With 11 first-round submission victories in 12 career wins, Cody McKenzie – and his opponents – never really knew where his conditioning stood.Over the years, his variations of the guillotine choke have wreaked havoc on them. But in his two career losses (one official and one in an exhibition match), including his most recent to Yves Edwards, McKenzie found himself struggling to keep up with the pace.
However, with "The Ultimate Fighter 12" alum knowing he had a hole in his game that needed filled, McKenzie (12-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) made the adjustments needed to ensure that he's performing at full speed against Vagner Rocha (6-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at Saturday's UFC Fight Night 25 event.
"I've never had good wind," McKenzie recently told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). "Everybody who's watched me fight knows that. I've finished all my fights in the first (round), and when it's gone to the second, I got finished. The two times I've ever been beaten, I gassed (in) both of them. So, I knew that my cardio needed readjusting, so I have worked a lot more on my cardio for this fight.
"But yeah, I've never had the best wind, but definitely from now on out you won't see me gassing."
McKenzie and Rocha fight Saturday at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. The night's main card airs on Spike TV, though McKenzie vs. Rocha is the featured bout on the UFC Fight Night 25 preliminary card that streams on Facebook.
Despite his conditioning efforts, McKenzie said fans can expect the same style come fight night.
"I'm going to go in there and fight that same pace I've always fought, but this time I'm not going to fold," he said. "I feel like the two fights I did lose, I was winning until I couldn't breathe anymore – then I got finished for it. Fifteen minutes isn't a long time, so you won't see me doing that any more. I might have to sit down after the 15 minutes, but like I said before, if it goes to a decision, I'm not happy with my performance anyway."
McKenzie puts his newfound cardio to the test against Rocha, a talented Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who's also looking to return to the win column following a UFC-debut loss to Donald Cerrone. Full of confidence, McKenzie plans to push the pace and make a statement.
"I'm not looking at Vagner Rocha as anything special," he said. "I look at him as I look at any opponent: I'm going to beat him up. I'm usually pretty confident going into a fight. Like pretty much at the end of this fight, I don't want him thinking 'Oh, I hope I can get a rematch with Cody McKenzie.' I want him being like, 'Please, please, never ever lock me in a cage with that kid again.'
"I don't want people thinking that it was a close fight or that it was decent. I want this guy to feel it, get punished from the very start to the very end, and that's what's going to happen. If he wins, I feel that I should retire myself. If I lose two in a row, I don't feel that I belong at the high level. So, this is my fight for redemption, and I'm going in there to get it."
With that being said, McKenzie's not letting the pressure that comes with the possibility of losing back-to-back fights get the best of him. Instead, he's on a mission to get back on track in the ranks of the lightweight division.
"There's always pressure in a fight to a point," he said. "I go in there thinking that it's a fight. One person wins, one person loses, and I know that, but I always go in there expecting myself to win and planning on winning. For sure, (there's) a whole new pressure coming off a loss. Like I said, if I lose two in a row, I don't deserve to be at the high level. I should go back to the smaller shows and work my way back up and get some wins if I lose.
"But I'm definitely not planning on losing. I'm going to destroy this guy."
source:mmajunkie
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