While he’s shaken off the rust from his two-year stint on the sidelines over these last two outings, Trizano points to increased activity as the key to righting the ship and starting to take consistent positive steps forward in the featherweight division.
“Naw, ‘cause I fought a couple times already after that,” he said when asked if there was any lingering physical hangover from his extended absence. “My last fight was obviously February, but before that, it was May, and I wanted to get another fight in between the May and February fights, but it ended up falling through.
“It’s just about activity,” he added. “I need to keep the momentum going like we’ve been talking about, and not be sidelined too long.”
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Fighting regularly isn’t the only way activity can be crucial to Trizano’s future success, though.
In the fight with Dawodu in February, which resulted in scores of 30-27 across the board for the striker from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, the 30-year-old Team Tiger Schulmann representative landed at a good clip, connecting with 52 percent of his punches according to the UFC Stats website.
The problem, however, is that while his hit rate was higher, his overall output was too low to keep Dawodu from coming forward and dictating the action, with “Mean Hakeem” ultimately landing twice as many significant strikes as Trizano over the course of the 15 minute fight.
“Yeah, I definitely need to be a lot more active, and that’s what I’ve been working on, so hopefully we put that together,” said Trizano, quick to acknowledge his output was too low against the talented Canadian. “That’s always the game plan, (and it comes down to) putting all the work in in training, because whatever you do in training is what you do out there, so I’m constantly working on that in the gym.
“High output the whole time.”
Along with getting to make a relatively hasty return to the Octagon this weekend, Trizano is one of those competitors that never seem to get too down when things don’t break his way. He’s like a baseball player in that way, seeing the fight with Dawodu as an at-bat where he struck out, and this weekend’s clash with Almeida as the chance to get up there and take another swing.