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Rafa Garcia | Inspired By A Legend
Backed By A Legend Of The Octagon, Mexico’s Rafa Garcia Wants To Break Into The Lightweight Top 15.
Ten fights into his UFC career, Rafa Garcia says the time is right for him to step up his game and establish himself as a ranked contender in the UFC lightweight division.
Baja California native Garcia is in excellent form, with four wins from his last five Octagon visits, and heads into his upcoming bout at UFC Fight Night: Sterling vs Zalal this weekend on a two-fight win streak.
His most recent outing saw him go into the trenches with fellow vet Jared Gordon in a bout that went all the way into the third round before Garcia eventually stopped his man with elbows to claim a hard-earned TKO victory.
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“I remember just being in a war – a three-round war. Crazy!” he recalled. “We were both hitting each other pretty hard, and just getting a finish like that on such an important day for my country, and doing it in front of so many people, just meant a lot. To be in an arena and get that privilege to fight in an arena, it means so much.”
Rafa Garcia Fight Week Interview | UFC Fight Night: Sterling vs Zalal
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Rafa Garcia Fight Week Interview | UFC Fight Night: Sterling vs Zalal
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That win has nudged Garcia further up the UFC’s lightweight ladder, and on Saturday night, he’ll face another difficult test in the form of Alexander Hernandez, who is in the best form of his UFC career, having reeled off four successive victories in his last four appearances.
“I know it's gonna be a war,” Garcia said. “But I'm gonna go out there, put the pace on him, and just walk forward and try to finish him. I know he's gonna try to move a lot around the cage, but I’m ready to cut him off, put the pressure on, get in his face, and make it a dirty fight, like I did at Noche.”
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It’s Garcia’s second successive bout against a hard-nosed vet, but he feels like he’s more than ready for the challenge, thanks in no small part to the man who leads his fight team, recently-retired UFC legend Cub Swanson, who serves as his head coach at Bloodline Combat Sports in Orange, California.
As Garcia explained, Swanson is much more than just a coach. He’s also a friend and an inspiration.
“Man, I take a lot of inspiration from (him), because Cub is just such a great person. Besides being a fighter, he’s such a great person, always willing to help anybody.
“I met him in Mexico City, and I told him, ‘Hey, can I go train with you one day?’ and he’s like, ‘Yeah!’
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“I just showed up the next day, and we just became good friends. I started helping him, and he started helping me. And man, he’s one of my best friends.”
Swanson’s unusual longevity in the grueling, punishing world of mixed martial arts has also offered helpful pointers for Garcia as he looks to work his way through his own fighting career.
“Something that he teaches a lot is you’ve got to take care of your body,” he explained. “You've got to listen to your body. And you see the result that he has. I feel that the way he performed (in his retirement fight), he could still fight a couple more fights. I feel like he didn't get hit – he looked like a ghost, but he was still hitting a lot. It was an awesome performance.”
Garcia has his sights on a spot in the lightweight top 15, and said that working under Swanson as part of a talented collective at Team Bloodline has been huge for his development as a fighter, and he said that the entire team has helped make sure he’s fully prepared for fight night against Hernandez this weekend.
“Training with Team Bloodline just helped me out a lot,” he said. “We’re about to open a new gym, and, man, it's a lot of motivation. With me, Danny Silva, (Lerryan) Douglas, Cub (Swanson), Richie Miranda coming up – we're just ready, you know? I feel very ready. I feel like everybody's putting in a little part of their game to help each other. And I just feel ready.”
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When it comes to the fight itself, Garcia said that he possesses the crucial difference-maker that will help him overwhelm Hernandez and capture his third straight win.
“I think my pace (is the key),” he said. “I'm definitely not gonna take a step back. I'm always going forward, and then I’m gonna try to break him. I feel like we're right there, and in an opponent like Alex, he's very tough, very durable. He's been in the UFC for a long time. I feel like a win over him this weekend is gonna put me right there in the top 15.”
UFC Fight Night: Sterling vs Zalal took place live from Meta APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 25, 2026. 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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