“Honestly, I was still confident,” said Turner. “I’ve been battle tested, I’ve been put through the ringer, and life is throwing harder stuff at me than that, so I just never gave up. I remember my first loss as a pro (in 2016). I called my manager and said, ‘Did I just mess up? Did I mess up my whole shot?’ He was like, ‘No, the UFC likes when you have a loss to build some character, get a little bit more experience.’ I was like, ‘All right, cool.’ After I heard that, I just kept it going. And honestly, most of my losses equated to me being off somewhere in camp or my mind’s all messed up, and I just got more discipline. So ever since I got more discipline, I pushed the envelope a little bit more, and I’ve been winning. I’ve been finishing, and I’m going to keep doing that. I’m going to continue to stay on this path, keep my mind right and win.”
UFC 285 FREE FIGHTS: Gane vs Tuivasa | Gane vs Lewis | Jones vs Rua | Jones vs Machida | Shevchenko vs Andrade | Grasso vs Wood
After the loss to LeRoy, Turner won three straight, including a stoppage of Max Mustaki on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2018, and though he didn’t get a contract that night, he did get a short-notice call to face Vicente Luque up a weight class in October of that year. Turner lost to Luque, but was undeterred, and since that bout, he’s won six of seven fights, with 2022 finishes of Jamie Mullarkey and Brad Riddell taking him from prospect to contender at 155 pounds. Did I mention that each of his 13 pro victories have ended before the final horn? That’s something you can’t gloss over.
