Garcia Ready to ‘Go After It’ in UFC Return

Leonard Garcia will never be accused of having the most polished striking in the world, but the hard-punching featherweight says he began refining his approach in his bout with Mark Hominick at WEC 51.

“I tried to be a little different against Hominick. I tried to be more technical,” Garcia said. “Everybody knows that’s not my style. My style is to go out there and go after it.”

Although Garcia dropped a split decision to the Canadian, it wasn’t technique which ultimately failed him, but his conditioning.

“In that third round, I was really tired and he was able to land his jab on me. It’s really the only punch he landed,” the Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts product said. “I felt good with the things I did in that fight. Whenever I pushed forward, he had no answer for it. Hominick’s a world champion kickboxer, so I felt really good about my striking in that fight, and I learned a lot about myself.”

Garcia was originally scheduled to face Grudge MMA’s Tyler Toner at “The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale” on Saturday. After a bit of fight card shuffling, Garcia will instead square off against “TUF 12” contestant Nam Phan, while Toner remains on the card in a bout against Ian Loveland. Phan is a longtime King of the Cage veteran who has also competed in Strikeforce and Sengoku. The Vietnamese fighter lost to Michael Johnson in a semifinal bout on the program.

Garcia says he has taken a more traditional approach to cardiovascular training than he did prior to his bout with Hominick.

“I did so many different things getting ready for that fight, as far as different types of conditioning. I did spin classes and rode a bunch of bikes just so it wouldn’t be hard impact on my knees and ankles,” he said. “I felt in shape. I thought I was in shape, but I got out there, and I wasn’t in the same shape as if I had just done running. I learned a valuable lesson there.”

The Garcia-Phan fight is one of the first to feature the 145-pound weight class in the UFC following the promotion’s merger with WEC. Garcia is no stranger to the sport’s most recognizable organization, having gone 1-2 during a three-fight stint with the promotion while fighting at lightweight in 2007. An image of his fight against Roger Huerta at UFC 69 even landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

The Lubbock, Texas, native also remembers the difficulties he encountered in his final bout with the company that year, a unanimous decision loss to Cole Miller.

“I was sick with bronchitis...I remember sitting in there, and I was coughing in the Octagon. Joe Silva comes up to me...he knew I had bronchitis. He was like, ‘Man, you’re the only guy that’s crazy enough to come in here and fight with bronchitis,’” Garcia said.

Since then, Garcia has compiled a 4-3-1 mark in the WEC and produced memorable “Fight of the Night” performances against George Roop and Chan Sung Jung. A return to the larger cage utilized by the UFC has Garcia contemplating the possibility of even more stand-and-bang showmanship.

“The UFC cage, the takedowns are a lot harder to get because there’s so much room -- you can circle back to the center,” Garcia said. “Everyone knows my style. I like to stand up. I have a lot more room to get to the center of the cage. I won’t be backed into the corner at any time.”

Even with that in mind, Garcia doesn’t expect Phan -- or most of the featherweight division, for that matter -- to trade punches with him.

“I don’t think there’s anybody at 145, except for Jose Aldo, that will go toe-to-toe with me. That’s the only guy that would be willing to do it.”