Europe’s first UFC flyweight Phil Harris didn’t have the greatest time in the UFC. After just one victory and being finished three times, March’s submission loss to Louis Gaudinot signalled the end of his eighteen month run.
“I pretty much knew it was on the cards after I lost to Louis anyway,” Harris conceded when speaking to MMASucka yesterday, “that’s how the UFC work. If you’re not performing you’re out the door, it’s pretty ruthless.”
“I’m disappointed with how I performed in the UFC,” Harris says, “especially my last two fights. Basically just never being able to do what I do best. Even in the fight I won I don’t think it was a good performance from me, so the most annoying thing about leaving the UFC is that I haven’t had that one great fight which I know I could, I should have had. I want to carry on, and show everyone what I can do.”
What went wrong in those fights? “The Lineker fight, it was a case of me not putting my gameplan into action. We knew he was a heavy hitter and the gameplan was to take him down and I didn’t even try. I left it too long, and then I got caught.”
“In the Gaudinot fight my gameplan was pretty much the same – I was going to take him down quick and work my ground game. But then I rushed my gameplan and got caught again. I learned from both of those fights, and I’ve got a chance to redeem myself on Cage Warriors now.”
Despite his release never being officially announced to the public, Harris was released via an email to his manager just a few days after the loss in London, even though he had just signed a new four fight deal with the UFC. However, Harris’ manager just happens to be Cage Warriors CEO Graham Boylan, and within a week Harris was back with Europe’s leading MMA organization.
“He asked me…do you want to keep fighting? You can fight for Cage Warriors and I’ll get you a contract written up this week. That’s probably the best place in world outside the UFC for flyweights at the moment, so it was sort of a no-brainer to go to Cage Warriors.”
So, looking to redeem himself Harris was scheduled to fight just a month after the loss to Gaudinot, against Kurban Gadzhiev (6-0) in Jordan, before the Russian prospect pulled out due to illness. The undefeated prospect has five first round finishes on his record, but Harris wasn’t paying much attention to who is standing across the cage from him.
“I don’t like to be sat on the sidelines too long,” Harris said, “I like to keep active…my last fight I had no injuries, I just wanted to get back in the cage straight away.”
“I’m a little bit heavier than normal, just because I’ve had a shorter fight camp than I normally get…but nothing that’s going to be a problem…It’s going to be a little bit hotter out there, but this time of year it’s not overly hot. I’ve been out to the Middle East a couple of times and it’s bearable. Not only that, you fight in an air-conditioned place, so that won’t be too much of a factor.”
Despite many fighters looking to bounce back into the UFC as quickly as possible, Harris believes that period of his career may well be behind him, but he isn’t too concerned with getting back to the big leagues.
“At this stage in my career I’m not overly fussed about going back to the UFC,” Harris said, “I’ve had over 30 fights, I’m 31, I’ve been a pro for over ten years and I’ve been competing all my life.”
“I’ve done the UFC and had my shot, I’d like to see the younger guys have their shot now.”
