Jul. 18—Steve Garcia is rockin’ and rollin’. The Albuquerque MMA fighter nicknamed “Mean Machine” has been just that, winning three UFC fights in a row, all three with highlight-reel finishes.
Yet, when Garcia (15-5) steps into the Octagon on Saturday at UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, it will have been more than eight months since that last victory.
For a 32-year old who’s been fighting professionally for 11 years, that’s too long.
The road ahead is long, as well. That’s just life in the UFC.
South Korea’s Seung Woo Choi (11-6), Garcia’s opponent in a featherweight fight, should not and will not be underestimated. Yet, his résumé does not reflect an opponent who, with a Garcia victory, would rocket the Albuquerque fighter into the UFC’s featherweight rankings.
Is there frustration there? Sure. Garcia is 32. He believes he’s ready, and qualified, for bigger and better things.
At the same time, he gets it. How many fighters are there on the UFC roster? One wonders if even the UFC knows, given that signings and releases happen all the time.
“The UFC’s a machine, man,” he said. “They operate within themselves, and they’ll give me a call when they need me.”
But, hey — as previously reported, he’s rockin’ and rollin’.
“Things are going good, man,” he said on Wednesday in a phone interview from Las Vegas. “I’m blessed, no doubt about it.”
Regarding his progress in the featherweight division — he also has fought at lightweight, and likely would do so again if that’s where the best opportunity presented itself — his fight on Saturday has third billing on the main card. It’s Garcia’s first appearance on a UFC main card.
And, hey again: Garcia’s the subject of an article by Thomas Gerbasi, published on Wednesday, on ufc.com.
“I’m like, nobody else can do what I do,” he told Gerbasi. “I’m one of 600 people in the world doing this, so I’m going to ride this out. I’m trying to keep the (title) belt in my sights, and it’s very far down the road, but I’m a lot closer than I was last time.
“And every time I fight, I’m always a little bit closer than I was last time. … And I think as long as I keep finishing these guys, you can’t deny me.” Undeniable as well is that Garcia is undefeated at UFC Apex, the site of Saturday’s card.
In August 2019 at Apex, Garcia defeated Desmond Torres by first-round TKO on Dana White’s Tuesday Contender Series. Garcia was denied a UFC contract at the time because he’d come in overweight for the fight.
In October 2021 at the Apex, he scored his first UFC victory with a first-round TKO of Charles Ontiveros. An October 2022 victory by unanimous decision over Chase Hooper, a badly needed win after two consecutive losses, came at the Apex.
Last December, he took out Melquizael Costa at the Apex in the second round.
The Apex, initially meant for use in The Contender Series and The Ultimate Fighter, came to be a venue for UFC Fight Night events during the pandemic. It can accommodate no more than 1,000 people.
Seats at the Apex are in such demand that, when Garcia’s wife, his brother and his brother’s girlfriend come to the event on Saturday, they’re ticketed only for Garcia’s fight and not for the remainder of the card.
Garcia is more than comfortable at the Apex, given his success there, but longs for the big crowds and bright lights as a main-event fighter on UFC’s numbered cards.
“There’s nothing like having (a big crowd),” he said. “It’s electric.”
To experience that, he’ll have to get past Choi. It’s an MMA fan’s dream matchup, between strikers who’ve scored 18 of their combined 26 wins by KO/TKO.
And regardless of the venue, Garcia said, “There’s still a guy on the other side of the cage trying to kill me.
“So the object doesn’t change. A fight’s a fight.”
Steve Garcia,UFC,Seung Woo Choi,UFC Apex
