In December of 2023, Steve Garcia put a stamp on one of his toughest opponents to date. At UFC Vegas 83, Garcia became the first fighter to stop Melquizael Costa with strikes when he landed repeated elbows in the second round. The win made it three straight finishes for Garcia and poised him for a big jump in competition.
But Garcia waited for the phone to ring, and that call would ultimately take much longer than he wanted.
“I don’t know, that’s something you’re going to have to ask the UFC about,” Garcia said. “I’ve been bugging since probably March or April for sure, if not sooner. They offered me a really late notice fight against [Dan] Ige.”
Due to a family trip to Disney with his wife and kids, he wasn’t able to take the short notice fight with Ige. However, he assumed that would mean that another offer, perhaps close to as big in name, might be right around the corner. When it didn’t, the frustration set in.
“It was kind of a bummer that I wasn’t able to accept it, but it’s been kind of crickets since then,” he said. “I’m not too sure what happened – I’ve been on standby for several months and it’s been a little frustrating, but I’m happy that we’ve been able to get booked finally.”
Although he’s happy to have a date in front of him as he prepares for this weekend’s UFC Vegas 94, Seung Woo Choi wasn’t exactly the name on the end of his tongue. With so many finishes and on such a good run, he was thinking of someone a little higher up on the featherweight food chain.
“I wanted a bigger name. Ultimately, this is how I make my money, so it’s kind of out of my hands. I guess I could have asked for another opponent, but at that point, in a sense you’re somewhat desperate because I just need a fight,” Garcia said. “I had two names in mind. It was Damon Jackson or Nate Landwehr. I felt they were perfect because we were all kind of in that same realm.”
That realm is guys kicking around the top 20 with a chance to fight people in or near the rankings. Garcia has seen some of those names get their chance to break through and he feels like this could have, and should have, been his.
“They’ve had their opportunity. I haven’t had my opportunity,” he said. “If I beat them, for sure I can’t be denied.”
While it may take an extra step of getting through Seung Woo Choi first, Garcia is thankful to be fighting again and ready to do whatever he needs to in order to be undeniable. That first step comes on the main card of this weekend’s UFC Vegas 94 on ESPN+.
You can hear the entire audio of this interview at 2:19.
