Athletes
Tony Gravely Trains To Be The Best Version Of Himself
At UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs Song, Tony Gravely Enters The Octagon For The Third Time In 2022, Facing Undefeated Javid Basharat
Three short months after earning his second win this calendar year, Tony Gravely returns to the Octagon this Saturday at UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs Song, trying to extend his win streak to three, his longest since joining the UFC in 2019.
In June, Gravely backed up his words during fight week, saying that he wouldn’t be satisfied if the fight went the distance. He proceeded to finish Johnny Muñoz just over a minute into the first round.
“It’s very satisfying,” Gravely said. “Any time you can go out in the Octagon and come out unscathed with a win, that’s the name of the game, right? To go in, get a finish and get out. It doesn’t always happen like that, but when it does happen, it feels really good so I’m very pleased that was the case. That was in June and now it’s September; pretty quick turnaround and I’m happy I was able to do that and get back on track, get busy again and get back to the goal.”
Earning his UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series Season 3, Gravely was on the wrong end of a Fight of the Night performance against Brett Johns in his UFC debut, losing by submission in the third round. This ignited a full-time move to American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida.
As of late, this move has provided him with endless elite talent to train with, as well as shifting a large focus of his preparation to recovery and keeping his body healthy year-round.
“Train as hard as you can, believe in everything you do, believe in your coaches, believe in your teammates,” Gravely said. “I have the best training partners at American Top Team, the best coaches, and when you go in there and compete against guys that are former world champions, current world champions, future world champions, then there’s nothing to worry about.”
Tony Gravely TKOs Birchak | UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs Gastelum
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Tony Gravely TKOs Birchak | UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs Gastelum
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“Recovery is very important. Recovery, rehydration, rest, those things are more important than what I thought when I was younger.
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“Just like I do in life, I focus on myself. If I focus on myself, then I’ll be the best that I can be. I’ve been working on everything: my grappling, my striking, cardio, everything, because I don’t want to just train for my opponent, I want to train to be the best that I can be.”
This weekend, Gravely tests himself against undefeated Javid Basharat, who secured his place in the UFC with a submission victory against Oron Kahlo on the fifth season of Dana White’s Contender Series.
Tony Gravely TKOs Munoz | UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs Rozenstruik
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Tony Gravely TKOs Munoz | UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs Rozenstruik
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Eleven finishes in twelve professional fights makes Basharat an up-and-comer to certainly look out for. However, emerging unscathed night in and night out doesn’t offer you some of the advantages and growth that fighting through battles and losses does, something Gravely has experienced many times throughout his career. So how will Basharat handle deep waters the first time he’s dragged there? Gravely hopes to find out on Saturday.
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“I’ve watched a couple of his fights,” Gravely said. “I think I’m a little bit more battle-tested than he is. You can’t really look at certain fights and say he’s not tough and not ready, but I know for a fact that I am because I’ve been in those situations. I’ve lost, I’ve had to get myself back together and win, I’ve been winning fights and lost, things like that. They suck, but those are things that build you and make you better and, at the end of the day, those are things that build you into a champion.”
UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs Song took place live from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 17, 2022. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
