LAS VEGAS – Paul Craig will make his 20th octagon appearance at UFC Fight Night 256, and he hopes it’s not his last.
Craig (17-9-1 MMA, 9-9-1 UFC) enters Saturday’s matchup with Rodolfo Bellato (12-2-1 MMA, 1-0-1 UFC) at the UFC Apex (ESPN+) on a three-fight losing skid. It’s a position the 37-year-old has never found himself in before, and he’s not ignoring the realities of it.
That’s why Craig made significant changes. After a 1-3 run in the middleweight division, Craig is moving back up to light heavyweight, where he has experienced his best career moments with finishes of current champion Magomed Ankalaev and former champion Jamahal Hill.
According to Craig, he developed an “eating disorder” with the drastic cuts down to 185 pounds, damaging vital parts of his body with potentially serious long-term cost. He said he doesn’t regret the sacrifice, but the results didn’t follow. Now he needs to turn it around, or Craig said his UFC roster spot is at serious risk.
“That move to middleweight at the time was a great idea, and after that victory against Andre Muniz in London, which was incredible, I didn’t really get a chance to get running at middleweight,” Craig told MMA Junkie at Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 256 media day. “That’s because I had three high-level middleweights in front of me. I fought Caio Borralho, Brendan Allen and Bo Nickal. They’re no slouches in this game. To lose to them, it’s not an embarrassment. It’s hard to pick yourself up from three losses because this sport is about entertaining. If you’re not entertaining and you’re not winning, then the UFC have no right to keep you. And I know that myself.
“I’m not under any illusion that a loss on Saturday night would potentially result in me not having a UFC contract on Monday morning. That, for me, is fire. That’s what I need. I do my best work when my back’s against the wall. That’s why this fight is ideal for me.”
Despite his difficult position and sincere outlook on it, Craig isn’t letting his situation deplete his confidence. He thinks he is capable of getting through this fight and stacking up several more wins beyond it, ultimately making this skid a blimp on the radar in his overall career.
“When you’ve got someone like Ankalaev with the title, and there’s only one loss on his record, I’m excited to see what I can do with a few fights in the next few months,” Craig said. “I think there’s still a few, ‘Oh my God’ moments left for me in this sport. So I’m excited to see what I can do back at light heavyweight.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Vegas 106: Paul Craig fighting for octagon future