UFC star Ross Pearson ripping up playbook to save career against Mizuto Hirota
Four crushing consecutive defeats have forced the Australia-based Toon star to reinvent himself as a fighter
UFC star Ross Pearson is ripping up the playbook to save his career with a relaunch against Mizuto Hirota at UFC 221.
The Newcastle hardman has lost his last four fights with losses from Las Vegas to New Zealand – via Belfast – with a June defeat to Dan Hooker the most recent and brutal.
But the Toon veteran – currently enjoying a sunnier side of life having move to Australia to live with ring-girl wife Kristie Jane – is reinventing himself for his latest assault on the lightweight division.
The durable Geordie said: “After a bad loss like I took in my last fight it makes you analyse everything you have ever done in this sport – training and fighting.
“So I have made some big changes in my training and my methods to get ready for fights.
“The sport and the UFC has changed so much even since I started back in 2009.
“I’ve had a lot of fights in the UFC so there is a lot of me to watch and I have been forced to change everything I do.
“I have my own gym north of Sydney, on the central coast of New South Wales. I train with Lions Gym in Penrith and also back in San Diego with Alliance MMA.
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“The changes I have made includes bringing new coaching and training partners to work with me.”
Despite claiming to be focusing a lot more attention on his defence, the warrior in 33-year-old Pearson cannot help looking forward to a war with the Japanese star.
The tattooed battler will not waste his time making predictions for the fight on the Robert Whittaker vs Luke Rockhold undercard – but he guarantees it will be explosive.
He said: “You never know as this game is crazy.
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“Every time I try to make a prediction it never works, I’m better at talking about other guys’ fights rather than my own, but I see me being too slick for him.
“I’m really working on defence and counters, whereas before I was a lot more offensive and thinking about the attacking part of the fight game.
“I know he is a tough durable veteran who has been around for a while, like myself.
“He likes to come forward, swing bombs and use his aggression to win fights.
“Right now my skill set is back to being sharp so I’m excited to get in there and exchange with him.”
Watch Ross in action at UFC 221: Whittaker vs. Rockhold live on BT Sport on Saturday, February 10, 2018