Garcia faces Chris backed by the best
Rafa Garcia has just one career loss and that came in his UFC debut. With a record of 12-1, the former Combate Americas Lightweight champion is ready for his second octagon appearance against Chris Gruetzemacher, in much better conditions than the first time.
Garcia, originally from Mexicali, Baja California, took the call four days before his debut against Nasrat Haqparast and although he gave a competitive fight, his physical conditions were not enough to take the bout.
“Now, it’s three months that I prepared for the fight. The first one I had to drop 22 pounds from Tuesday to Friday, it was an opportunity I couldn’t let go. Instead of making excuses, because of the short notice, I want to take something positive and go out and correct the mistakes I made, because it wasn’t just that I got tired, that’s why I want to correct mistakes, that’s why I went to Denver to do this camp.”
Few fighters can boast the support Rafa has; for years, veteran Cub Swanson has been advising him and became his manager and for this preparation he couldn’t have had better help.
“We went to Denver for three months to improve our cardio and train with people like Justin Gaethje and Trevor Wittman. The coach is very detailed, from the moment I throw a jab he has to check that my feet are good, I feel I have much better boxing, better wrestling, I’m better in my takedowns. A lot of what he uses is footwork. Details that you don’t normally see, but that help a lot,” explained ‘Gifted’.
Wittman is one of today’s top trainers, in recent years, with work in the corner of Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and Strawweight champion Rose Namajunas, as well as former Interim Lightweight champion Justin Gaethje.
With the team that has surrounded him, he feels confident of coming out with a win against Gruetzemacher: “He’s a fighter who goes forward very well, takes a lot of punches and looks to tire his opponent out and grow from there. We are going to try to make him not move, to corner him and finish the fight,” he added.
Rafa has a great talent in wrestling and has shown improvement in each of his fights with his hands, that’s why he has caught the attention of many UFC stars, who have endorsed him, such as Cub Swanson.
“He has always had confidence in me. He watches my every step, he looks for my improvement, coming to Colorado was a decision we made together; coming with Gaethje, with Drew Dober who is my weight. He came to see that everything was 100 percent and Gaethje has treated me like I’m his little brother, I feel like I have another Cub in Colorado.”
In that sense he has been privileged and although he has just lost his undefeated record as a professional, the story of Brandon Moreno, who grew up a few miles away from him in Tijuana, is inspiring: “More than anything, he showed us that it can be done. Seeing him get picked last in The Ultimate Fighter, getting cut from the UFC, doing what he did, he motivates us because a lot of people give up when things don’t go the way you want them to go. They told me that I came from a small town and there were no opportunities, opportunities go and you look for them, nobody is going to give you anything for free. With hard work and effort everything is possible,” Rafa concludes.
Garcia will be part of this Saturday’s card, where Uriah Hall and Sean Strickland will fight in the main event.
