GLASGOW – After bouncing back in style, Danny Roberts is determined not to let a setback overshadow his octagon career.
Roberts (14-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) dispatched Bobby Nash (8-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC) in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 113 encounter on Sunday. The win improved the Brit’s UFC record to 3-1 in the octagon and 8-1 in his past nine fights. While the numbers are not shabby at all, the one recent blemish is still somewhat fresh: a knockout loss to Mike Perry at October’s UFC 204 event.
Since then, however “Hot Chocolate” says he’s had a tough but revealing journey in dealing with issues in his personal life. And he’s now ready to move on to bigger and better things.
“I’m at the stage of my life now where I feel really happy,” Roberts told reporters after the FS1-televised welterweight bout at SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. “I’m going to be back on winning ways, and nothing’s going to stop me. This is the time now. I just turned 30 two days ago. I was cutting weight on my birthday. I just want to move forward from here and just keep active, fit and ready.”
Roberts wouldn’t go into too much detail about the issues, alluding to “relationship problems” that get trickier when “you’ve got kids involved.” Not to mention the hard bits of a fighter’s life: the traveling, being away from home, all things that, while somewhat invisible to the public, can play into a fighter’s mindset.
“People just see all the glitz and the glamour and the Instagram and the tweets,” Roberts said. “When the reality of it is that it’s not easy. And there’s a lot of dirt and nasty things that go on. A lot of hardships that you have to do and see and overcome.
“And mental battles. It makes us tougher. Obviously, as men who are in the sport that we are doing – it can make or break you. And it’s something that, me personally, it’s just made me stronger.”
While he wasn’t the first or last octagon victim of Perry’s knockout power, Robertson doesn’t want it to be the determining factor of a mostly victorious UFC career that started off with back-to-back wins over Nathan Coy and Dominique Steel.
And though Roberts is not exactly issuing callouts to the top dogs in the highly competitive 170-pound division, he did throw in a name that he believes could help achieve his mission to show his worth.
“I want to be able to go out there and to be able to prove that I’m still one of the best fighters there is,” Roberts said. “I fight with a lot of heart and dedication. I’m smart and fast. There’s a lot of attributes that I’ve got where I can entertain.
“And not even just that: I can prove that I’m one of the best fighters in the world. So, step-by-step – the likes of Alan Jouban, someone like that. Top-20, top-30. I want someone up there to be able to prove who I am.”
To hear more from Roberts, check out the video above.
And for complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 113, check out the UFC Events section of the site.
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