Craig targets 'an exciting Paul Craig win'
Paul Craig is not just looking for victory but an "exciting Paul Craig" win on his return to light heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.Craig was scheduled to fight Brazil's Rodolfo Bellato on 17 May but the bout was postponed at short notice because of Bellato's medical issue. Their rearranged match takes place on Saturday.The Scot had moved from light heavyweight to middleweight in 2023 but secured just one win from six bouts."We didn't really get running the way we should've and we ended up fighting some of the best guys in the middleweight division, it didn't go our way," Craig explained.
"There's a lot of moving parts in that, moving down to middleweight - nutrition, coaching, all these strategies we put into place."We had a chat with managers, with coaches, with nutritionists and we said, 'listen, it may be a good idea for this last push of Paul's career to be a light heavyweight'."And he added: "I can't wait to go back to my division and get a victory there. It needs to be about performances. You're not going to get a title shot by just getting wins."It has to be exciting wins and that's what I'm looking for on Saturday night - I need to get a victory, but a Paul Craig victory. It needs to be something that gets people to stand up and realise that I'm back in the light heavyweight division."Craig, 37, says he is "pretty proud of what I've achieved in the UFC"."It's been a long career, I've had - 20 fights in the UFC alone," he told BBC Scotland before the next event in Atlanta, Georgia."Anywhere in the world, not only in Scotland high streets, it's anywhere in the world people recognise me."
'Much better version' four weeks on
Bellato vacated the Legacy Fighting Alliance light heavyweight title when he signed with UFC in 2023 and Craig says both competitors will have found the four-week delay to their match-up difficult."We train to peak at the exact time of a fight," he explained. "It's really hard for your body to kick back in. Some of the challenges, we've never really faced before."I do believe we're a much better version of where we were four weeks ago. It's just been a blessing. Everything kind of happens for a reason, it's part of the plan."If I found it hard, then he's going to find it even harder. He was already worn down by the time he made it to the final last time in Vegas. We're expecting a lesser version of what we would've got four weeks ago. He's a very pressured fighter, looks to land heavy shots and he's a hard hitter."[We] need to make sure our footwork is good, we're switched on with that and use the distance manipulation to control this fight, ultimately resulting in us going to the ground and looking for a submission."
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