Following a loss to start off his 2022 in June to Maheshate at UFC 275, featherweight Steve Garcia was able to rebound in his follow-up bout at UFC Fight Night in December over Chase Hooper.
Not only was getting back on track good for Garcia’s record, but it allowed him to resign with the UFC and continue his path with the company.
“I like to think I did okay (in 2022),” Garcia told MMAWeekly.com. “I got some wins, I did it in spectacular fashion (against Hooper), and I picked up a 50K bonus, so all good things.
“I think it’s huge for anybody’s career, but especially when everything’s riding on that fight, it’s the last fight on my contract, and I was able to renegotiate and get another contract and continue my momentum into this year, so I’m happy about it.”
Following the issues he had at the start of the year, Garcia believes he made strides to sure up any problems he was having and is better for it.
“I feel like I definitely learned from one of the losses I had, it answered a couple questions, and I went to the drawing board and was able to capitalize on what I was struggling with and fix some of the holes in the game,” said Garcia.
“I feel like the performance I put in on my last fight I was able to show what I’m truly capable of, and I’m really happy about that.”
Garcia (13-5) will look to pick up his third win in his last four fights when he faces Shayilan Nuerdanbieke (39-10) in a 145-pond preliminary bout at UFC 287 on April 8.
“He’s had some impressive performances in the UFC already and I feel like his wrestling is at a high pedigree, and with his striking you have to watch out for because he lands one of those shots and it can definitely put you in trouble,” Garcia said of Nuerdanbieke.
“I feel like he’s going to try to take me to the cage and try to pin me there as long as he possibly can and take me down and try to win through dominant position. I don’t think he’s adamant about finishing his fights; he just wants to win. I’ve got to be aware of that and the time of each round. I’ve got to make sure that I dot my I’s and cross my T’s.”
While Garcia has an idea of what he’d like to do in 2023, he more or less wants to take things as they come and work his way through the year one step at a time.
“The best thing to do is one fight a time because you can get ahead of yourself and start thinking about other things than what’s at hand,” said Garcia.
“I’d more than likely go with that, but in the perfect scenario I’d like to have something in August, but you never know what’s exactly going to happen in this sport. Right now it’s just one fight at a time and my focus is on April.”
Steve Garcia knows he has to be on his game against Shayilan Nuerdanbieke at UFC 287