While he wasn’t ready to divulge details of what he’s been focusing on in recent months, the outspoken 27-year-old acknowledged that the loss, coupled with another extended stint on the sidelines, had given him enough time to think. about where he is in his career and what he wants for himself in the future.
And it prompted him to admit some difficult truths about the efforts he’s made in the past and what needed to change as he begins this next chapter of his UFC career on Saturday night.
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“I’ve had a lot of time off and I’ve made a decision on some of the things I want to do from now on,” began Puelles, who made his promotional debut in Mexico City in November 2016 and wears a 13- 3rd record overall during his clash with Ziam. “I started thinking, ‘I’m not 21, 22 anymore.’ It’s not “in 10 years, I’ll only be 31, 32.” Now, in 10 years, I’ll be 37, 38, and when I say 37, 38, I imagine the end of my career; maybe I’m already finished.
“I’ve been fighting since I was 15. At 38, I probably already want to be done with this sport, and that tells me, ‘Okay, you really have to try harder,’ because I don’t want to look back and think, “I could have done more.”
“Honestly, this will be my eighth year in the UFC, and I feel like out of eight, I’ve only given 100 percent in three out of eight years,” he admitted. “The other five, either I was after surgery, or I didn’t train, or there was the pandemic.
“Most of my time in the UFC I didn’t train at 100%, so I want to make up for that time over the next seven or eight years – giving 100% in training; train all year round, not just when I’m fighting.