CHRISTIAN LEROY DUNCAN plans to showcase his “true” skillset this weekend after being robbed of the opportunity in a successful but disappointing UFC debut.
The former Cage Warriors middleweight champion makes his second Octagon outing early on Sunday morning at UFC on ESPN 47 in Las Vegas against kickboxing phenom Armen Petrosyan.
Duncan made the perfect start to life in mixed martial arts‘ top promotion with a first-round TKO victory over veteran Dusko Todorovic at UFC 286 in March.
His maiden win in the promotion, however, came courtesy of a knee injury to the Serbian – which put a huge dampener on what should’ve been a special night for ‘CLD’.
He told SunSport: “It doesn’t feel like a win. Even straight after the fight, it didn’t feel like a win.
“It was a weird feeling because usually when you win, you get the adrenaline rush.
“But after that [fight] it was kind of like a dump more than a rush. It was a real feeling to me. It wasn’t a win for me.”
Duncan has tried his best to put the unfortunate circumstances of his victory over Todorovic behind him ahead of his return, so much so that he’s treating his American debut as his “true” UFC bow.
He said: “[This fight,] it feels like a second debut to me. I’m taking this now as the true debut.
“This is my first time in the States, so I’m seeing this as my true debut.”
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Although he was left unsatisfied with his short but sweet debut, there were plenty of positives for Duncan.
He said: “I got the experience from the whole fight week.
“All the stuff behind the scenes and understanding how the UFC works behind the scenes and the preparations and getting to meet all the staff.
“With the PI [Performance Institute] as well with getting all the meal supplements and nutrition.
“So I took all that and I can bring that to the second fight. So nothing was wasted.”
This weekend’s clash with Petrosyan represents a marked step up in competition for Duncan, who firmly believes the match-up is a testament to how highly the UFC matchmakers rate him.
He said: “I’m happy with the way I’m climbing with the UFC.
“It seems they’re giving me challenges early, which has been in my career so far and has got me to this level so quickly.
“I welcome these challenges and I’m looking forward to stepping back in there.
Preparation for his second UFC outing – which is being overseen by long-time coach and British MMA legend Mark Weir – has been more methodical than previous camps.
Duncan recalled: “It’s been very detailed.
“I think the more we get deeper into the training camp, the more we’ll continue to break guys down and learn about the opponents that are coming up.
“It’s been interesting to learn about my opponent in this one and to find ways of exploiting [weak] areas.
“Altogether, it’s been a tough camp but a fun camp.”
Duncan’s deep dive into Petrosyan, the brother of kickboxing icon Georgio, has solidified his respect for the Armenian-Italian’s skillset – which he reckons will make their dust-up a sure-fire contender for the’ Fight of the Night’ bonus.
He said: “He’s very solid at what he does, he’s good at what he does. He’s very confident in what he does as well.
“And I think he poses a great threat, as everybody at this level does. So I’m looking forward to getting another level above.”
He added: “It’s gonna be a banger and an explosive one.
“We’re both coming to bring the fight. And from what I know of him, he does the same.
“I’m a very, very aggressive fighter. So I think from the start to potentially the finish, it’s going to be one to watch.”
