Gavin Tucker’s first-career knockout loss was a bitter pill to swallow.
Tucker (13-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) was stopped with one punch by top-10 ranked featherweight Dan Ige in just 22 seconds this past weekend at UFC Fight Night 187, putting a halt to his three-fight winning streak.
The rising Canadian featherweight was dropped in the first exchange of the bout, but he vows not to be deterred from the unfortunate outcome. He took to Instagram to open up about the loss.
“Moment of impact
I don’t know much, but I know for sure we don’t get what we don’t go after. I went after it. But I lunged after it,..and in a straight line.
Small mistakes, big consequences.
Saturday night I walked onto a well timed right hand and experienced my first KO loss. I’m not gonna hide from it or downplay it. I’m heartbroken. But I can’t change what happened. I can only control how I move forward. Regretfully I didn’t get to show the work or represent the efforts and strides made from this great team. But I’ll create new opportunities and get back to business as soon as things are in order to do so.
Thanks to the UFC and my opponent for the opportunity.
Thanks to this team for the work they do, and to Everyone for the support and messages. My main goal for these next weeks of adjustment is to show strength in character, acceptance , and response.
The response will be appropriate. Time to walk in the dark for a while.”
Tucker, who was briefly linked to a matchup with Cub Swanson, ended up with another big opportunity after Ryan Hall was forced out of his bout against Ige. Though things didn’t go his way, the 34-year-old was riding some momentum having scored three-straight wins over Seung Woo Choi, Justin Jaynes and Billy Quarantillo.
Gavin Tucker reflects on one-punch KO loss to Dan Ige: ‘Small mistakes, big consequences’