If the messaging Tommy Gantt heard in the training room was any indication of his readiness to compete inside the Octagon, the North Carolina State alum and Dana White’s Contender Series graduate would never make the walk.
Training out of The Academy in Gilroy, California under the watchful eye of two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier and a host of seasoned coaches, Gantt explained that there are very few days during training camp where he comes away feeling like he’s done well based on the feedback and direction he receives from Cormier and company.
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“It might have been two good days,” Gantt said with a chuckle, reflecting on the lead-up to his first appearance just a couple days out from his return against Drakkar Klose on Saturday as part of the annual Noche UFC event this weekend at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. “Just killing my confidence.”
While his coaches may have been torturous on him in training camp, their tactics and his skills combined to produce an outstanding debut effort.
Originally scheduled to face veteran Trey Ogden, a late shift resulted in Gantt facing off with undefeated prospect Artur Minev instead. Used to facing whoever shows up on the other side of the bracket from his days wrestling at an elite level, the 33-year-old rolled with the punches and rolled through Minev, securing the finish midway through the second round to earn his eighth straight win and push his record to 12-0 with one no contest.
“That first one was fun,” he said with a smile when asked about his maiden voyage into the UFC cage. “It was a little bit of a whirlwind because of the opponent change or whatever, but I think I learned from that that I — I guess I already knew that, but that I can persevere and deal with adversity, stuff like that… That was the biggest thing I learned from it: (that I can navigate) switching a guy like that on you at the last moment and a worthy opponent too.
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“That dude’s good; really good,” Gantt added, heaping retroactive praise on the 22-year-old Ukrainian prospect. “I did a little deep dive after we fought — because I don’t like to do that too much when I’m about to fight somebody — but I was like, ‘Whoa! This dude is good, man; he’s melting people.’”
Gantt was the one doing the melting on that evening, and despite how things transpire inside the training room, the returning lightweight said Cormier and the rest of the coaching staff were a little more encouraging following his debut win.
“Not crazy quick,” he said in regard to how quickly Cormier was offering up criticisms and pointers about what he could have done better against Minev. “Of course he had some critiques for me; all my coaches did… I think I told you last time that when I’m in camp, I feel like I don’t do anything right; it’s just all ‘You gotta do this, you gotta do this’ constantly, but he’s pretty good with that stuff. He told me to go home, go on vacation, spend some time with my family; reset and be ready to hit the gym when it’s time to get in there again.”
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So that’s what Gantt did, and he arrives in Arizona primed to step out onto the biggest stage in the sport for the second time, with another seasoned, two-division champion riding shotgun on his journey.
In addition to working with Cormier, “Crazy” Bob Cook, and Rosendo Sanchez, the undefeated Gantt also spends a lot of time training with David Branch, the former UFC middleweight who won gold at both ’85 and 205 under the World Series of Fighting banner. A black belt under Renzo Gracie who earned 22 wins and 13 finishes in 29 starts while largely facing world-class competition, Branch is both a fountain of information and guidance for Gantt in the gym, as well as calming, grounding influence during business trips.
“I would say one of the biggest things is that he keeps me grounded, spiritually,” Gantt said of Branch. “When we’re in here, we stay in the same room — we call it ‘The War Room’ during Fight Week — but he’s reading scriptures all day, every night before I got to sleep, just keeping me grounded spiritually… And in the training room, he’s just a wizard, man. He knows fighting, knows every aspect of the sport, so it’s good to have a guy that has been to the top of the mountain, won at the highest levels to be right there with you, hand-in-hand, helping you out so that you know when you’re doing things right and you know when you’re doing things wrong.
“I will say that Dave is probably one of the more positive one of my coaches too,” he added with a laugh. “I hear probably 80-percent positive feedback from him.”
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After years chasing his dreams on the wrestling mats, Gantt made a relatively late transition to MMA, much like Cormier, and has been playing catchup ever since. But unlike wrestling, where he knew what he needed to do every time out, his new combat sport of choice comes with far more variables to consider, and Branch is one of the key people that makes sure the self-described “wild man” stays on top of his assignments.
“When I was wrestling, for example, I didn’t really watch any wrestling. I would go to practice, do my thing during the day, hit my two, three workouts, and then I would go home and play Fortnite and War Zone all day,” offered Gantt, smirking. “But this is different because you’ve gotta study film, you gotta know tendencies, you gotta know the best guys in the world and the sport, what they did well, so it’s a lot more extensive than wrestling was… For me, I’m a wild man almost — I’m all over the place when I’m not fighting — so he just does a good job of reining me in, making sure I’m doing the studying I need to do.”
Despite the messaging in the training room, it’s clear Gantt is doing the right things as he touches down in Arizona with a zero in the loss column and an opportunity to take a considerable step forward in just his second UFC start this weekend when he takes on Klose.
A longtime resident of the Glendale area who has trained at all of the top gyms in town, the 38-year-old veteran has spent the majority of his career on the doorstep of the top-15 having amasses a 10-3 record under the UFC banner. He’s only lost to quality competition and beating him unquestionably carries weight, not that Gantt is focused on any of that ahead of their showdown on Saturday afternoon.
“MMA is hard, man,” Gantt said. “Life’s hard, MMA is hard, so any win to me is legit. Everybody in the UFC is here to fight, here to excel and win the belt, but there are only a few that’ll do it, and I wanna go out and prove that Saturday.”
One thing he has thought about though is how he wants things to play out this weekend, because it’s the same every time.
“Take his will,” he said with a smile. “I keep telling people that I don’t like judges, so I gotta take his will to fight from him.”
Noche UFC: Silva vs Delgado took place live from Desert Diamond Arena In Glendale, Arizona on September 12, 2026. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
