Off Guard: Yorgan De Castro happy to let Greg Hardy take the spotlight at UFC on ESPN 8

LAS VEGAS – Yorgan De Castro may only be one fight into his UFC career, but he’s already planning big things in the promotion’s heavyweight division.

De Castro (6-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) earned his spot on the UFC roster with a first-round knockout on Dana White’s Contender Series in June 2019, then made a big impression in his official promotional debut four months later at UFC 243 when he took out Justin Tafa at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne.

Now the Cape Verde-born fighter faces another high-profile assignment when he takes on Greg Hardy at UFC on ESPN 8 on March 28 in Columbus, Ohio. He said he’s happy for his opponent to receive all the attention heading into the bout.

“I’m going to enjoy every moment of this fight and let him be in the spotlight,” De Castro told MMA Junkie from his training camp in Las Vegas. “Everybody’s going to tune in to see him fight, but at the end of the night, everybody’s going to be talking about me.”

De Castro has been enhancing his preparation with training sessions at Xtreme Couture, and said being at a gym with a host of top-drawer heavyweights has only helped his game ahead of his upcoming bout.

“I love the work ethic here – I love (that) everybody works so hard,” he said. “I get to share the room with Francis Ngannou and a bunch of other different heavyweight guys. It’s been good to me. It’s been big.”

With just six fights to his name, and only one inside the UFC, De Castro knows he’s still very much in the “proving himself” stage of his fighting career. But he said he’s excited to get back into the cage and showcase his improvements.

“I think to me, all the fights are going to be the same: to prove that I belong in the UFC,” he said. “Because I’m 6-0, a lot people will say that I’m green. So I’m always going to be excited. I take every fight like it’s my last fight.”

That “green” tag has also been applied to his upcoming opponent. Hardy (5-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) exploded into the UFC and has impressed with his athleticism. But like De Castro, he is still in the learning phase of his career. De Castro said he’s been impressed with what he’s seen from Hardy’s progression so far.

“I think he’s improved a lot,” he said. “If you see his first fight, he was walking in very aggressive, trying to finish the fight. Now he’s improved a lot, he’s taking his time. He knows his reach. He went three rounds with No. 7 in the world (Alexander Volkov), so I think he’s very good right now. He’s super athletic, his timing is getting better, his striking’s good – but I’m still gonna get it done.”