Photo credit to UFC.com
Jesse Ronson on UFC return “I feel like this is where I belong”
Jesse Ronson is finally making his return to the Octagon. Ronson is taking on Nicolas Dalby in a welterweight clash at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi on July 25th. The London, Ontario native won’t be the only Canadian combatant competing on UFC Fight Island. The Body Snatcher has been out of the UFC for over half a decade but has emphatically carved out his comeback path. Below are several excerpts from my conversation with Ronson ahead of this seminal career moment for him.
Jesse Ronson
Ronson is working with a familiar training dynamic ahead of this one and thankfully, his car is also working too. This hasn’t always been the case in prior camps. He stated, “Yeah, Adrenaline (MMA) and Hamilton. Also traveling to Hamilton. The car has been good so far, knock on wood. Now that you said that, it’s probably going to screw up.”
Jesse Ronson was made privy to this fight opportunity late on July 1st.”I found out at 10:30 at night on Canada Day. He (Daniel Rubenstein) just pretty much told me ‘this is who you’re fighting on this day at this weight’. I’m like ‘yes’ and he goes ‘no, I already said yes. You’re doing it’…I was like ‘UFC right?’ and he goes ‘yes, of course, you idiot. No one else is putting on fights in Abu Dhabi.’…So then I told my coaches. Then waited for all the paperwork to come in which was the next day.”
The timeline between his last UFC fight (July 2014) and his UFC return in July 2020 has a cinematic quality to it. Things have been working out quite smoothly for The Bodysnatcher as of late.
“It feels great. I’ve been toiling around internationally and on the local scene. I’ve been doing everything. Fighting everywhere. Doing all I can for the last six years to finally get back. Now I’m finally back. I feel like this is where I belong. No more small paydays, no more local shows, no more nothin’. Finally and I’m more mature. I’m more ready and I’m better than I ever was. When I was in the UFC the first time, I was a two stripe white belt with wrestling defense. That’s it and just a striker.”
The Body Snatcher
Ronson’s last fight saw him finish Troy Lamson at BTC 9. It seems like Jesse Ronson sees his last fight as a bit of a microcosm. One for his growth between the last UFC appearance and where he’s at for the octagon return. “Now I’m an even better striker, a two stripe brown belt, and I’m a very good wrestler. I just outwrestled a D1 wrestler and submitted a Jiu-Jitsu black belt. I feel more comfortable, more mature now. It’s time. Everything’s come together and it’s time.”
It turned out that last outing was quite the crossroads moment for the former TKO lightweight and welterweight champion.”If I would have lost that fight, I probably would’ve retired. That would’ve been my third time I’ve lost three in a row. It would’ve been my eleventh loss. At 34 years old, it’s like ‘ok, dude. It’s time to give it up. You know you still feel good but if you’re not going anywhere meaningful AKA you’re just going to be fighting for peanuts. Locally you’ll be a gatekeeper et cetera, et cetera.’ I wasn’t ready, I gave everything I had for that fight.”
Jesse Ronson continued, “I know I’m better than ever and I know I still got a few more years left. Might as well put them in the UFC where I can make some bank and get a bigger name. I’m not ready to retire yet but I would have had I lost. Just the way that things are. But how I won against who I won, it just proves I’m ready for this and it’s time to go.”
Ronson vs Dalby
Jesse Ronson has more of a filled out natural 170 lb frame for this one. His last welterweight foray in PFL, there was minimal weight cutting and a more normative lightweight kind of frame. Now Ronson is training hard but eating well and walking around at around 190-195 lbs. He was actually going off of a diet that Ryan Ford posted online in May. The diet ended a couple of days after he got the UFC call. The timing was truly serendipitous and The Bodysnatcher has a smooth, calculated cut mapped out in the fight lead up.
Jesse Ronson has seen a bit of tape on Nicolas Dalby. Ronson has a certain methodology to doing his fight camp research for all bouts.
“I have to watch tape. I’ve got to watch one or two fights. I have to see what he does. Do I break it down? Do I do anything? No. I just need to see him. See how he reacts. See what goes down. I usually try to watch a fight where they lose and a fight where they win. The fight where they lose, I try to make sure it’s a three-round fight. Not just a quick submission loss or whatever. Then the fight where they win, I try to do the same thing. I try to keep it recent. Just so it’s in my head but then I leave the rest to my coaches.”
Doughboys London and Heroes of the Storm
Doughboys London is the usual post-fight victory meal in London, ON for Jesse Ronson. The owner of Doughboys London is hooking him up with a pizza delivery once he returns to the great white north. Doughboys owner Zack is waiting for the post-fight victory text and will fire off some ‘za when Ronson gets back home.
A lot of computer games and sleeping are planned for when he gets back. Heroes of the Storm on Blizzard is a favorite lately for Ronson. The Bodysnatcher joked that his own body might be changing through the post-fight quarantine. “I’ll probably come out looking like a butterball piece of shit.”
UFC Fight Island
Ronson is going into this one with two cornermen. “Jesse Gough is coming with me. He’s my Jiu-Jitsu coach. Daniel Rubenstein, my manager is already down there. He’s going to be there and he’s like a lifelong wrestler. Got like 15 guys fighting on Yas Island….He’s got a lot of fight experience, very good in the corner. So I look forward to having those two in my corner. Those are the only two people that’ll be with me.”
As for the grandeur of Yas Island itself, the situation isn’t exactly something Ronson is gobsmacked by. “I’ve already been there. When I was in Abu Dhabi in 2015, I went there twice. I’ve already went. That’s where Ferrari World is and the waterpark. I’ve already seen it. It’s not a big deal to me. But yeah, once I’m finally allowed out of my room. Because when we get there, we get tested and then we have to quarantine for twelve to twenty-four hours when the results come back.”
He continues, “As soon as those results come back, we go down and get tested again. Then we’re allowed to walk around and wander around. Which is what I’m going to do. Because pent up in a hotel room, I’m going to want to go to the beach. Maybe get in the water. Who the hell knows? Just get a little bit of exercise in. Just chill out. Get some sun because nobody cheers for the pasty guy.”
