Those are words UFC bantamweight prospect Hunter Azure takes to heart, especially now as the father of a young son. It’s easy to miss those parenting moments while being a professional athlete at the highest level of his sport who is chasing a championship, but Azure is settling in nicely by slowing things down.
“It’s just a day-by-day thing,” he said. “I try to get better each day no matter what it is. I try to improve on everything. We get to train every day, we have things written down, scores we beat, so we get a lot to go off of and just try to improve. But I also enjoy my family time, so I try to slow things down, enjoy it and not look too far ahead. A lot of us think we’re living the dream right now, so we’re happy and stuff, but we’re trying to live life too fast. So I just try to slow it down and enjoy it. I love training and fighting, so I’m trying to enjoy the camp as well and have fun with it.”
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On Saturday, Azure puts his foot on the gas pedal again for 15 minutes or less when he faces unbeaten Jack Shore in Las Vegas. It’s the Montana native’s first fight since rebounding from the first loss of his career by beating Cole Smith last September. It was a satisfying victory for the 29-year-old, who now stands with a 9-1 pro MMA record.