Athletes
Nathan Fletcher Is Taking Things One Step At A Time
England’s Nathan Fletcher Has His Sights Set On The Top Of The Bantamweight Division, But Knows He Has To Pass Tough Tests Every Step Of The Way
Nathan Fletcher is excited to be a part of a talent-stacked UFC bantamweight division, and the Englishman plans on showcasing his credentials as a potential contender of the future with a big display at UFC Vegas 108 this weekend.
Fletcher returns to action on Saturday night at the UFC APEX, where he’ll face Japan’s Rinya Nakamura in a matchup between two bantamweights with big plans for the future.
Both men see their futures at the sharp end of the bantamweight division, and for Fletcher, he sees Nakamura as an ideal next step on his UFC journey.
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“Actually, I rate Rinya. I think he's a good fighter,” he told UFC.com ahead of fight night in Las Vegas.
“He's got a good record. He's got credentials outside of mixed martial arts, with his wrestling background, but I'm looking at it for what it is, which is an MMA fight.
“We’re similar in experience – he's 9-1, I’m 9-2, and could arguably be 10-1 – so (we have) similar levels of experience. I feel I mix things up better than him. I feel I'm better across all areas, and that's going to be the deciding factor in this fight, that it is an MMA fight, and that I'm a better mixed martial artist than him.”
The bout offers Fletcher a chance to bounce back after his split decision defeat to Caolan Loughran at UFC London in March in a fight that many felt he’d done enough to win.
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Despite not picking up the win on that occasion, Fletcher has benefited from returning to his team at Next Generation MMA. The Liverpool-based camp is much more than just a team, as he explained.
“I think your team (is) everything. We've got a family feel in there,” he said.
“You're going in the week after and everyone's just there to lift you up. There's no negative things to say. It's all positive and they really do pick you up.
“I think the good thing is, we've got so many guys with so much experience, they've been through wins, they've been through losses. So they know the rollercoaster that is an MMA career. So navigating that is a lot easier when you've got such a good team around you.”
With the support of his Next Generation MMA family around him, Fletcher has been taking the positives from his recent defeat, and said that his ability to assess that outcome without too much frustration and emotion will help him improve moving forward.
“I think that was a big thing, just being able to look at it logically for what it was,” he explained.
“It was a very close fight. I think a lot of people online definitely thought I won. Speaking to other people around the UFC, a few people thought I won, but breaking down my performance, I felt I was a little bit too passive.
Nathan Fletcher Sinks In Second Round Submission | UFC Fight Night: Burns vs Brady
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Nathan Fletcher Sinks In Second Round Submission | UFC Fight Night: Burns vs Brady
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“I think that, skill for skill, that shouldn't have been a close fight. I think I was levels above my opponent, but I just let too much of the fight run away from me by not being assertive and kind of waiting and reacting and waiting for this perfect moment to go.
“Don't get me wrong, when I had my moments, they were good, spectacular moments, causing damage, but there just wasn't enough of them. I'm going to build on that now and look to be a lot more assertive in this fight.”
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Fletcher now faces Namakura at the UFC APEX in a bout he hopes can propel him into the group of talented up-and-comers in the UFC’s stacked bantamweight division.
“I think this is a good opponent to showcase my skill level. So I want to be putting my name in the mix with the top guys in bantamweight.
“My division is very exciting at the minute. You've obviously got the top 15 guys. But then just outside of that, you've got the likes of Topuria’s brother (Alexandre). You've got (the likes of) Payton Talbott (and) Malcolm Wellmaker, who’s making a big splash now. So there's these other young prospects on the rise. I want to throw Nathan Fletcher's name into the mix with all of them.
“I think that Rinya is the perfect guy, a stepping stone in the right direction towards those type of names. So they are the conversations I want to be having after Saturday night – me getting in there with the likes of those guys.”
Victory would put him on the path he wants to be on, as he looks to become one of the most notable prospects in the division. To do that, he wants to be as active as possible, and he admitted that, results aside, his UFC run to date has been pretty much as he’d expected.
“This is how I envisioned my UFC career going,” he said.
“Obviously, I would have liked to have gotten the win last time, but if I can be active as possible and get maybe two, three fights in every year, that's what I'm looking to do. And even more, if possible.
“Without injuries and stuff, you can get a good run and get the fights in when you can. So that's definitely what I'm looking to do.
“I like to look at the next step ahead (but) I’m not really looking too far past it. In an ideal world, if I can get three fights a year, I don't see why, within three years, I couldn't be fighting for a UFC world title. That would be a perfect scenario. But obviously there's a lot of things to overcome to get in that position first.
“Saturday night's the first one. We've got to go out there and make a statement, win this fight, and show that I belong with the better guys in the division. And then continue to do that each time out and just keep staking my claim of why I should be fighting for the title down the line.”
To move one step closer to that, Fletcher will have to overcome the odds as he prepares to fight in the unfamiliar role of underdog this weekend.
It’s a challenge the Liverpudlian is set to relish when he steps into the Octagon to face Nakamura.
“I'm excited to be the underdog in this one,” he said.
“I feel like a lot of people are kind of not overlooking me, but thinking that Rinya is going to go and get the win and progress on in his career. So I'm excited to halt that and change the narrative, and I'll be the one taking all the momentum after Saturday night.
“It’s the perfect storm. I feel like my ego doesn't like the fact that I'm the underdog. I’m used to being favored to win, really. And then I'm coming into this one, and I feel a little bit disrespected, to be honest. Not in any type of bad way. But I'm using that disrespect to fuel my training and my performance. So I'm looking to prove the odds wrong and go and get the win on Saturday night.”
Fletcher even has a preferred way to get it, too.
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“Off the top of my head, I'd like to take him down,” he said.
“I think with the credentials he's got in freestyle wrestling, to get a takedown against him would be pretty exciting. But just the fact he's a young prospect, the fact I'm not expected to win, that's all exciting for me. That's what I want to do. I want to go and prove everybody wrong. I’ve got a chip on my shoulder for this one. So, I’m looking forward to it.”
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