Tuco Tokkos knew exactly what was on the line in his last UFC fight.
After years of blood, sweat, and tears, the UFC light heavyweight from Kill Cliff FC has finally made it to the UFC winner’s circle.
Tokkos began his UFC run at 0-2, dropping back-to-back fights against undefeated prospects Oumar Sy and Navajo Stirling.
Tokkos, 35, rebounded on the main card of UFC Nashville a few weeks ago when he submitted Junior Tafa with an arm-triangle choke in the second round to notch his first UFC win.
Post-fight, Tokkos caught up with Bloody Elbow, detailing the pressure he was under.
Tuco Tokkos: ‘UFC don’t keep you around on a three-fight losing streak’
Tokkos said a third straight defeat would have likely ended his UFC career.
Despite the results in his last two fights, the Londoner remained confident in their skills, focusing on the opponent in front of him rather than the implications of a loss.
“It’s just one fight,” Tokkos said of the advice he was given by his teammates at Kill Cliff FC.
“Forget the pressure, forget the stress, focus on the task at hand…”
“For sure, man,” Tokkos said, when asked if there was added pressure going into this last fight.
“I mean, if we’re being real, I knew I was fighting for my job.
“The UFC don’t keep you around on a three-fight losing streak unless you’re like a huge name… unless you’re like McGregor or one of these guys.
“That’s the funny thing about MMA. If you’re really in it like us, you know the context that my first loss on the streak was a short notice against the undefeated prospect. Then I had a camp, and I had a close fight against the undefeated prospect again.
“So on paper, it looks bad. Like, damn, I lost two fights in a row. But I wasn’t, like, that, like, hurt about it because I knew the context…
“I was still confident going into this fight. I just looked forward. I knew I had to win and just got it done.
“It felt good,” Tokkos said of securing his first UFC win.
Tuco Tokkos is asked if he felt like a UFC fighter coming off two losses
For some UFC newcomers, they don’t feel like they’re a UFC fighter until they get their first win.
That’s not to say that is how Tokkos felt, but the light heavyweight can surely hold his head high after his second-round submission.
“It definitely changed things,” Tokkos said if he felt like a UFC fighter after back-to-back losses.
“When you’re in the street and people are like, oh, you fight? And you’re like yeah. They’re like, oh, when was your last fight? And you’re like, oh, I lost…
“When you win, you can be like, yeah, I just fought two weeks ago. I won. I finished the guy…
“You can take pride in your work just like anyone else,” Tokkos explained.
“If you work in construction and someone says, what have you been working on? You don’t want to show a house that fell down. You want to show a nice house that you completed the job.
“So, yeah, it definitely feels better because I completed the job. I can take pride in my work even though I feel I didn’t really fight well. I didn’t fight well, but I still executed the game plan and I did what I set out to do, which is take the guy down, submit, and finish it…”