Imagine the Thursday before one one of the biggest events of the year. You sit in your hotel room thinking about your fight, weight cut and all of the things that are to be done in the next 48 hours or so. To many that could be distracting but for Luke Zachrich it seems it is business as usual.
The 32 year old Zachrich will look to even up his UFC record this Saturday when he meets Brazilian Guilherme Vasconcelos at UFC 175. Zachrich has had much more time than the 11 days he was given before his debut to prepare for Vasconcelos. That doesn’t seem to matter though, Zachrich prides himself on always being ready.
Before I would prepare for a fight and just get back to the gym and kinda be in shape. Now that I am older and have worked hard to get to this point I stay in shape so I can take opportunities when they come.
Zachrich didn’t know that his UFC debut would ever come to light. Following his stint on The Ultimate Fighter Season 7, he was not offered a contract. He wasn’t even offered a spot on the finale to earn a contract. He spent the next several years working his way through the regional scene building his name hoping that day would come. We spoke to him last year before a fight in Kentucky and he was hopeful that he could stay busy and get noticed. He did just that and made his UFC debut in April at UFC on FOX in Florida. It is an experience he has put behind him.
I remember taking two hard knees. The first one landed on my ribs and the second landed on my nuts. I went from a defensive position to holding my cup with both hands. I thought Big John (McCarthy) was stepping in to give me a break but he was stepping in to stop the fight.
That is in the past. He has been able to assemble some great help in this training camp to make a successful run inside the Octagon. His opponent, Guilherme Vasconcelos, is a grappler and Zachrich in recent years has been stepping up his jiu jitsu with some world class mat masters such as Vitor Oliveira.
I’ve watched some tape on him. He doesn’t have much MMA experience but he is an elite grappler…. He can come in cocky or come in respectful but I have been training with some of the best. Columbus may not be known as a hot bed for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu but we have our fair share of greats here.
The Buckeye from Columbus, Ohio is calm going into this fight. He feels that there isn’t any pressure on him.
Honestly I felt more pressure when I fought in Columbus. I know I have a job to do and now I get to have fun. I went from being a big fish in a small pond to a small fish in a big pond and it takes most of the pressure off.
When asked if he felt that he had to win Zachrich explained he knew how things worked inside the company. That being said he was prepared to win and didn’t expect at all to lose.
In a pretty unique turn of events a fellow training partner will join Zachrich in Las Vegas. TUF 19’s Dan Spohn was added to the finale on Sunday.
It’s great. Our whole coaching staff is out here and will be there for my fight on Saturday and Dan’s on Sunday. It makes it even better when you have a training partner out here.
Zachrich will be part of the UFC Fight Pass portion of UFC 175 this Saturday. Sitting at 13-3 a win here could raise his stock and with him always being ready (barring injury in this fight) we could see him fight again soon. He has been one of the good guys to cheer on, at least for me, in the last few years. He has a chance to get his first of what could be many UFC wins.
For full coverage of Luke’s fight and all of UFC 175 stay close to ProMMANow (www.prommanow.com).
[ads1]
[ads2]