“It’s a sprint, but it’s a long-distance sprint,” Crute said. “You have to have fun doing it, but why take it slow? I want to fight as many times as I can. It’s a marathon in a way that I want it to last a long time, but it is a sprint because I want to give a hundred percent all the way through.”
The 25-year-old has gone 4-2 inside the Octagon since making his debut three years ago. The last time fans saw Crute was back in April at UFC 261, where he faced Anthony Smith. Heading into the bout, Crute said that he felt as if a victory could take him to the next level, from prospect to contender.
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However, after falling to Smith due to a doctor’s stoppage at the end of the first round, Crute doesn’t want to have that mindset of jumping from prospect to contender anymore.
“I try not to think about it now,” he said. “I’ve thought about all that stuff twice in my career and I’ve lost both fights that I’ve thought about it, so I think from the last fight my stock rose. I just want to fight. I’m not in my prime yet. I’ll have a lot of fights, get experience and then hit my prime and I’ll start chasing the title.”
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This time around, Crute doesn’t have those thoughts going into the fight and he feels better all around.
“I’m feeling really good this week; it’s a way more positive vibe this fight week compared to the last one…I was just in a bad headspace and everything that could’ve went wrong, went wrong,” Crute said. “I think that it was all up in my head, but this time I feel free as a bird.”