Gavin Tucker in Moncton a week from Saturday.
“I really didn’t look at it like that,” said Soukhamthath. “Gavin Tucker is a tough prospect anyway, so I was just focused on beating him, whether I was the bad guy or the good guy, hated or loved, I didn’t really care. I was zoomed in on my focus for that fight.”
“The Asian Sensation” is still focused on his first business trip to Canada, only next week he won’t be facing a local hero, as he will now meet Octagon newcomer Jonathan Martinez, who stepped in for the injured Tucker on short notice. And no, it doesn’t matter who is across from him or where the Octagon is.
“I just say yes,” Soukhamthath said. “I’m not gonna back out just because there’s a change of an opponent and I’m not gonna get all stressed out worrying myself. I’m fully confident in my camp and my training and myself for this fight. I got ready for Tucker, Tucker brought out the best in me, and now it’s gonna be this kid. He’s gonna get it, no matter what. Anybody can get it.”
Soukhamthath laughs, at ease before he gets a chance to make a statement north of the border that he’s not the same guy who has stumbled out to a 1-3 record in his first four UFC bouts. And even that guy’s record is deceiving, so when he says, “I could easily be 4-0 if I made better decisions in the cage,” that’s not a fighter refusing to accept reality. It’s the truth.
The New Englander’s first two trips to the Octagon resulted in close split decision losses to Alberto Morales and Alejandro Perez that could have gone his way. His third bout was an emphatic knockout win over Luke Sanders, and in March, he faced off with hot prospect Sean O’Malley. And that was a bout that got plenty of attention. Not for what O’Malley did in winning a unanimous decision, but for what Soukhamthath didn’t do late in the fight.
