LAS VEGAS – While he’s spent six years on the UFC roster, English middleweight Tom Breese believes he’s just now really starting to find his way in the promotion. At Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 189, Breese plans on showing exactly where he stands entering what he thinks is the prime of his career.
“I feel like I’ve been making good progress, and what’s been good is I’ve been getting a lot of octagon time in, so just keep being consistent,” Breese told MMA Junkie at Wednesday’s media day. “I’m just getting warmed up. I’m loving what I’m doing, and I’m heading into my prime years.”
Breese looked absolutely fantastic in an October 2020 win over KB Bhullar, scoring a “Performance of the Night” bonus for his work. But in January, he was submitted by Omari Akhmedov, leaving questions as to whether he was ready for the division’s best.
Breese said he doesn’t want to make any excuses for his performance but admits his experience on “UFC Fight Island” didn’t exactly set him up for success.
“I’m still very annoyed about that because they locked me up for the whole week before my fight,” Breese said. “I wasn’t even let out of my hotel room, so it was like a week of solitary confinement. I couldn’t sleep, anything. It was – I’m f*cking pissed off about it, to be honest.
“I wasn’t able to acclimatize. I couldn’t go outside. I’m just in my hotel room. I got people testing me at silly times in the morning. I can’t train with my team. It was just a ridiculous situation to be in.”
But things are much better this time around, Breese (12-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) said. He arrived in Las Vegas several days early to acclimatize, and he’s anxious to perform in his bout with Antonio Arroyo (9-4 MMA, 0-2 UFC), which streams live on ESPN+ from the UFC Apex.
“He looks like the type of guy that’s just going to try and blast kicks at range,” Breese said. “I’m going to look to get close to him and punch holes through him, so it’s like that. These guys, I think once they feel feel my power, they’ll probably end up shooting or something or getting desperate, you know what I mean? So I can’t see many guys wanting to stand with me, to be honest.”
If Breese can again display the form he showed in his win over Bhullar, the 29-year-old veteran will certainly have some buzz around his name once again, but Breese says that’s not important for him. He believes great things lie ahead for him, regardless of what anyone’s expectations might include.
“People can say what they want,” Breese said. “I believe in myself. I believe I’m going to get to the top one day, and I’ll just keep pushing. Persistence. That’s it. Persistence. I’ll be persistent until I can’t do this no more.”
To hear the full interview with Breese, check out the video above.