Following his first career loss in June of 2020 to Julian Erosa at UFC Fight Night, featherweight Sean Woodson was hoping to return to action sooner than later to get himself back on track, but things didn’t work out as he had wanted.
Originally slated to make his return last November versus Jonathan Pearce, an injury scrapped those plans for Woodson, and he’s been on the sidelines ever since.
“After my last fight I wanted to get back in there right away as soon as possible, and my manager got me booked for November, and then I suffered that injury. It put me almost a year since I fought,” Woodson told MMAWeekly.com.
“It’s been rough, but instead of dwelling on it and letting it get the best of me mentally, I just told myself to focus on the things I can control, and I knew I was going to have an opportunity to fight, so I’ve just been taking this entire time to prepare for what’s to come.”
Though it’s been a year since he last fought, Woodson is aware of the progress he’s made in his game and has a good idea of the fighter he is in 2021.
“I’ve noticed a huge growth in my game over this time,” said Woodson. “I don’t even have to wait for the fight to notice that.
“My ground game has improved a lot. My strength and conditioning have improved the most. I’ve definitely been focusing on my ground game a lot. I can feel it overall in my grappling and my strength; that has improved a lot.”
This Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada, Woodson (7-1) makes his long-delayed return when he faces Youssef Zalal (10-4) in a preliminary 145-pound bout at UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Sakai.
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“He’s really good,” Woodson said of Zalal. “He’s well-rounded. He can strike, he can grapple. What I have to do to win is just show up and be myself.
“Even though he likes to think of himself as a striker, and he favors striking more, I feel he’s going to be looking to grapple in this fight, and I’m all for it. I’ve improved my grappling a lot, and I’m looking forward to showing that I’m a well-rounded fighter and not just a striker. I’m looking to make a statement that I belong in the UFC.”
Considering he’s only managed to fight once in the last 20 months, the main objective for Woodson going forward is to be as active as possible.
“I’m definitely going to let it be known after this fight that I want to be more active,” said Woodson. “Following my UFC debut I didn’t get another fight until I think it was eight months later. Now I’m approaching a year layoff, so I want to let it be known I want to be more active.
“I want to fight every three or four months. As long as I can get in a six to eight week camp I’ll be ready to go. I’m definitely going to push to be more active and fight every three to four months for sure.”