Juan Adams has found a new home with ARES FC.
Released from the UFC in February, Adams (5-3) signed with ARES FC shortly thereafter. Despite his disappointment of departing the most prominent MMA promotion in the world, the heavyweight prospect said the move to ARES actually presented him with some perks he wouldn’t have otherwise had.
“I tweeted that I got released, and an hour later ARES had an offer,” Adams told MMA Junkie in a recent interview. “I can’t really complain too much. … For me, a big part of this is branding and setting myself up not only for the immediate future but life after fighting, as well. I look at ARES, and I see it’s a young promotion. They don’t have a whole lot of established stars yet. It’s going to give me more of an opportunity to really shine.
“With ARES, we talked about ambassador stuff with them – possibly going in and doing some announcer stuff, doing things like that that I wanted to do with the UFC, but I knew I wasn’t going to get the opportunity to do. That was a big part of that. Also, they’re paying me more than what the UFC was – and they’re international.”
Reflecting on his UFC departure, Adams said he is grateful for the opportunity. In Adams’ eyes, he was ahead of schedule when pen hit paper on the UFC contract, but there were still some kinks in his game he needed to work out. Unlike most up-and-coming fighters, Adams suffered lessons through losses on the big stage – not on regional shows.
“I’m super grateful for that time,” Adams said. “You’ve got to look at it this way: I made my amateur debut in September 2016. Two years and three months later, I’m making my UFC debut. I didn’t get really the time to grow that a lot of these guys get.
“Those losses that I took, most people would take them on a regional circuit or maybe their first time on AXS TV on national television. I didn’t get that opportunity. I was thrust right into international competition my sixth pro fight. … That growth period that a lot of people get, that adjustment period that a lot of people get, I didn’t.”
In this new phase of his career, Adams is working to accomplish two things. He wants to stay active and return to his old way of fighting. In his estimation, he’s become too strike-dependent lately and has moved away from his grinding, pressure-based attack.
“I’d like to fight as often as I can,” Adams said. “I’d like to get international exposure. I really want to get back to what I was doing when I was winning. I switched to more of a striking-centric style. That’s really not for me. I just want to get back to pressuring dudes nonstop – just moving forward nonstop. I really want to put it on people again.
“Look to see a lot more wrestling out of me again, a lot more of that grinding type of fighting, and relentless pressure.”
Check out MMA Junkie’s full interview with Juan Adams in the video below.
Juan Adams happy to find new home with ARES FC: 'They're paying me more than what the UFC was'