More than two years later, sitting backstage at the UFC Apex following his win over Johnson in August, the big man was at a loss for words when asked what finally securing a UFC contract meant to him after traveling the winding road he took to reach his destination.
On the eve of his debut, Parisian still struggled to articulate just what this opportunity means to him, which tells you all you need to know.
“I mean,” he began before pausing to find the words.
“I think,” he added, still searching for an answer.
“The best way to describe it is everybody is looking to get into the UFC — everyone’s goal is to be in the UFC — and a lot of people fail, unfortunately; there is only a small number of people that get into the UFC,” he said, focusing his answer on the process, rather than feelings and emotions. “Once you’re there, you have to set that new goal and over the last couple months, it’s been one of those things where I have just been setting new goals for myself.
“I want to be the best in the world,” he continued, answering the obvious follow-up without it needing to be asked. “I want to be the baddest man on the planet, even for a moment; that’s what I want.”
But rather than exclusively tether himself to the same single lofty goal that many of his contemporaries aspire to, the heavyweight newcomer has made sure to give himself smaller, more readily attainable goals to shoot for as he embark on this next stage of his career as well, and they’re the kind of targets that should make the Michigan product an immediate hit with the UFC audience.
