Nick Klein has proclaimed that three weeks of training camp is more than enough for him ahead of his debut this weekend at UFC Seattle.
After a first-round submission on Dana White’s Contender Series, Klein returned to his day job – awaiting the call for his UFC debut. Just four months later, the 29-year-old is set to make his debut at UFC Seattle against Mansur Abdul-Malik on short notice.
Abdul-Malik was set to face Antonio Trocoli until the Brazilian withdrew from the bout a few weeks ago.
Klein, who was born in Wisconsin, is not fazed by the prompt element of his first UFC outing.
He said: “I really just went back to work a week after my Contender Series fight and was just waiting for the UFC call,
“As soon as they gave me the Mansur [Abdul-Malik] offer, I quit work again and then just went straight to training. So it’s been nothing but non-stop practice since I got the call,
“I think I got it on like four weeks notice, so I had a good three weeks to get ready, which is fine for me,
“I never get too heavy between camps and I never really get too out of shape…
“…And I don’t even really consider it short notice, you know, like a week, two weeks, that’s short notice. Give me a month, man,
“I’m not one of those guys who gets to like 230 pounds, you know, when I’m not when I’m not in camp and in and in between fights. So I’m usually only about a week out from making 185. And I always keep my baseline, you know, for fighting in decent shape always.”
UFC Seattle: Klein Confident of Competing With the Best at Middleweight After Settling into the UFC
‘Blue Collar’ is young in his career. Since turning professional in 2021, he has amassed a record of 6-1 and now finds himself in the world’s biggest combat sports organization.
The UFC newcomer was respectful to the fighters at the top of the 185 pound division, but believes he will be competing with them after a year or two in the promotion.
He said: “You give me a year or two to settle in and really hone my training, be able to make this my actual day job because right now I’m not making enough money to do this full time. I have to work in between my camps and stuff,”
“It’s going to take a couple wins until I can just train [and] just dedicate my life to this. And then I think my confidence toward getting to those upper ranks is going to skyrocket,
“But right now I got to rack up a couple of wins, get to that second contract and make enough money to be able to do this full-time.”
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