Armando Gjetja believes third time the charm at Friday's CFFC 137
After a pair of disappointing results in CFFC cage, Gjetja believes improved focus will lead to victory on UFC FIGHT PASS.
Former CFFC lightweight title challenger Armando Gjetja looks to right a two-fight losing skid in his return to the cage at Friday's CFFC 137, which streams live on UFC FIGHT PASS from Philadelphia's 2300 Arena.
The Longo MMA student entered the promotion riding a six-fight winning streak, where in his debut he fought CFFC lightweight champion Robert Watley in a championship bout. While he did have early success against the champ, Gjetja would ultimately fall victim to a rear-naked choke in the third round of the fight.
He returned to CFFC four months later, determined to pick up a win but was forced to endure the frustration of a submission loss, once again.
Gjetja now looks to turn things around for himself at CFFC 137 and feels he put in the necessary work to accomplish that goal. Gjetja says he actually focused primarily on his mental health and strength for this training camp, believing that his mentality and attitude have been holding him back from being the best fighter he can be, and feels he remedied the issue in this fight camp.
"This might surprise people, but for me, it's always been mental," Gjetja said. "It's always been about keeping myself in balance in my mind. Of course you have to keep your tools sharp, but everything that has held me back has been mental.
"I've been taking care of myself. You need to guide yourself. Of course you have your teammates and your coaches, but you need mentorship in yourself because you are not surrounded by these people 24/7. I started this MMA journey because I was looking to make a better version of myself. Every fight has brought a new version."
Following a shift in mindset, and the lessons learned from his two fights under the banner, Gjetja still has his sights set high on knocking at the door of MMA's top promotions. In addition to focusing more on the mental side of his training, Gjetja also took a trip out to Las Vegas with some of his team for a couple weeks, where he got to train at the UFC Performance Institute in preparation for this fight.
"It's like Disneyland for MMA fighters," Gjetja said. "There are no distractions. It was beautiful. Everything was close. I wasn't wasting time driving around. We were all eating healthy, training, getting in two to three sessions a day, recovering, cold plunges, hot tub. It was amazing.
"The goal remains the same, and there's no better place than CFFC to show it."
Gjetja (8-5 MMA, 0-2 CFFC) gets the opportunity to showcase his skills once more under the CFFC banner on Friday when he takes on two-time UFC veteran Collin Anglin (9-5 MMA, 0-0 CFFC). Gjetja feels that going against a former UFC fighter gives him a great opportunity to right the ship and make a big statement with a win come fight night.
Gjetja feels that the time he took to focus on his mental health really changed his overall quality of life and feels the best of him is yet to come. Gjetja feels his fight with Anglin is very important given that Anglin made it to the UFC.
Gjetja also feels the adjustments he made will prove to be the answer to his shortcomings, and believes things are going too good for him to be stopped. The 31-year-old Albanian looks to put on a show for the fans live on UFC FIHGT PASS, and If one thing is for sure about Gjetja, it's that he always delivers an exciting fight, and he says that's exactly what the fans can expect this time around.
"Him being a UFC fighter adds a weight," Gjetja said. "It adds more weight and reason for me to get in there and win. All respect to him, but I'm going to go in there and show that I deserve a spot up there and a call from the UFC.
"There's been a lot of strategy and study, and doing that has really increased my confidence in this fight. People tell me that no matter what when I get in the cage, I deliver. I want fans to remember that I get in, and I really give it my all in the cage."
