LAS VEGAS – Lyman Good couldn’t hide the pain of the recent death of his dad, especially as he readies to compete on Father’s Day weekend.
Good revealed that, in addition to his battle with COVID-19 in recent months, he’s also coping with the loss of his father.
“It’s definitely been a long road,” Good told reporters Thursday in a virtual media day session. “A few weeks ago, my father had passed away, so it’s been a roller coaster ride emotionally, physically – you know, on all levels. But for me, one of the things we’re trained in as martial artists is how to maintain integrity of your focus. Stay the path no matter what happens and stay the course because, at the end of it, you’re going to feel a lot better about yourself knowing that you stuck to your path, you trained hard, and then you kept at it. So I’m definitely looking forward to this fight. I’m excited to go out there and make everybody proud.”
Good (21-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC), who lives and trains in New York, was expected to face Belal Muhammad (16-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) on April 18 at UFC 249. However two weeks before the event was scheduled, he was forced to withdraw from the card after testing positive for the novel coronavirus that is currently wreaking havoc on the world.
Good recovered in relatively quick fashion, and he credits the physical conditioning he achieved during his fight preparation for assisting in his return to health.
“I did feel it in my lungs,” Good said. “I felt it in my energy, because I was very fatigued. I just felt a lot of achiness and stuff. I went through a lot of symptoms with pretty much what you’re hearing out there, but I think it was a blessing for me to at the time have been training for a fight because I think the health from that camp got me through the COVID virus a little easier than most people.”
UFC 249 eventually was rescheduled for May 9, and as Good’s health improved, his fight with Muhammad was rebooked for Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 11, which airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+ from the UFC Apex.
Good said he was happy the promotion was able to keep his original matchup together and imagines Muhammad feels the same.
“I like to finish what I started, and I’m sure on his end, he’s excited about taking the fight, as well,” Good said.
But just as Good overcame the physical hurdles that he was facing, he was handed a devastating emotional challenge, as well. His father, who Good admits was a lifelong smoker and drinker, died.
“He had a lot going on with him,” Good said. “They did rule it as natural cause, but he just wasn’t a healthy person. After the military, he lived a life with a lot of alcohol, a lot of smoking, so it was one of those things that was just inevitable.”
Good struggled to hold back tears as he discussed the loss of his father. Now he will compete on the eve of Father’s Day, and he said he will do so while dedicating the performance to his dad.
“I felt like for me to not fight would be an injustice to his honor and his name, and I felt like if anything, try to use this as an opportunity to go out there,” Good said. “It’s literally a day before Father’s Day, and I told myself let’s go out there and let’s do this for him. This is a fight that was expected to happen a while ago, so this definitely feels like something we re-routed and we went through a lot from the original time I was supposed to fight, and things happen for a reason.
“God put us in this path for a reason. I know I was meant to fight him on June 20.”
To hear more from Good, check out the video above.
Lyman Good copes with father's death heading into UFC on ESPN 11 return from coronavirus
