From unemployed to empowered: UFC fighter is back

Chris Camozzi knew he was about to lose his job, even though he believed in his heart that he remained one of the best fighters in the world. Lose four fights in a row in the UFC, as Camozzi did in a 17-month span from 2013-14, and you're looking at a stint in the unemployment line.

The final nail, so to speak, was a split decision loss to Rafael "Sapo" Natal on Sept. 5, 2014. It was a fight he could have won, and one he feels he should have won.

But the cold, hard reality of life as a professional fighter is that it is a business that rewards winners, and Camozzi hadn't done enough of it.

"Oh, I knew it was coming," he said while on a way to a medical appointment. "You lose four fights in a row, it's understandable that you're going to get cut. I completely disagreed with the judging in the Natal fight. He spent the entire fight running away and they scored it for him. It is what it is. A loss is a loss and they'd given me enough chances."

He'd been released once before and had fought his way back to the UFC. But when the official release papers arrived after the loss to Natal, it still stung.

Nothing prepares a person for losing a job he or she loves, particularly a professional athlete who has dedicated his life to the pursuit.

"Even though I knew it was coming, it was still devastating to finally get the news," he said. "It's nauseating. It made me sick to my stomach. But I took a step back and built off of it."

Camozzi is quickly back in the spotlight, only six months after he lost his job, and his return hasn't been warmly welcomed back.

When Yoel Romero was injured last week and forced to pull out of what was expected to be an outstanding middleweight match with Jacare Souza on Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., the UFC offered the bout to Camozzi.

Clearly, Camozzi wasn't the first choice of UFC president Dana White or matchmaker Joe Silva. But Romero's injury came late in camp and it was all but impossible to get another highly ranked contender to face Souza.

Looking at the middleweight top 10, champion Chris Weidman is defending against No. 3 Vitor Belfort at UFC 187 next month. The main event of Saturday's card pits No. 2 Lyoto Machida against No. 4 Luke Rockhold. Anderson Silva, ranked fifth, is facing a disciplinary hearing in Nevada and is not available.

No. 7 Gegard Mousasi is fighting No. 12 Costas Philippou next month in Manila. No. 10 Michael Bisping is fighting No. 11 C.B. Dollaway next week. And Souza is ranked No. 1 and Romero is No. 6.

So there weren't a lot of options other than to drop Souza from the card. But Souza had gone through an entire camp and wanted to fight, and the UFC wanted him on the card because fans bought tickets expecting to see him.

Thus, Camozzi got the nod, amid a firestorm of criticism. Camozzi's aware of it, but said it wasn't like his name was pulled out of a hat.

He'd been texting Joe Silva every time there was an opening he could have filled.

"The fans who are criticizing me don't have all the facts, and they also need to ask themselves something," Camozzi said. "Why was nobody else willing to fight Jacare on a week's notice? No one was willing to do it, but I was. And since I've been cut, I've kept in touch with Joe and offered to be there for him if he needed someone.

"Just last week, I offered to fight Fabio Maldonado at 205 [pounds] when Rampage [Jackson] had to pull out [of UFC 185 next week because of a court order]. I was trying to get that fight with Luke Barnatt, Uriah Hall … anybody who fell out, I was contacting Joe to let him know I was ready and available."

Camozzi pinpoints his earlier UFC problems on his wrestling and getting taken down too often. He has been working on it with Leister Bowling and said he believes he's made considerable progress.

Bowling told Yahoo Sports it wasn't a major overhaul and only a few positional things that were causing Camozzi problems. He said that Camozzi, who is still only 28, appears to be the classic case of a late bloomer.

Camozzi turned pro in 2006 and has had 30 pro fights, going 21-9. But he's just 6-6 in his UFC career.

Bowling said that as Camozzi's wrestling continues to improve, he'll be a much more difficult fighter to face.

"Guys mature and hit their peaks at different stages," Bowling said. "Look at Anderson Silva. Before he got to the UFC, he'd lost and no one was calling him the best ever. But he got to the UFC at the right time, when he was peaking, and he had a phenomenal career. A lot of these guys now, they're getting signed to the UFC early and, man, the public is unforgiving. It doesn't take a lot for them to turn on you.

"In Chris' case, he was on a three-fight losing streak, but I felt he performed really well in that Rafael Natal fight and just got a horrible decision. Before that fight, he lost another split decision [to Bruno Santos], and it's not like he was getting manhandled. He's fought top guys and had some notable wins. But I think he's hitting his prime now and you're going to see a different guy."

A cynic would say he or she wishes a different guy were fighting on Saturday.

Camozzi, though, isn't stressing about it. He's got a huge task on his hands and he's eager to show the strides he's made.

"I hate sucking at anything and I've really worked so hard at becoming a better fighter," he said. "The reason I got into golf is that when I started, I was terrible and it pissed me off. I'm just in my prime now and thankfully, I'm healthy. I haven't had any surgeries or anything you'd call a serious, major injury.

"I've gotten better physically. My fight IQ is higher than it's ever been, and I think I'm ready to make this next step."

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