Flash back three years ago to June of 2022. Steve Garcia was wrapping up his first year or so in the UFC with a fight in Singapore. Garcia was scheduled to fight Maheshate at lightweight, and there was a lot on the line for the fighter out of New Mexico. In addition, there were a lot of things holding him back as well.
“The whole situation was pretty wild… when I went to Singapore, I went in that fight with a fractured collarbone. And it was during the COVID period. My wife had lost her job,” Garcia explained. ” I had just gotten in the UFC. I’m trying to figure out how to get these wins going and stuff like that. So I kind of felt like I was kind of forced to do it, and I did it.”
That fight with Maheshate would end with Garcia being knocked out in the very first round, dropping his record to 1-2. In was a low point in his career and one that ended up being a turning point for him.
“I remember sitting on that bench thinking I lost my job, and I was just so disappointed in myself. I was disappointed in the situation. I talked to my manager, and he says, ‘you know what, man?’ He says, ‘we’re going to figure this out,”‘ he recalled. “He [called me back], ‘all right, well, we got Chase Hooper’. I’m like, okay, great. I love that name because, honestly, he has a big name, a big following.”
The call for one more fight was a bit of a surprise for Garcia, but it came with a caveat. He would have to return to featherweight, where he had previously competed on the regional scene. However, he recognizes this as the moment his career got truned around.
He would go on to knock out Chase Hooper and would follow that up with four more consecutive knockouts.
“The silver lining behind that whole thing was, when I thought I was at the worst part of my life and my career, it was the best thing that happened for me because I was able to make the adjustments. I healed up,” Garcia explained. “I made the move to 145 and look at us now. We’re knocking in the rankings and we’ve been killing it.”
Garcia looks to move into the featherweight rankings with another knock out. He’ll get that chance at UFC Nashville against Calvin Kattar as part of the main card. That portion of the card starts at 9pm EST and airs on EPSN+.
You can hear the entire interview with Steve Garcia on the latest edition of the Top Turtle MMA Podcast. The interview airs at 1:48.
