Matchups against an overmatched opponent or two that looks for an exit at the first sign of trouble gets you thinking your next dance partner will do the same.
It sounds far-fetched, but when you’re an emerging talent blowing through the competition without suffering any setbacks, those little reminders can help you start to get things back on track when they inevitably go off course.
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“Everybody is tough when you get to this level; you can’t just go out there and try to rip somebody’s head off because it ain’t going to work,” Garcia said when asked the greatest lesson he’s learned through his first six trips into the Octagon. “Everybody is at this level because they’ve been through wars, they’ve been tested, they don’t get scared by the first hard shot that lands.
“You’ve got to humble yourself and say, ‘You know what you’ve got to work on; you’ve got holes in your game and you’ve got to fix them.’ You can’t go out there looking for the finish; you’ve got to go out there and work on your opponent.”
Enter Dana White’s 12 Days Of Christmas
Garcia began his career with a dozen consecutive victories, with his last three wins prior to touching down on the biggest stage in the sport coming against fighters that had either previously competed in the UFC or would eventually join him on the company’s roster.
He earned finishes in the majority of those contests, but when he graduated to competing in the Octagon, he stumbled out of the gate. He suffered the first two losses of his professional career in back-to-back outings four months apart, dropping decisions to Nasrat Haqparast and Chris Gruetzemacher before righting the ship with a win over Natan Levy towards the end of 2021.
