Athletes
Andre Petroski Has a Point To Prove
Coming Off A Loss For The First Time In His UFC Career, TUF 29 Alum Is Eager To Get Things Moving In The Right Direction Again
Andre Petroski came out of the gates quickly to begin his UFC career, rattling off five straight wins following his time as a member of Team Ortega on Season 29 of The Ultimate Fighter.
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At the start of October, less than two months after registering a split decision win over Gerald Meerschaert at UFC 292 in Boston, he got the call for a short-notice opportunity against former welterweight Michel Pereira. The fight would take place in 10 days in Las Vegas.
Petroski said, “Yes” and then set about figuring out how to make it work.
“I don’t regret my decision; I put myself in a good position,” he said of accepting the fight, which ended swiftly and halted his five-fight run of success. “That being said, what I would have done differently is staying in striking range as far as my weight goes.
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“I kind of let myself get a little heavier than normal. At the time, my justification for that was when you hear about these guys like Paulo Costa that get up to 230 (pounds), and I’m like, ‘If I want to be a big middleweight, I’ve got to be that.’ In reality, if I want to take advantage of those short notice opportunities, I can’t be 220 pounds because I just killed myself trying to make weight; it was too much.
“I know now a little more about where I should be.”
Less than 72 hours away from his return to action against Jacob Malkoun in Atlantic City this weekend, it’s clear the setback still rests heavily on the shoulders of the proud Pennsylvania native.
“Part of me is like, ‘I have so much more to offer than that performance,’” Petroski finally said after struggling to find the right words when asked how much that loss weighs on him even after such a strong start to his UFC tenure. “And then part of me is like, ‘Look, I was put in a tough position — I was in Thailand when they called me, 10 days’ notice, 30 pounds overweight.’
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“I did the best I could, but I think I could do better.”
That push to constantly, consistently be better is an ethos that permeates the walls at Marquez MMA, where Petroski trains with fellow UFC Atlantic City combatant Nursulton Ruziboev, and Octagon inhabitants Sean Brady, Pat Sabatini, Jeremiah Wells, and Joe Pyfer.
Andre Petroski Locks Up First-Round Anaconda Choke | UFC Fight Night: Blachowicz vs Rakic
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Andre Petroski Locks Up First-Round Anaconda Choke | UFC Fight Night: Blachowicz vs Rakic
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After hitting the ground running upon arrival, the team has stumbled a little as of late, with Sabatini, Wells, and Pyfer joining Petroski in having landed on the wrong side of things in their most recent appearances.
“Our team is very young,” said Petroski. “We don’t have anyone that has been there, done it all, and is coming back to say, ‘This is the way to go.’”
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While former UFC lightweight stalwart Paul Felder had offered guidance and assistance at different points, the reality is that this is the challenge many ascending teams face at some point along the way.
Challenges get tougher.
The margin for error shrinks.
Wins start coming less frequently, and, to a man, everyone in the room has to decide if they’re going to dig in and work to keep pushing forward or give way and accept things as they are.
Not that he had ever considered accepting defeat and refusing to dig in once more, but being surrounded by a pack of hungry, like-minded monsters in the same weight class leaves Petroski with no choice but to keep working to improve.
Unless he wants to get laid out day after day after day after day.
“I have no choice but to keep getting better,” he said with a laugh. “If you fall off now, you’re getting your head kicked in on the way down.
“They would all kick me in the head if I let my hands down,” he said, the group of Brady, Wells, Pyfer, and Ruziboev comprising the collection ready to take him out if he slows down. “They all want to be the best, whether it’s in the gym that day or in the cage that weekend. They’re all hungry.”
Petroski is hungry, too.
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Saturday marks the second time this year that two athletes from the squad will compete on the same card, with Wells having fought on the prelims the night Pyfer headlined opposite Jack Hermansson back in February. This weekend, Petroski will be the first to make the walk, while Ruziboev takes on Sedriques Dumas on the main card.
“I think if there is any pressure, it’s coming from the fact that I’m coming off a loss,” he said when asked about setting the tone for the team this weekend and the pressure that may carry. “I have to prove myself.
Highlight: Andre Petroski Scores The Late Submission | UFC 267: Blachowicz vs Teixeira
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Highlight: Andre Petroski Scores The Late Submission | UFC 267: Blachowicz vs Teixeira
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“Every time I’ve taken a loss, I’ve responded with three, four, five wins in a row off of that,” he added.
Saturday night, his opportunity to start that next extended run of success comes in a matchup with Malkoun, a 28-year-old Australian that has had mixed results since touching down in the UFC.
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Like Petroski, Malkoun got the call to the Octagon early in his career, arriving with a 4-0 record, and since then, he’s amassed a 3-3 record, with his most recent outing in September resulting in a disqualification loss after he cracked Cody Brundage with an illegal elbow to the back of the head, leaving the Factory X man unable to continue.
“Positionally, as a grappler, that’s his best quality; he’s relentless and he’s a good grappler,” Petroski said, beginning his assessment of Malkoun and the matchup that awaits him at Boardwalk Hall this weekend. “They offered this fight to me before — they offered it to me and it became Meerschaert in Boston —and I was thrilled about it back then.
“I think that he has one or two threats. I think he, like me, got in really early. He got in at 4-0 and now he’s 7-3. I love the matchup. I love the grappler matchup. I love to see that I’m the underdog.
“The last time I was the underdog was against (Nick) Maximov — they had me at plus-300,” continued the bearded middleweight. “That’s our only mutual opponent. He barely beat him on one knee — Maximov had one knee and (Malkoun) barely beat him — and I submitted Maximov in a minute.”
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He paused, letting the “how does that make sense?” of it all hang in the air for a beat.
“I don’t really know… but hell, let’s go,” he said, laughing.
WATCH: Andre Petroski vs Gerald Meerschaert UFC 292
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WATCH: Andre Petroski vs Gerald Meerschaert UFC 292
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What he does know, however, is that competing relatively close to home is something he’s going to tell his kids about in the future.
“It’s amazing,” Petroski said of fighting in Atlantic City. “It is something I will tell my kids about. I will tell my kids, ‘The UFC came to our backyard and your Daddy put on a show.’
“That’s important,” he added. “I don’t know anybody that fought in Philly for the UFC; that’s cool as s***!”
And what does he need to do on Saturday to ensure that he puts on the kind of show that he can be proud of, both this weekend and when recounting things to his kids in the future?
“Just doing everything we’ve been working on,” he said. “Everything I’ve worked this entire camp relentlessly on, just go out there and do it again.”
UFC Fight Night: Blanchfield vs Fiorot took place live from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on March 30, 2024. See the final Prelims & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
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