Athletes
Charles Jourdain Is Here For The Violence
Jourdain Doesn’t Plan To Make Things Complicated In His Fight Against Ricardo Ramos At UFC Vegas 79
Charles Jourdain was born on November 27, 1995. He is now 27 years old, and after spending eight months away from the Octagon, Jourdain secured his first victory in over a year at UFC 288 against Kron Gracie. He plans to make his 27th year around the sun the best one yet by adding another win to his belt this weekend at UFC Fight Night: Fiziev vs Gamrot.
“My mom told me you're born on the 27th, you're 27 that's your lucky year and you owe it to yourself to get another victory, to mark 2-0 as a 27-year-old,” Jourdain said. “I believe in my mama.”
UFC Fight Night: Fiziev vs Gamrot Fight By Fight Preview
The Canadian has always been a big fan of fighting in front of a crowd, but after his loss against Nathaniel Wood in Paris, he realized he needed to take some time away from fighting in order to mature.
Following the break, he faced Gracie and put on a well-rounded display of mixed martial arts, leaving the Prudential Center in Newark with a unanimous decision victory in his pocket.
“The break played a tremendous role,” Jourdain said. “I had six UFC appearances in the span of a year. It was a lot mentally and a lot physically, and now I grew. You need to take breaks in life. I did burn out, literally. It's bad to have a burn out when you're in a cage with someone who is trying to rip your head off. It was a bad night (against Wood), but now I feel reborn.”
Saturday will mark Jourdain’s 12th walk to the UFC Octagon. He has had a mixed bag of results since he first started his journey as a UFC fighter back in 2019, but he has been able to accomplish a lot since then.
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And now, he is finally feeling like an OG in the game.
“I was a 23-year-old (when I made my debut) and I'm 27, but already 12 times in the UFC,” Jourdain said. “I'm the Canadian who has the most fights right now, and I'm one of the youngest. It's crazy. I'm walking at the hotel, and I used to be the one who looks at guys and is like, ‘Oh my God, that's this guy,’ and now I see these new guys who are on the undercard, and they are like, ‘This is Charles Jourdain.’ I'm young, but I'm a small OG right now.”
When he looks toward the next stage of his career, he believes that all of the pieces are starting to come together for him.
After all, it must be that strength from turning 27 years old.
“I am leaner, stronger, meaner just becoming 27,” Jourdain said. “I'm starting to get that man’s strength, which I never had when I was fighting these men. Fighting a 30-year-old when you're 23, it's very, very hard. Knowing that I'm now building into my strength, and I still have lots of years ahead of me, it's a good feeling.”
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His next test is Brazil’s Ricardo Ramos, who hasn’t competed since last June but has an impressive resume coming into his fight with Jourdain. He has earned 11 of his 16 wins by finish, two of which have come by spinning back elbow.
That’s something Jourdain has focused on during his training camp because he knows it’s Ramos’ special weapon.
“The key to victory against this specific opponent is not letting him set the pace because he has a very dangerous spinning elbow attack, which he's either drawing you towards it or pushing you toward it,” Jourdain said. “It's going to be a fight where I need to take the center and push exchanges, but not overcommit and not let him push me.”
It felt as if the theme for Jourdain was violence. He mentioned it to me a few times throughout our interview on Wednesday and mentioned that fighting in the APEX isn’t something he shies away from because “it’s more pure and more violent” with less people.
Charles Jourdain Wins By TKO | UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs Muhammad
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Charles Jourdain Wins By TKO | UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs Muhammad
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He’s taking that mentality into his fight with Ramos and is, as always, expecting a war.
“It's not a game of chess,” Jourdain said. “It's important to have strategy, but this is a pure battle of blood and instinct, so as much as you want to say strategy is important, it is, but my thirst for blood is more important than the chess game.”
UFC Fight Night: Fiziev vs Gamrot took live from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 23, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
