Juan Espino is almost in the clear.
The winner of Season 28 of “The Ultimate Fighter” is preparing a return to the octagon after having undergone his second hand surgery in September. Although not close to being fully recovered, Espino is confident the darker days of his recuperation are behind him and can’t wait to fire on all cylinders.
“The toughest part is over. I’m close to getting my cast off and rehabilitation should start soon after (December),” Espino told MMA Junkie in Spanish on Wednesday. “The bone is basically back together. Now it’s just time to start the therapy to gain back all hand mobility and then maybe in January I can start to strike again.”
Espino hasn’t competed since his first-round submission of Justin Frazier to claim the “TUF 28” title back in November 2018. The Spanish fighter dealt with an injured right hand throughout the competition, including the final, but was only able to take care of the injury once the competition wrapped.
Being a “TUF” champion and riding a seven-fight winning streak, paired with an inability to compete, hasn’t been an easy situation to handle. Yet, the long layoff hasn’t discouraged the promising heavyweight.
“I spent many years wanting to get to where I am today – being a UFC fighter – and I had the luck of winning ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ something that for me was unthinkable, so it’s not just the time that I’ve been out now, but the desire I’ve had all these years,” Espino said. “This didn’t happen yesterday that I said, ‘Oh, I want to be an MMA fighter and tomorrow fight in the UFC.’ This has been in the works for years to get to this point.
“And now that I’m here, well, the patience that I developed through so many years getting to the UFC, that’s helped me. I’m in. I’m part of the company, and even though I’m injured, this won’t discourage me. It’s just now getting 100 percent healthy because I want to compete. I want to make noise. I don’t want my career to go by like any other. I want to win good fights and have people take note of me.”
If all goes right, Espino, who’s already training but just not using his right hand, should start rehab in December. Once that’s over, he could very well be ready for a March or April return. Espino can’t wait for the day he’s able to step inside the UFC cage.
“I’m so eager to fight,” Espino said. “It’s not a necessity. It’s not an economic thing, nothing. It’s a personal matter. It’s something spiritual of wanting to fight and make my mark.”
Since joining the UFC roster, the heavyweight division has undergone a lot of changes. Not only has the belt switched hands, but several new contenders have risen. Espino is looking forward to his return and believes his presence will bring up a notch the revamping of the UFC’s heavyweight division.
“There are a lot of new names, most of them strikers,” Espino explained. “Interestingly enough, we’ve only seen one wrestler, who is Sergey Spivak. Most of the other guys don’t have great wrestling, and they’re not so good on the ground either.
“But I see a very lively division. It’s changing a lot. My rival in ‘TUF,’ Maurice Greene, has had a good run, three wins (and) one defeat. So that shows the kind of level that was in my season of ‘TUF’ and, yeah, things are changing, but I plan to change things even more.”
'TUF 28' winner Juan Espino eager to return from second hand surgery: 'It’s a personal matter'
