Latest news with #JordanVucenic
Daily Mail
01-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Mail Sport Extreme: Duncan continues to put pedal to the metal in his bid to climb the UFC ladder
'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.'
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Chris Duncan all about that Dustin Poirier 'jumpin' gilly' love after UFC London sub of Jordan Vucenic
LONDON – Chris Duncan beat Jordan Vucenic with a second-round submission Saturday on the main card at UFC Fight Night 255 at The O2 in London. Take a look inside the fight with Duncan, who despite being one of only four finishers in 13 fights, was the only one who was denied a post-fight bonus. It went to a Kevin Holland decision win, instead. Result: Chris Duncan def. Jordan Vucenic via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 3:42 Updated records: Duncan (13-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC), Vucenic (13-4 MMA, 0-2 UFC) Key stats: Duncan landed four of five takedowns on his way to the upset as a +225 underdog. "I love this. I'm built for this. All the haters online, I love load the messages. Some guys message me on Twitter, Instagram, call me names saying I was going to get smoked. Everybody thought this guy was going to be levels above me, and as you can see, he certainly was not. I train at the best gym in the world, American Top Team. I have the best coaches – Mike Brown, Thiago Alves and Robert Whiteford. We work tiredlessly. These guys in the gym, they're having to pull me back – I'm doing too much. I'm under the best guidance. So these guys are fine-tuning me, whether it be rest recovery or push harder. I'm on a different wave." THE PROBLEM GETS THE TAP 🏴 #UFCLondon Chris Duncan spoils the party in London! — UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) March 22, 2025 "Dustin was the guy who fine-tuned my guillotine with the grips that we use at American Top Team. The grips that I use are far tighter. The only issue with the grip that I take, it can slow down the chain of submissions or the chain of attack. But that one specifically is the tightest one and when I locked it up, he was tapping for ages, but the ref wasn't wasn't close by. So I've just got to keep holding on and wait for the ref to come. That's not my job." THE PROBLEM GETS THE TAP 🏴 #UFCLondon Chris Duncan spoils the party in London! — UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) March 22, 2025 "Terence McKinney will be next. He's next in line. Much respect for him. ... (A previous booking with McKinney falling out) was nothing to do with anything in my power. I had visa complications. Obviously, it's a great matchup. Terrence is super exciting. He's a southpaw, and I know Dustin's coming back for his last fight. I'd love to help him prepare, maybe help him depending on who he's matched up with. Maybe me and him could be training partners for each other. The stars are aligning with that stuff." Tweets by theproblem155 To hear more from Duncan, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above. For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie's event hub for UFC Fight Night 255. Chris Duncan def. Jordan Vucenic at UFC Fight Night 255: Best photos UFC Fight Night 255: Official scorecards from London This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Chris Duncan all about that Dustin Poirier 'jumpin' gilly' love after UFC London sub of Jordan Vucenic
USA Today
21-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Jordan Vucenic reveals lesson from debut loss: 'I put the UFC fighters on a pedestal'
LONDON – Jordan Vucenic's mentality has made a big (13-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC), a former Cage Warriors champion, returns to the octagon this Saturday against Chris Duncan on the main card of UFC Fight Night 255 (ESPN+), which takes place at The O2 in London. This will be his second fight under the promotion, and he now feels up to par with the other fellow UFC fighters, something he didn't feel debuting on short notice back in August."I think I put the UFC fighters on a pedestal," Vucenic said at Thursday's UFC Fight Night 255 media day. "I sort of seen them up here, and I realized that it's not that they're not up here, it's I'm not down here, I'm up here with them. I'm just looking to level up all the time and get better and better and better, and yeah, I just can't wait to show it Saturday night that I'm on that level."Despite not having the right mindset for his UFC debut, Vucenic did actually quite well. He didn't take the win, but came close to putting away seasoned veteran Guram Kutateladze, as he dropped him in the first round, and looked to be dominating the fight. Things eventually took a turn, and Vucenic ended up losing a decision."The crazy thing with the Guram fight, everybody knows how good of a striker he is," Vucenic said. "I thought that I was going to be winning the fight in the wrestling and the grappling, and that was a game plan of like 8 days we had to get ready for it. I actually thought he was playing possum in the standup, because I thought, 'It can't be this easy. No way it's this easy to beat this guy.'"I've watched him for years, and he's out striking everybody, so in my head I was like, 'He's playing possum. He's letting me get my confidence up,' but then I hit him with a shot and dropped him, and I was like, 'OK, you don't get dropped playing possum.'"Fighting Duncan (12-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC), Vucenic feels confident in what he brings to the table. Also, not fighting on short notice, Vucenic feels free to pursue the finish, something he felt constrained doing in his debut."If I hurt him like I hurt Guram in the first one, then there's none of this, 'Oh, I have to keep myself fresh. I need to save some in the tank for the rounds,'" Vucenic said. "I can just get after him this time, so yeah, I'm ready for three rounds of 100 percent."More UFC!Morgan Charriere expects 'great war' vs. Nathaniel Wood, happy not to be fighting at UFC ApexAlexia Thainara: Molly McCann will be 'terrified' to grapple at UFC Fight Night 255'TUF 30' winner Juliana Miller returns at UFC Des Moines vs. Ivana PetrovicFor more on the card, visit MMA Junkie's event hub for UFC Fight Night article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Jordan Vucenic reveals lesson from debut loss: 'I put the UFC fighters on a pedestal'
