Yancy Medeiros Says He Turned Himself Around While Recovering From Injury

Yancy Medeiros spoke with MMAjunkie ahead of his fight with Gregor Gillespie on Saturday at UFC on ESPN+ 1. Highlights are below:

On improving his discipline during his recovery from injury: “I was just training, staying ready. Max (Holloway) got in camp for (Brian) Ortega (at UFC 231), and I just got in camp with him. I actually changed up a lot of things in my life for the better, just living a healthy life. Just started shedding weight. I walk around at 195, changed everything, kept training, living a healthy lifestyle with my environment, my food and everything, and started walking around at 175. Now I’m 160. Featherweight watch out, I’m coming.”

On turning things around: “I just got into being scientific, the science. After I got injured I really wanted to change my life around because I hated pulling out of that fight. I hated pulling out of fights. I was injured. It put me in ‘The Twilight Zone.’ I was like, ‘What the hell?’ I just became an optimal human being.”

On Gillespie: “I moved back down to 155, and I didn’t want to call anybody out, so I was calling everybody out. He’s got the stats, he’s got the numbers of the wrestling, but he doesn’t know where I’m at, what I’ve been doing and what I’ve been training. I train with the world’s best. I’ve got Max Holloway, I’ve got Martin Day, I’ve got all these others fighters and a great team making me optimal.”