EXCLUSIVE Mail Sport Extreme: Duncan continues to put pedal to the metal in his bid to climb the UFC ladder

Daily Mail​

01-05-2025

'If in doubt, flat out.' Those words may have been spoken by the late Colin McRae, but it's a motto that UFC fighter Chris 'The Problem' Duncan lives by.
Just over a month on from his latest win in the octagon over Jordan Vucenic, the 31-year-old former shepherd has barely stopped since, immediately calling out Terrance McKinney in the aftermath of his second-round stoppage victory over Vucenic at UFC Fight Night 255 in London on March 14 and is looking to get his next fight sorted as soon as possible.
'If the UFC say jump, I'll ask how high,' reveals Duncan. 'I've been flat out and I'll go until the wheels come off.
'It'll be this way until my next fight is sorted. McKinney, anybody. We'll get there.
'I was scheduled to fight Terrance a while ago but my visa fell through, so we couldn't get that in time. We had to cancel that fight and re-book it. I want that fight because I believe I can beat him in every facet of MMA. It's just one of those things, I want it back not just for myself but for him too. I want him to know that I'm ready to fight any time.'
Now with successive wins under his belt in the promotion, the Scot is 4-1 since joining the UFC and holds an impressive 13-2 overall record in professional MMA.
In the build-up to his bout with Vucenic, the American Top Team fighter perhaps felt as though he had a lot of doubters, particularly following his loss to Manuel Torres back in February 2024, though now well on the winning trail again, he's pleased to have been able to prove a lot of people wrong.
'Every fight is really important,' he says. 'I was a +400 underdog, the media were heavily pushing Jordan Vucenic throughout the process and fight week. Deep down inside, I was a little aggravated by that but it was motivation, it was never personal. But it was good to throw pie in their face!
'I always knew my potential. It's a 50/50 sport, there's always a winner and a loser. Your stars need to align on the night for it to happen.
'Unfortunately, without coming up with too many excuses, but going into that fight in Mexico and losing there was a lot of stuff going on - I could go on for days about it. It's a loss, I want to take it under my belt, use it as motivation to get better. The stars need to align, you're under the deep dark lights of the UFC, so it doesn't matter how you feel on the night and what happens afterwards; you just need to keep pushing forward.
'I'm just looking forward to every fight I have. Win, lose or draw, I'm going to get better every single time.
'This is a lifestyle, it's not a game. This isn't football. Unfortunately, due to the nature of MMA, you don't get to practise your sport every week. You have to simulate it through training because the fight itself is so traumatic on the body, so we need to make sure we're getting as much time on the mats and in the cage as possible without injuring ourselves. That's where I feel I grow, play and learn. It's the most exciting part, it keeps you disciplined.'
Through discipline and hard work, the improvement is clear to see in Duncan. The former shepherd has come a long way since his days in lesser-known promotions, including victories in his last two fights inside the first two rounds via submission.
The lightweight has been fighting professionally for seven years now, just over two of them spent within the UFC, and though he is not lacking confidence in his own ability, Duncan is savvy enough to admit that he still has a long way to go before he's recognised as one of the best in the world by the wider audience.
'In terms of top 10/15, I'm miles away from that,' he admits. 'The way the UFC works, with how they run their rankings, its favoured for their more exciting fighters and I believe I have that. It may be three fights, two fights, but your fights are usually four to six months apart.
'I'm at the very bottom of the ladder, I'm happy to climb it because I'm getting better every single fight. It's the long game, we're not playing the short game here.'
His eyes may be immediately focused on his next, to be determined, opponent, but it's clear that Duncan is thinking several steps ahead.
The same cannot be said about his in-cage tactics, though training with some of the best fighters in the world is certainly reaping rewards.
'I'm very good with my guillotines and front headlock stuff, so it's spur of the moment (whether or not to use submissions),' he says. 'Any of my training partners who train with me on a regular basis, know that.
'It's just a small facet of my game but I'm getting better every time. I'm learning new techniques, I'm an open book and ready to learn anything from anybody.
'It's good that I'm getting back-to-back finishes because people aren't seeing much of my game.'