When the coronavirus pandemic rocked the promotion’s upcoming schedule, Ryan Benoit answered the UFC’s call.
A UFC flyweight, Benoit (10-6 MMA, 3-4 UFC) accepted the promotion’s offer – a May 2 fight against Tyson Nam on Indian reservation land in California. The event never happened, with Disney and ESPN asking the UFC to postpone the card until a later date.
Benoit liked the May 2 booking. While the event was postponed, the matchup may not go by the wayside. Benoit expects the pairing to be preserved, with the fight taking place at a later date.
“I definitely like that booking,” Benoit recently. told MMA Junkie. “I figure any fights they booked for this upcoming island fights or the Indian reservation land, that those will probably be the first fights they fill up the first few fight cards with. I don’t know how true that is. I know there were other guys before the pandemic hit that signed for upcoming events two months from now.
“I don’t really know how it’s going to work out from here on out, but I’m hoping we can keep the opponent and keep getting prepared for this guy. We won’t have to change game plans or anything. We can keep this plan going forward.”
Training in the midst of a national emergency isn’t easy, Benoit admitted. With a family at home, Benoit is nervous he’s going to accidentally bring back a virus from the gym. However, he’s doing everything he can to prevent that from happening.
“Before I got the fight, I was just trying to stay busy and train as often as I can,” Benoit said. “It’s pretty hard right now. Nobody is going to the gym. Even going to the gym, I have kids at home, so it’s kind of difficult to (control) who you come in contact with and how many people you want to be around. If you get it from them, you’re going to take it home. It’s been incredibly difficult.
Since November 2017, Benoit has only stepped foot in the UFC cage once. Plagued with injuries, including a gruesome rib fracture, Benoit competed most recently at UFC on ESPN+ 23 in December.
“Mostly just injuries,” Benoit said, of the cause of reasoning for the layoff. “Right after my last fight at flyweight, I had broken my hand and broken my foot in the fight. I had to take some time off and let injuries heal. Then we were trying to come back in the summer time. They told us there was going to be a fight card in September in Dallas. We were trying to hold off and hold off and hold off for that fight card. We got on the fight card in Dallas.
“A couple of days before the fight in Dallas, I broke a rib. My rib was displaced and sitting in front of my liver. I had a lot of doctors tell me, ‘Be careful just bending over and standing up because it (is) sitting about a half an inch in front of your liver. If that punctures your liver, that could be the end of your career.'”
Benoit’s back-and-forth return fight against Heili Alateng in December was close. Ultimately, a split decision was scored for his opponent. The fight was contested at bantamweight, which seemed like a good move at the time. However, partway through the camp, Benoit realized flyweight should’ve remained his home.
“I had to take a good amount of time off to let this injury heal,” Benoit said. “We came back a little bit heavy and that’s why we decided to go to bantamweight. Halfway through the bantamweight fight camp we’re like, ‘You know what? We’re better at flyweight.'”
Check out MMA Junkie’s full interview with Benoit in the video below.
