The bout, which saw both fighters come close to a variety of finishes, dropped Moffett to 1-1 in the UFC and was his first loss in his last five fights. Naturally, the defeat spurred him on to look for the next opportunity to get his hand raised in the Octagon. In that, he decided to follow striking coach Eddie Cha from the MMA Lab in Phoenix to Fight Ready in Scottsdale.
The decision came as a hard but necessary one in Moffett’s eyes as he continues his climb in the UFC.
“I moved out from Illinois to become a better fighter,” Moffett said. “I wanted to make it into the UFC, which I did with the MMA Lab, and I had met coach Eddie Cha there, and he was somebody who really helped me develop my game. I feel like I’ve developed so much since I met him and started learning from him.”
Moffett said it was hard to leave the friends he made at the MMA Lab as well as the coaches he loved, but his focus is now centered on his bout with Enrique Barzola in Uruguay. The fight is Moffett’s first in South America and the first time he’s fighting outside of the United States so, as a whole, he’s enjoying the experience fresh off his first camp at Fight Ready.
Despite help from his girlfriend, Moffett wasn’t able to learn Spanish the way he wanted to before arriving in Montevideo, but he’s hoping the style he brings into the cage influences the fans in the arena to follow “The Wolfman.”
“I’m trying to go Performance of the Night for this one,” he said. “I don’t want to go another three rounds. I want to finish somebody.”
Following a busy 2018 that saw Moffett compete five times, he thinks his loss against Mitchell impacted his ability to get into another bout sooner rather than later. Despite that, he’s grateful for the break so he could get “new perspective” on his game and learn a few things.
Among the learning experiences as he approaches his third UFC fight is learning how to deal with all of the different media obligations during fight week. He joked about the fact that he failed communications in college and the irony in his job now forcing him in front of microphones and cameras.
He feels like he’s getting a better handle on it, and that allows him to focus more on the scrap around the corner. On top of his excitement around fighting in Uruguay and the decision to train with a new team, he wants to open the main card in a memorable way.
“I’m going to start it off with a bang,” Moffett said. “I’m going to finish this dude, so I’m really looking forward to putting on a show for the South American fans and hopefully get a couple fans after this fight.
“Hopefully, they see how I fight and they like it.”
Zac Pacleb is a writer and producer for UFC.com. You can follow him on Twitter @ZacPacleb.
