Coming off of a frist round submission of Bolaji Oki and a 50k performance bonus, one might expect Chris Duncan to be over the moon about his performance. However, despite the win and the heavier pockets, there were some aspects of his last fight, and the lead up to it, that left Duncan feeling not so good about it all.
“I took it on five weeks notice, and by the time I signed the contract, it was four weeks. So I cut a wee bit too much weight. I cut a lot of weight, actually,” Duncan admitted. “Just a lack of discipline outside the camp for the Paris fight. Coming off a loss, it was a little bit, I wouldn’t say depressed – I want to use that word lightly – just a bit down about the fight. So I was probably indulging in a little bit more food than I should have been. It wasn’t as disciplined.”
The fight took less than four minutes to complete, which may have been lucky for Duncan. He notes that there was a chance that he may have been in trouble the later the figth went – and that’s something he’s determined to make sure doesn’t happen again.
“I think, potentially, it could have maybe affected the fight if the fight went on a little bit longer, but we just don’t know. I make sure I do the reload and do the workup properly every time,” he said. “You know, I got the W, got the 50K, got the guillotine, got the finish. Now I’m way ahead of schedule this time in regards to my weight. It’s the leanest I’ve been and the earliest I’ve been at the whole camp. So it’s been fantastic.”
Having everything dialed in for this camp will be crucial for Duncan. He fights Jordan Vucenic this Saturday at UFC London and recognizes the threats that Vucenic brings. However, he’s sure what he and the squad from American Top Team have put together is going to have him in the best place to succeed.
“I think a lot of people would think that he’s going to be smaller coming on from being from featherweight, which I probably expect as well. I expect him probably to be just similar to my last opponent. I expect him to turn a little bit faster on the feet just due to the size advantage that I have,” Duncan said. “I’m probably a bit bigger, probably slightly stronger. Vucenich probably has sharper striking than I do, which is fine, but this is MMA. And the game plan and also the techniques that we have been implementing in this camp translate very well over to MMA. Not just Muay Thai, not just Jiu-Jitsu, not just MMA. We’re over here working the full skillset of MMA. I’m looking forward to showing the world what I’ve been working on.”
That fight with Jordan Vucenic takes place on the main card of UFC London. That portion of the fight card starts at 4pm EST and airs exclusively on ESPN+.
You can hear the entire audio of this interview on the latest edition of the Top Turtle MMA Podcast. The interview airs at 23:17.
