That was the case for Matthews after being defeated by Sean Brady in his last trip to the Octagon.
“I gave him the opportunity to dictate what he wanted to do and that was my downfall,” Matthews said. “The biggest takeaway from that fight was to not get caught up in what my opponent is going to do. Don’t think about what they are doing so much; think about what I want to do.”
Thanks to the lessons learned in his fight with Brady, Matthews is attacking his upcoming fight with Jeremiah Wells on UFC Fight Night: Font vs Aldo with one goal in mind – dictate where the fight goes.
“I’m going to go in there and focus on what I want to do, dictate the fight, and any opportunity to finish the fight I’m going to take it and I’m just going to go out there and give it 110 percent,” Matthews said. “I’ve got a pretty broad arsenal in terms of weapons I use in the fight, and I won’t be as one dimensional. I’ll let it all go.”
Fight By Fight Preview | UFC Fight Night: Font vs Aldo
Finding that focus is something that comes with experience, and Matthews believes he’s reached that point. He’s enjoying fight week more, appreciating the process and feeling like everything happening around him is routine.
“This is all I’ve done for my whole life,” Matthews said. “It feels like home for me when I go in there because I’ve done it so many times.”