With all the pressure of ‘having’ to get to the UFC gone, Matt Bessette feels at peace and is ready to grow in next fight at CES 55.
Matt Bessette has had a rough go over the last 18 months when it comes to mixed martial arts. He was finished on the Dana White’s Contender Series in 2017 (later overturned to a no contest). He still got a call to compete in the UFC in 2018, but went 0-2 losing two decisions. Mentally this could wear some fighter down. Not Bessette.
” I’ve never had to get over anything mentally. I’m an extremely tough person. I realized that life is a lot more than just fighting in a fucking cage. If you can kinda figure that our early. That fighting is that incredible, but it’s not life, then a loss just makes you better. You don’t dwell on it too much. You dwell on it just enough to let it fester. Just enough to make you better the following day. That’s the kind of person I am. Any time my back’s up against the wall, I fight my ass off. Anytime I fail at something, I get better. I force myself to fix the holes.”
It’s easy to find strength and motivation in Bessette’s words. Spoken like a true thirty one fight veteran. With the UFC behind him for now, the pressure of having to get there goes with it.
“I don’t know. I don’t have that ‘Gotta make it to the UFC. Gotta make it to the UFC.’ thing anymore and I also don’t have that ‘Gotta stay in the UFC. Gotta stay in the UFC.’ anymore thing that was always on my shoulder. Which was actually a lot of weight because I hold myself to an incredibly high standard. I know what I can do. I know what I am capable of. I know who I can beat and it’s a lot of people. If I’m not the best Matt Bessette on a certain night, I try to figure out why. I try to figure out what I could have done better. It’s a tough deal. It’s tough living with my. I am by far my worst critic. Just having those fights in the UFC have just put all that weight in the past and it’s a little bit easier to prepare now.”
You can listen to the complete interview where Bessette talks about returning to the CES promotion, his desire to fight in Season 2 of PFL, and why he is a people person.
Matt Bessette takes on Tim Dooling at CES 55 on Friday night LIVE on UFC Fight Pass from Hartford, CT. Stick with MMANews.com for results and any news on Matt Bessette’s future fights.
