Jordan Vucenic reveals lesson from debut loss: 'I put the UFC fighters on a pedestal'

LONDON – Jordan Vucenic’s mentality has made a big shift.

Vucenic (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.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 255.