Jordan Leavitt Gets Serious

“I think when the next fight is on the horizon, I’ll finally be able to enjoy this win.”

Whenever that time comes, Leavitt is sure to enjoy this victory a little more than the others given everything that went into it and the very powerful shift he experienced between his November 2023 loss to Chase Hooper and stepping into the Octagon back in the spring.

Two days after his fight with Hooper, Leavitt was standing in a hospital room, holding his newborn daughter.

FOLLOW @UFCNEWS: On Facebook | On Instagram | On X | On Threads

After beginning his career with six straight wins to land a spot on Dana White’s Contender Series and punching his ticket to the main roster with a first-round submission win, the Las Vegas native had cobbled together a 4-3 mark through his first seven trips into the UFC Octagon, earning a few finishes, but getting stopped a couple times,  too.

He was best known for his post-fight celebrations, which included doing the full forward splits and twerking, which was mocked by Paddy Pimblett after “The Baddy” tapped him out in London a few summers back.

But that playfulness and good-natured approach was a shield, and standing in that hospital room, one daughter at home in bed, the other resting in his arms, Leavitt made a decision to get serious about his craft.

One fight is an admittedly small sample size, but it’s difficult to argue with the results so far.

Having long made sure to give himself built-in excuses should he come up short inside the Octagon, Leavitt approached his fight with Holobaugh from a completely different perspective, not only in terms of the way he spoke to himself, but how he spoke about the fight, as well.

WATCH: Greatest Slam KOs In UFC History

“I’ve always used my humor as a defense mechanism and as a way to not take myself too seriously, so I walked out to funny walkout songs and I had a good time, made people laugh, and then I go out there and try to kill somebody,” explained the thoughtful lightweight. “I was always trying to make sure I had excuses built in, but for this fight, I was believing in myself, positively talking about the fight.

“I wasn’t saying ‘if,’ I was saying, ‘when I win, when I do this,’ and just putting it all out there. I feel like this is the first fight ever where I put all of my mental energy, my physical energy, my spiritual energy into a fight, and it paid off.

“It felt really good and it was different, but it was the first time where I think I took ownership of my performance,” he offered. “Because I was always acting or telling myself it wasn’t that serious — whenever I won, I could always say, ‘Well, I’m not better than him; I just won. I’m a guy that got lucky’ and every time you lose, you can say, ‘See? This is why I suck,’ and all those words meant nothing. This was the first win where I went out there and I won because I was better, I won because I prepared well, and I take this seriously.

“I won because I love what I do, and it was very freeing, but also very terrifying because it’s like now I know I’m putting my 100 percent into it, and if I fail, it’s because I failed.”

WATCH: About Last Fight With Ilia Topuria, Alexandre Pantoja & More

Once more, Leavitt said aloud what is usually kept quiet, which I thanked him for, noting how powerful and meaningful it is to hear an athlete express those kinds of hard truths.

But I also should have reminded him that there are times you can do everything right throughout camp and in the Octagon and still come out on the wrong side of things, just as there are instances where you an have a miserable camp and make countless mistakes and end up standing triumphant in the center of the Octagon.

And I should have told him that everything he shared during the course of our brief, but heavy, conversation made it clear that regardless of what results come in the future, he’s already won.