Athletes
Serhiy Sidey Ready To Begin Year Two
Bantamweight Prospect Reflects On Lessons Learned During Rookie Year Ahead Of Sophomore Debut This Weekend
Serhiy Sidey got to make his UFC debut at home last January, when he faced off with Ramon Taveras in a rematch of their Dana White’s Contender Series encounter at UFC 297 in Toronto. After getting busted up in the first round, the Aegis MMA representative started to find his footing, and by the time the final horn sounded, many in attendance at Scotiabank Arena and watching at home felt like the Burlington, Ontario native had done enough to earn the victory.
The judges felt otherwise, awarding Taveras the split decision win in what was one of the best fights of 2024. Ten months later, the 28-year-old made his sophomore appearance in the UFC cage, facing off with Garret Armfield on the preliminary card in Edmonton. This time, it was Sidey that came out on the happy side of the split decision verdict, only the man that stood victorious in the center of the Octagon didn’t feel like he’d done enough to earn the win.
Just a few days ahead of his 2025 debut against Cameron Smotherman this weekend at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, the talented bantamweight prospect reflected on the lessons learned in those first two contests, which have been reinforced in the text of the latest book he’s been reading.
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“I’m reading this book right now called Inner Excellence, and one chapter in this book kind of breaks down what we’re talking about and what just happened in my last two fights perfectly,” begins Sidey, posted up against the wall at the gym, having just completed his last set of sprints before readying to head to the American heartland. “It was talking about how you go out there, you have your best performance to date, but you take a loss. Then you go out there, have a performance that you’re not so proud of, but you get the win. After, which one feels better?
“Now when I look back at it, I’m like, ‘The one where I lost, but I gave it my all,’” he continues, smiling. “That one, in my heart of hearts, felt much better than this last one. After re-watching the (Armfield) fight, I see how I got it, but I know that wasn’t the best version of myself that came out that night, and even though I got the win, in my heart, it didn’t feel as good as when I lost, but put a performance of a lifetime in. It’s funny how that works.”
Funny, in this sense, doesn’t mean comical or amusing, but rather confounding, and ultimately instructive; the kind of thing that makes you shake your head and realize that some of things you believed all along may not hold true.
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For Sidey, it’s a critical lesson learned in the early stages of his UFC career, and one that has completely reshaped the way he’s thinking about things heading into this weekend’s clash with Smotherman.
“Now I understand that, for me, the real goal is the inner game: the game in my mind, the game of bringing the best version of myself; that’s what I’m chasing,” resumes the former Battlefield Fight League bantamweight champion. “Results aside, it’s how I feel and how I perform that day that is going to matter the most.
“When I started this journey, I thought that you win and get the validation and all of those things — as long as I win, I’m gonna be happy, but then winning my last fight and not feeling that happiness taught me that valuable lesson. It’s not the validation — that’s my ego talking, man.
“I’m sitting in my room after the fight and sure, I got the win, have a little bit of relief that I’m not 0-2 in the UFC, but I’m not proud of myself. Now I know it’s not about the results — it’s about enjoying the moment and being the best version of myself.”
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He takes a pull from his water bottle before continuing.
“Paradoxically, if I go out there and enjoy the moment, I’m my best self in that moment, the results that I want are more likely to happen,” he adds, grinning at the richness of that reality. “That’s the mindset I’m bringing into this fight and carrying for the rest of my career.
“I’m glad I got these lessons early in my UFC career because understanding that is so important.”
Another important lesson the UFC sophomore learned last year during his freshman campaign was the value of getting out of one’s comfort zone and travelling to get different looks, with different athletes.
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In between his loss to Toronto and his win in Edmonton, Sidey sat down with his longtime coach Lyndon Whitlock, who told him it was time to figure out someplace he could go in order to train with more people.
It’s the type of conversation that not every coach is willing to have with their athlete, but the one that the best coaches and mentors know is both inevitable and invaluable. It’s why the moment in Ted Lasso when Higgins tells Keeley that “a good mentor hopes you’ll move on; a great mentor knows you will” resonates with so many people.
And it’s why Sidey was so grateful Whitlock pushed him out the door.
“I’ve always known Lyndon has my best interest in mind, wants the best for my career, but that was a really cool moment because some coaches try to cling onto you,” he says, immediately zeroing in on the thing that can at times prevent conversations like this from happening between athletes and coaches. “They don’t want you to go get new information because they think you might leave them; you might find a new place to get better.
“But because Lyndon cares about me so much, he understands that is what’s gonna help me grow, and that meant a lot for me.”
As it turned out, a path to getting looks elsewhere was laid a few years earlier, when one of his friends and former training partners picked up stakes and moved to Phoenix, Arizona to train at The MMA Lab, which boasts a trio of ranked UFC bantamweights amongst its permanent ranks.
“My boy Vinny Diaz, — he’s a pro bantamweight; I believe he’s 6-0 now, and one of the highest-level grapplers, best grapplers I have ever trained with — he moved down to The Lab,” explains Sidey, who enjoyed his initial experience in the Arizona desert so much that it has become a regular part of his preparation. “I messaged Vinny and I went down to The Lab for the first time last camp, and that’s where I met John Crouch, who is the head coach there. Me and him connected right away — he’s an amazing guy, amazing coach — and I just bonded with the team really, really well.
“Guys like Mario Bautista, Marcus McGhee, Kyler Phillips — they’re like my homies. The first week I was there, the day I got there, I felt like these guys were my brothers, and I was like, ‘This is a place I’m going to be coming back to’ because there is so much talent there.
“This time I came down, we got three weeks of work, a lot of work in with Marcus and Mario,” continues the Ukrainian-born Canadian. “The room is insane, and not just for the bantamweights, but the guys coming up too. Every round I had was a hard round. It’s a place I’m going to be spending half my time.
“I treat my life like an adventure, like a movie, and that was a new adventure for me,” he adds with a smile. “I try to keep a growth mindset and embrace all the opportunities, embrace the suffering, the uncomfortable moments because those are the places where you’re gonna grow. I remind myself of that every day with the books I read, the podcasts I listen to, all that stuff.
“When I put it into that perspective, it all becomes fun, all becomes exciting, and a new adventure.”
Like many of today’s athletes, Sidey has put a great deal of attention and focus into the mental side of his profession and simply working to better understand his own motivations, drives, and perspectives. As amusing as people found it seeing Philadelphia Eagles standout receiver A.J. Brown reading on the sidelines earlier this season, it’s actually something that reinforces his commitment to his craft and wanting to be better.
It also happened to be the same book Sidey is currently reading.
For the introspective and curious Canadian hopeful, working on the mental side of the game is just as critical to his success as hitting the gym each day, perhaps more.
“It’s everything for me, to be honest,” he says when asked about his daily reading and journaling habits, as well as the overall influence of the content he consumes. “When I started my career, even as an amateur, I always had the physical, but the one thing I lacked was the mental, that belief in myself. I could always be a workhorse, I could always grind, but mentally is where I kind of struggled in the beginning, so I started to dive into all that self-development stuff.
“Now, I have to be reading that stuff every day. I chip away at myself every day and I refresh my brain with this. We get programmed a certain way as we grow up, and there are a lot of things I have to release, a lot of things I have to unlearn, and adding in these books, these podcasts, listening to people that are successful and have done it before is a huge help.
“It’s not a one-time thing either: I have to do it every single day,” continues Sidey, whose Instagram stories frequently show pictures of his daily reading routine. “I have to start my morning with it so that I can bring a new perspective into that day in order to have the most successful day.
“It’s been a game-changer for me and, like you said, I really believe that at this level, everybody is a great athlete, everybody is a great performer, but in those 15 minutes that you get locked in that cage, can you be your best self? That’s where the mental and spiritual part really comes into it.”
Saturday night, the promising second-year fighter will carry an 11-2 record into the Octagon to face off with Smotherman in his first main card assignment since signing with the UFC.
While he’s headlined fight cards in the past as a champion in multiple promotions during his time on the regional circuit, being under the bright lights and in a big spot isn’t anything new for him, but doing it at this level is, and the tattooed bantamweight couldn’t be more excited for the opportunity.
“I only found out about that whole main card thing (on Saturday) night,” he says, a massive smile spreading across his face, his eyes lighting up with excitement. “It’s so exciting. Funny enough, I always — as a kid, I just wanted to be a performer; I always wanted to perform for crowds.
“It all started when I was in Grade 9 and going to a high school talent show, seeing some kid playing the guitar and singing, and all the girls were (going crazy). I was like, ‘Damn, dude — I can’t sing, but I wanna perform somehow.’”
“Cam’s an awesome fighter,” begins Sidey, offering his assessment of his opponent, the excitement about wading into the fray in less than a week still shimmering in his eyes. “I like his style, I think he’s exciting. He’s a pressure-heavy guy, he brings the fight. He likes to strike, I like to strike, and so I really think the UFC did a good job matching us up because there is no way this fight isn’t going to be exciting. We’re gonna have a lot of fun. We’re gonna stand and throw bombs.
“I think he’s a tough opponent, and I think that’s gonna bring out the best version of me,” he adds. “I need a good dance partner. I need someone that is gonna push my limits, and I think the way he pushes the pace, the way he fights is gonna bring it out of me. I’m super-excited to go get a Fight of the Night with this guy.”
After an educational rookie campaign on the UFC roster and a few months to ready for the beginning of his sophomore campaign, the talented Dana White’s Contender Series graduate finds himself armed with a new mental approach and the same abundance of weapons that made him an intriguing addition to the bantamweight ranks when he claimed a UFC contract in the fall of 2023.
Now, as he readies to make his main card debut in the biggest promotion in the sport, Sidey is both counting down the days until Saturday and eager to see if he can blend the positive feelings from his debut effort with the outcome of his second appearance last year into one this weekend in Des Moines.
“I think I’m figuring out this game,” he says. “I think I’m figuring out the mental, figuring out how I need to perform, how I have to bring myself into the moment to be the best version of myself. Now I’m just excited to go out there and see if I can put it together, and that’s the fun part!
“I’m gonna go out there, give it my best effort, bring all these tools that I have, lessons that I’ve learned, and I’ve been visualizing getting my hand raised every day for the last six weeks. I’m gonna make this a reality; I truly think so.”
UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs Figueiredo took place live from Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa on May 3, 2025. 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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