Eric Spicely reinvesting in himself, planning drop to 170 pounds following UFC Greenville performance
While losing a fight is not ideal, Eric Spicely returned to the UFC in a big way on Saturday.
Spicely took on highly touted middleweight prospect Deron Winn to kick off Saturday’s UFC Greenville card and the two slugged it out for 15 minutes straight. Along with getting social media love from UFC president Dana White, Spicely and Winn took home $50,000 each for their efforts, earning “Fight of the Night” at an event that featured a lot of exciting action.
Following his return to the Octagon, Spicely checked in with MyMMANews.com to discuss what it has all meant to him to get back to the UFC. “Zebrinha” walks us through what the short notice call up and fight week was like heading into Saturday, why he feels Deron Winn could be a huge problem for the UFC middleweight division, how both competitors left the Octagon on Saturday with rising stocks, what he learned from his year or so away from the UFC and how young fighters in the sport can learn from those lessons, when he’d like to return, what fighting at the rumored UFC even in Boston later on this year would mean to him and much more.
In addition, Spicely talks about what he plans to do with his bonus money, which includes a potential move back to 170 pounds — a weight class the 32-year-old hasn’t competed in for nearly six years.
“It meant a lot to me,” Spicely said of winning the bonus. “We were the first fight of the night so all night I kept saying, ‘my god I hope this fight sucks.’ Everyone started screaming and clapping for me. I don’t care about the money — yeah I was kind of hurting. I wasn’t living on the street or anything. It makes me happy that I have the freedom again to train full time, to be able to travel, to not have to stress about eating healthy. It was one of the best moments of my career.
“I’d love to fight in my hometown of Boston — whether it’s in November or later on. My plan is to talk to (George) Lockhart and work on going to 170. If I can make 185 on six days notice, I know I can make 170. I used to fight there when I first started my career, but I had no idea what I was doing. This money opens up the doors for me that I can do everything I need to have the best career possible. It’s not about just using things, it’s about reinvesting in me to have the longest career possible in the UFC.”
Check out the full interview with Eric Spicely in the video above.
