s ready to step back into the cage at UFC Vegas 86. While some might be bothered by the time away, it was actually perfect for Clark.
“I think it was good timing – a good time for me to regroup a little bit and grow and find myself again as a fighter,” Clark explained. “I definitely used the time off pretty well.”
The biggest thing holding him back in career has been mindset and gameplanning. During this time away, he was reminded of all the things that he does exceptionally well.
“I kind of got in a groove of not knowing my true potential and stuff like that. Remembering my true potential and how good I am at wrestling and dominating fights,” he said. “That’s what I’m good at and that’s what I should be doing.”
The reminder came from within to an extent, but also was something that he gets told by coaches. And he gets told it frequently.
“Everybody says that,” he said with a laugh. “All my coaches know I’m a pretty good wrestler and that’s my background. I started wrestling when I was 7-years old. Over the years in MMA, it’s so easy to fall in love with striking and wanting to do the fun striking stuff. I kind of got caught up in that a bit.”
So with that reminder in place and the desire to get back to wrestling more, he sought out other opportunities to fine tune his craft.
“I ended up going to Augustana University in Sioux Falls, where I live and I know the coaches up there,” Clark said. “So they let me come in there and work in there. Getting to work with these kids, 18- to 22-years old, and they kind of lit that spark in me again. Oh yeah, I can still do this. I can still hang with these kids – I still have it.”
You can see Clark’s fight against Marcin Prachnio this Saturday at UFC Vegas 86. Their fight will take place on the ESPN+ prelims starting at 4pm EST.
You can hear the entire audio of this interview at 2:18.
