Jordan Leavitt | Beware ‘The Monkey King’

“Surprisingly, I actually feel a lot better,” Leavitt said ahead of his sophomore appearance at 145 pounds this Saturday. “If you would have told me I would be skinnier, eating less, working hard, feeling better, I wouldn’t have believed you, but it was honestly the easiest weight-cut I’ve had in the UFC; I only cut 0.8 pounds on weigh-in day because it really made me have to cross my Ts and dot my Is.”

The change in weight class feels like further indication that Leavitt’s shift in mindset and approach ahead of the Holobaugh contest has taken root and truly rewired the way he looks at himself and his career.

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While athletes move divisions routinely for various reasons, there is an earnestness tucked behind the initial joking response Leavitt offered when speaking about the move and its impacts that goes far deeper than the typical “trying to find the right fit for myself."

“Aesthetically, I look like an athlete,” he began, a giant smile expanding across his face as we both laughed. “Before I had that physique of the dad who plays volleyball on the weekends. I looked like I used to be an athlete, but now — it was ‘He looks like he used to do something; maybe he was a goalie or something,’ but I look like I do something now.

He’s still gregarious and engaging, quick with a smile and a one-of-one in terms of personality on the UFC roster. But he’s also genuinely confident and has clearly reached a point where he’s comfortable giving himself credit for what he’s achieved, which has resulted in him leaning more into his competitive and ambitious side as well.

“I’m not just Mr. Congeniality,” he said when asked about his current run of form shifting the way people see him. “I’m not ‘this normal dude that is fighting.’ I’m not a normal dude. If I was a normal dude, I wouldn’t be in the UFC.

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“I think I was afraid to recognize what I was and how well I’ve done; I always belittled my accomplishments, but less than one percent of fighters are gonna make it to the UFC and the average number of fights they have is still less than two. I’m on my 10th UFC fight. I have three bonuses. I have finishes, I have highlights, I fought in a really crazy publicized fight — I’ve already done it all and I just turned 31. I have people telling me I’m a veteran of the sport and I’m just getting started.

“I see so much more adventures I’m going to have and I’m earning respect from other people, which is nice, but more importantly, I have respect for myself. I don’t cringe when I’m watching the videos of me doing silly things as a defense mechanism to make little what I’m doing for my career.

“Why not me,” he added. “I used to be all ‘How did I get so lucky? It’s so cool that all of this is happening to me.’ Nothing happened to me — I happened.

“My life is a reflection of the work I’ve done, the things I’ve gone through, and I happened. I take ownership of all the failures and all the successes — it’s scary, but no excuses, and I’m comfortable with that.”

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And this weekend at Meta APEX, this new incarnation of “The Monkey King” is ready to step into the Octagon and make another statement, this time at the expense of Brazilian powerhouse Joanderson Brito, who snapped a two-fight skid with a unanimous decision win over Isaac Thomson on the final fight card of 2025.

“I’m super-excited about this fight because Joanderson Brito is just a gamer; he comes fast, he puts the pressure on you, he tries to implement his will, his gameplan, and he brings that fire,” began Leavitt. “I haven’t really had someone try to do that to me in several years; everyone I’ve fought is either a tall, lanky grapplers or people that are well-rounded.