Steve Garcia | Only Looking Forward

Luckily, Garcia didn’t have to put his toughness on one wheel on display, as it was Barboza who withdrew from the fight due to injury. It wasn’t the greatest news Garcia heard, but he ultimately got an equally respected foe for this Saturday’s UFC Nashville card when perennial featherweight contender Calvin Kattar was slotted alongside him.

“I’m excited,” said Garcia. “He's ranked, and I'm just here, man. I'm just crawling my way through the division.”

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Thankfully, on two good ankles. As for his willingness to walk into the fire against someone with the weapons to make him pay for his decision, he laughs. 

“I don't think a normal person would understand,” said Garcia. “When you fight somebody like Barboza, you have to almost put yourself in this mental spot where it's kind of dark. In my head, I was like, every time he goes after my leg, I’ve got to make him pay for it. If it's super severe, then maybe you should probably just withdraw from the fight. But when it’s something that I've gone into fights with before and I can still make the weight and I can still carry on a normal fight night, I'm going to take the fight, regardless of who it is. You just bite down on your mouthpiece and let's go. That's my mindset. I could easily make things worse with my ankle, but, at the end of the day, I'm not going to stop. I'm not going to quit. I'm going to keep going until my ankle's literally dangling off my leg. That's how I see it.”

That attitude has made Garcia one of the unsung heroes in a stacked featherweight division, as well as a tough out for anyone he faces on fight night. Let’s face it, five consecutive wins in this weight class, let alone any UFC weight class, is a big deal. To win all five by knockout, picking up three Performance of the Night bonuses along the way, is even more impressive. So while it goes without saying that he’s probably earned a ranking at 145 pounds already, beating Kattar should cement a place for him in the top 15. And with Bridgestone Arena being the backdrop, he can start building that fanbase even more…the right way.

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“I don't have the luxury of stardom,” said Garcia. “How I fight has always been the way I’vebeen able to be successful in my career. I don't really have a mouth on me because I also got to consider my kids. I don't want them to look at dad and be like, ‘Man, dad looks like a meanie,’ or something like that. And I'm also not trying to make a fool of myself or my family. I'm a believer, I'm not trying to make a fool of God; I'm not trying to do those things. If you have something to say, we can have a conversation about it, whether it's in the media or not, but I have to really be careful about what's going on. So I figured the best way I can get people's attention is by fighting the most violent way that I know how. And I feel like I'm doing that. I love Vegas and I'm back with my family on Sunday, but in order to get that recognition, I feel like I need to fight in some of these arenas that hold a lot of people so they can see me. I just got to get under their eyes and perform. So I'm excited to be able to have a crowd this time and hopefully build a following and be able to just keep advancing my career and go from there.”