Part Two of 1on1: James Te Huna - a thee part indepth article with the UFC contender. In this part, Te Huna talks his UFC debut, fighting Gustafsson and the personal battles that came with that fight.
On his UFC debut
“I thought I had it down pat. The moment I walked out there though, getting beyond the curtain, it hit me immediately. The big lights, the people, it caught me off guard and I can’t even remember walking up to the cage. It’s a total blank, the next memory I have is the crowd coming to life as I’m on my hands and knees with my opponent trying to punch my head in.”
On fighting Gustafsson
“I wish that fight had been postponed to another time so I could have given a better effort. During that fight, I put Gus on his back and I had it over him in those first two minutes. When it was my turn to be put on the back foot though, I just didn’t even want to be there. I just gave up. I quit. That’s something I never do”.
"“The problem with Gustafsson was that I just didn’t care about the fight. I lost and I stood up. We were both in the ring and there Gustafsson was with his hand raised. It was a surreal experience. Normally when you’re in the ring after a loss it’s such a downfall. You’re so lost, weak in the knees because you’re expecting to get the W and you’re so confident of that. With this fight I just didn’t really give a fuck about it. No emotions. No nothing. I shrugged my shoulders and just wanted to get out of there”.
http://2on4.co.nz/2014/04/1on1-james-te-huna-part-two/
If you haven't read the first part, you can find it here. http://2on4.co.nz/2014/04/1on1-james-te-huna-part-one/
On his UFC debut
“I thought I had it down pat. The moment I walked out there though, getting beyond the curtain, it hit me immediately. The big lights, the people, it caught me off guard and I can’t even remember walking up to the cage. It’s a total blank, the next memory I have is the crowd coming to life as I’m on my hands and knees with my opponent trying to punch my head in.”
On fighting Gustafsson
“I wish that fight had been postponed to another time so I could have given a better effort. During that fight, I put Gus on his back and I had it over him in those first two minutes. When it was my turn to be put on the back foot though, I just didn’t even want to be there. I just gave up. I quit. That’s something I never do”.
"“The problem with Gustafsson was that I just didn’t care about the fight. I lost and I stood up. We were both in the ring and there Gustafsson was with his hand raised. It was a surreal experience. Normally when you’re in the ring after a loss it’s such a downfall. You’re so lost, weak in the knees because you’re expecting to get the W and you’re so confident of that. With this fight I just didn’t really give a fuck about it. No emotions. No nothing. I shrugged my shoulders and just wanted to get out of there”.
http://2on4.co.nz/2014/04/1on1-james-te-huna-part-two/
If you haven't read the first part, you can find it here. http://2on4.co.nz/2014/04/1on1-james-te-huna-part-one/