Jason Day’s Whirlwind UFC Ride Continues

MasterShake · #1 (**permalink**) 05-10-2008, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Source:UFC® : Ultimate Fighting Championship®

Jason Day’s Whirlwind UFC Ride Continues
By Thomas Gerbasi

A Canadian veteran who had finally started to find his groovein the fight game after a rocky start that saw him lose three of his first five pro bouts, Jason Day was on the fringes of the UFC in 2007, with all but one of the four opponents he faced that year current or former UFC fighters.

He won two of those fights, submitting Jonathan Goulet and stopping Ron Faircloth, with the only loss coming in June of last year to Patrick Cote. It got the buzz going about the Lethbridge, Alberta native, and when he kicked off 2008 with a hard-fought decision win over former world title challenger David Loiseau, it was clear that the next stop for Day would be the UFC.

First test? A bout against up and comer Alan Belcher in front of close to 22,000 Canadian fans on April 19th. If there was going to be a case of the first-time UFC jitters, this was it. Surprisingly though, Day wasn’t affected by the atmosphere surrounding the biggest fight of his career.

“That was the least nervous I’ve been for any fight in my life,” said Day of his UFC 83 debut. “Everything went right in my training camp, I had no injuries, and as soon as I got in that Octagon, I knew what was going on. I felt like I belonged, I did what I needed to do, and it was the first time I ever felt like that. It was awesome.”

He’s not exaggerating either. When the bell rung, Day went on the attack. And while he was thrown to the mat by Belcher early on, he fought well from the bottom and as the fight resumed from the standing position, Day pounced, landing flush shot after flush shot until the bout was halted 3:58 into the opening round.

“I expected it to go into the second or third round, but I always go for the finish, and that’s my game, that’s what I do,” said Day, 17-5 as a pro. “I try to finish fights, and once I saw the blood, I just went after him.”

It was the perfect way to make an opening statement in the Octagon, and the fans both in Montreal and around the Internet responded.

“The reaction from the fans has been amazing,” he said. “So many people have contacted me and told me how impressed they were with my fight, and everybody that has known me for years was like ‘that was impressive, I’ve never seen you look that good.’ Everything was firing and it was a little bit overwhelming when fans were beginning to recognize me, but it’s a great feeling.”

So when UFC matchmaker approached Day about stepping in to replace Chris Leben in a high-profile UFC 85 bout in June against British star Michael Bisping,
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he jumped at the chance to strike while the iron is hot.

“I love that fight,” said Day. “Everybody’s been asking me who would I like to fight next, and I said Bisping, but who would have thought it would have come about so quickly. He’s a great fighter, an exciting fighter, tough as nails, and everybody wants that marquee fight where you get the guy that tests you and you slug it out for two or three rounds. I think he’s a pretty good test for me.”

And while he gave the fans a dominating performance in his first Octagon bout, this time he wants to give them a bout for the time capsule.

“If you take a look at me and Bisping, we’re both well-rounded fighters, both very well-conditioned, and we both have a reputation for being tough and durable,” he said. “So I think this has Fight of The Night written all over it, and maybe even Fight of The Year. I think it’s gonna be an awesome fight. I’ve got a lot of respect for him and it sounds like he’s not gonna take me lightly either.”

Not bad for a kid from Lethbridge who was on the outside looking in a year ago.

“My first fight was like a fairy tale – in Canada against a good opponent, a UFC veteran, and I came out, dominated, and everything went my way,” said Day. “This is like the fairy tale continuing – second fight in the UFC and I get Bisping; it’s unreal.”

I like this kid, think he has a lot of potential for sure, but I think Bisping is definetly going to take this match VIA KO first round. Atleast he is excited about the match though.