Athletes
Ode’ Osbourne Is Ready To Make The Jump
After Losing Out On The Scorecards In Two Of His Last Three Fights, Ode’ Osbourne Plans To Take The Judges Out Of The Equation At UFC Houston
A dozen fights into his UFC career, Ode’ Osbourne feels like all the pieces are in place for him to make a run towards title contendership at 125 pounds.
Talent-wise, the ability has always been there. That's what saw him earn a call to compete on Dana White's Contender Series in 2019, where he claimed a first-round submission win to earn his UFC chance. But when you compete at the very highest level of the sport, wins and losses are part of the game, and it takes constant improvement and evolution to ensure you end with more of the former than the latter.
Since that Contender Series win, Osbourne has been on a journey of discovery, education and realization that getting to the UFC is one achievement, but staying there and fighting your way into championship contention is another. Now, after 12 fights on the UFC roster, "The Jamaican Sensation" feels like he's ready to make that jump from divisional vet to championship threat.
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Part of that feeling of readiness comes from the tweaks he's made to his preparation, the results of which were among the first things he spoke about when he sat down with UFC.com ahead of his upcoming bout in Houston, Texas, this weekend.
"Honestly, this has been the best start to a fight camp ever, because I've never came into fight camp this light before. So that's a good sign. All the signs are there, so I'm ready," he said.
"You learn little things along the way, and I think this time I started my water loading a little bit earlier. I usually start my water loading on Monday. This time I started last Wednesday, and it's made a world of difference.
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"Not just that, but shout out to my coach, Dewey Cooper. We've been putting in the work. Those heavy, hard bag days and training days that me and Dewey put in definitely gets me sweating a lot, so we I lose so many calories during those sessions. So that helps a lot."
Osbourne's development should come as no surprise. As a former assistant teacher, he knows all about helping young people maximize their potential. Now he's applying that mindset to his own career, with the help of some world-class coaches and teammates.
"I think I've had to grow up inside the UFC," he admitted.
Ode' Osbourne Earns Knockout Win | Fight Night: Overeem vs Volkov
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Ode' Osbourne Earns Knockout Win | Fight Night: Overeem vs Volkov
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"A lot of mental maturity has taken place, and a lot of fighters are already matured before they get to the UFC. For me, I've been in so many different places in my life. I came from Jamaica to New York to Florida to Wisconsin. Now I'm living in Vegas, so now I've had a time to kind of settle in to myself. So, this is redemption.
"Not only that, but I fought in Houston. I fought Manel Kape on two weeks' notice during COVID, and I needed money, so I obviously accepted that fight. This time, I have a full camp. I have the MVP coaches. I got Dewey Cooper, Aljamain Stering and Renato Canuto. Man, you can't get better coaching, better corners, than that.
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"I feel like God sometimes puts you in situations in order to grow you. Because if you're not ready for it, then the pressures of life will break you like a toothpick. I'm finally ready to handle everything that's coming my way."
One of the things he's had to handle is seeing the scorecards going against him. Competitive outings against Ronaldo Rodriguez and former title challenger Steve Erceg both ended with the result hanging in the air before the judges eventually sided with his opponent.
Those results didn't end with the wins Osbourne felt he'd deserved. But after the Erceg loss served as a watershed moment for Osbourne, who immediately headed back to the gym to ensure he never has his heart broken by the judges again.
"I told my coach the next day. I was like, 'You know what? I'm gonna be back in the gym, training.'" he recalled.
"Because most people would say, 'Oh, well, I did a very good job against somebody who competed for the belt.' But I said, 'Nah, I won that fight, and I was supposed to win that fight,' you know? And I gotta work hard, so that I can win the next fight, and that means that I was really close to the guy that was a champion.
"So, if I'm to be a champion, that means I got to work three times as hard to supersede my expectations, so that way I could blow the next guy out of the water. And that's what I'm looking to do.
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"I don't think of myself as, 'Oh, that was the almost fight that I could have almost won.' I think of it as, 'Man, I gotta be 10 times better so I could beat that guy in the first round next time, or the second round, or KO him,' and that's what I got to do.
"My last three fights, it's crazy, because I fee like, the fight (against Rodriguez) at the Sphere, I won, and I feel like the Steve Erceg fight, I won. So I should be 3-0 right now, but instead, I'm 1-2. So now, I got a chip on my shoulder, and I got something to prove, and I can't let these, let these judges take this from me. I'm done asking for my flowers. I got to go out there and pick them (for myself)."
Osbourne is determined to bounce back not just with a win, but with a finish, and he sees Saturday night's bout with Alibi Idiris as the perfect opportunity to do exactly that as he looks to send a message to the rest of the flyweight division.
"He's a good fighter. He's 10-1 for a reason," said Osbourne.
"I just think he's unseasoned, and he's not ready for somebody like me. And, yeah, he's not going to pass the fraud check.
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"So, I got to go in there, stay disciplined and be myself, and be 'The Jamaican Sensation,' go to war and let it be known that I am one of the greatest, most dangerous flyweights in the division."
Idiris heads into Saturday night's fight with a 10-1 record and a determination to fight back after losing his UFC debut and his perfect professional record to Joseph Morales at UFC 319 last August.
It means the Kazakh flyweight heads into fight night in Houston with added motivation, but also the added pressure of having to avoid back-to-back losses. Osbourne is well aware of that pressure, and plans to add to it on fight night.
"Experience is everything, and he is going to feel the pressure," he said.
"I am going to make him wrestle me. I've told that to my coach, I'm going to make him wrestle me. When I say that, I mean, I'm going to put the hands, feet, everything, on him, so that he's going to want to wrestle me, and I'm going to invite him to wrestle me.
"I've been training with Aljamain Sterling (and) Renato Canuto, so I'm ready for it. So, yeah, man, it's my time now. Everyone has their time, and I feel right now it is 'The Jamaican Sensation's' time."
And with that level of confidence, Osbourne said that he's ready to get the win, by any means necessary, and by any method he chooses.
"When I see this fight, I get my hand raised however the hell I want," he declared.
"Mic drop!"
UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs Hernandez took place live from Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on February 21, 2026. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!