“Absolutely,” he said. “That’s not an injury where you go, ‘Eh, nothing happened.’ No, you feel it. I had like two minutes left and I knew I had to get the job done. I didn’t want to lose because of an injury. I told myself I got two more minutes; I can suffer now and deal with the consequences after. I knew I was in trouble, but I wasn’t gonna give up from that.”
Good thing it didn’t happen two minutes in.
“It would have been a completely different fight,” admits the Colorado product, who got the decision win, then hoped for the best but expected the worst when he went to the doctor. He got the bad news and prepared for a long stretch on the sidelines. It wasn’t an easy road after his September surgery, but by the time he was cleared to return in February, he took the setback for what it was while appreciating what that time off gave him.
“As an athlete, that’s a career-ender and it derails people, so I went through my little phase of depression because it puts a hold on everything,” he said. “But you find the bright side of it and you actually get to work on a lot. The full recovery is seven to nine months and there’s no way around it. I told myself I have to find the positives in this, otherwise I’m gonna go off the deep end. I managed to get myself out of it, and I had help too, and I found the positives. I was able to get more things done in the case with my son, I was able to focus a lot on myself, I met my girlfriend through that time, and a lot of positive things happened. You take things for granted when you’re constantly on the go, so I got to find the positive things in it, and I’m happy and I believe it happened for a reason. I hate to say it, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
The 29-year-old admits, “The first day back (in the gym) was very scary,” then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, putting the sports world on pause for a spell. The fight cards postponed in March and April didn’t affect him, as he wasn’t expecting to return until June or July, so for now, it’s just about staying in shape until the call comes.
“I think with my time frame, I’m okay,” he said. “I’m staying active, doing some roadwork, doing a lot of shadowboxing, just working out at home. It’s very different for everybody, but I’m just trying to stay positive and do the most I can.”
And when he returns to the Octagon?
“I want to fight as many times as I can,” Gutierrez said. “Hopefully, I’ll fight two or three times before the end of the year.”
