Athletes
CJ Vergara: This Is My Church
American flyweight CJ Vergara is refreshed, recharged and ready to deliver a big performance in a venue he holds dear, the UFC APEX, at UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Taira
Flyweight CJ Vergara has put his time away from the cage to good use, and now he’s ready to bounce back into the win column with a big victory over a fellow knockout artist.
San Antonio’s Vergara takes on promotional newcomer Ramazan Temirov at UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Taira this weekend at the UFC APEX. And, despite experiencing the bitter taste of defeat last time out, he’s returning to action refreshed and ready to go.
Vergara’s last outing saw him lose a unanimous decision to Asu Almabayev at UFC 299 back in March. Since then, he’s used the time to take his training, and his knowledge of his own body, to the next level, with the aid of the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas.
“It was great,” he told UFC.com.
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“I spent a month here at the APEX and was able to train with some really solid people. I made some new connections, trained with Cody Garbrandt, trained with Polyana Viana and couple other people on the roster, so I was able to get the full Vegas experience of training at the Performance Institute, before going back home and finishing a couple weeks there to gameplan and all that.”
For Vergara, having access to the state-of-the-art facilities at the UFC PI was a little like being a kid at Christmas, as he tried his best to take full advantage of everything it has to offer – even if it meant getting there first thing in the morning each day.
“I’d show up at like 8am and we did all the scans,” he enthused.
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The physical fitness scans for your VO2 levels, your power output, all the stuff that you do there. And then they put a whole system together for you, with nutrition, and they combine everything.
“I'd go from strength and conditioning to training, straight to physical therapy, eat lunch at the PI, red light therapy, sauna, cold plunge… Dude! It's so cool having everything under one roof.”
That enthusiasm for the UFC’s purpose-built facilities also extends to the UFC APEX, where he’ll be fighting this weekend. While most athletes prefer the rush of competing under the bright lights, in front of big crowds, Vergara is equally content to fight in the more intimate atmosphere of the APEX.
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“I love the APEX. I've always compared it to being in church,” he explained.
“It has a very interesting, sacred experience around it, because I always connect it to the Contender Series, with no announcers, no ring girls, or even much of a crowd.
“And now, even though there's an announcer and you’ve got the ring girls and the rest of the walkout with the music experience, it still has that very quiet vibe around it, which I enjoy.”
Vergara may appreciate the calmer atmosphere at the UFC APEX, but that serenity is likely to be shattered when he steps into the Octagon to face promotional debutant Temirov. Both men are proven flyweight finishers, with 17 knockout victories between them. It’s a clash that has Fight of the Night potential, and one that has Vergara intrigued and excited given what he already knows about his opponent.
“He looks tough, dude.” he admitted.
“I keep thinking of Wolverine when I see the guy! He looks super swole, but I haven't seen him in person yet. He seems like somebody that's going to be willing to dance in the middle, which I'm looking forward to. Hopefully, he's as down as he looks, and we'll find out.”
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With no UFC tape on his opponent, Vergara and his team would have had to rely on YouTube footage to break down Temirov’s skills. But Vergara said that he has learned from past mistakes, where he’s spent too long fixating on what his opponents are good at, and instead plans on being his best self on fight night.
“I’ve made the mistake in the past of over-analyzing opponents and building false securities and false insecurities off of that,” he explained.
“So I know that he's intense. I know that he's a forward-moving, aggressive fighter who likes to throw big punches. So, with that being said, my plan is just to stab everything down the middle and bait him in, land, bait him into my traps, and he'll run into some nasty stuff.”
The fight offers Vergara a chance to not just return to winning form, but also make sure he wins “the fight before the fight” by hitting his contracted weight on Friday. Vergara has missed weight three times in the UFC, and said that he’s focused not just on prepping for the fight itself, but also making sure he hits the scale no heavier than 126 pounds at Friday’s official weigh-ins.
"I would say, obviously, my biggest issue to date has been making weight,” he admitted.
“So I've really honed in on making sure that I don't allow any slip-ups to happen during my cut week by just honing in on the nutrition, on how I water load, how I lose the rest of that water.
“But, besides that, I’ve had a Fight of the Night. I've got a couple of exciting fights, I have a finish. But I'm looking to turn the second half of my time in the UFC to be more focused on just dominating, and not (needing) to put myself in a position to have to come back in a crazy way.”
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Vergara’s excited to be a part of a 125-pound division that looks as vibrant as it’s ever been, and said that he plans on adding another thrilling matchup to the UFC’s flyweight archives this weekend.
He knows his approach brings its risks, but he said that he’s prepared to walk through the fire to chase glory, and an eye-catching finish, on Saturday night.
“A finish, dude. I'm out there to finish him, or I'm out there to get finished,” he stated.
“So either I'm looking down on him and holding the KO over him, or he's going to do it to me.”
Grab your popcorn. This one could be a cracker.
UFC Fight Night: Royval vs Taira took place live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 12, 2024. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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