BOSTON – With his name in the UFC’s history books once again, Brad Katona said he’s ready to turn some heads.
Katona (13-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) won the bantamweight tournament final for Season 31 of “The Ultimate Fighter” on Saturday at UFC 292 at TD Garden in Boston. He outworked Cody Gibson (19-9 MMA, 1-4 UFC) for a unanimous decision to become the first two-time winner of the reality competition series.
Katona first won “TUF” on Season 26 at featherweight in mid-2018. But after three UFC fights, he was outside the promotion trying to work his way back. He did for “TUF 31,” which featured up-and-comers and fighters who had made it to the UFC before, like Katona and Gibson.
Katona, who has been training at SBG Ireland in Dublin with coach John Kavanagh, was on coach Conor McGregor’s team during “TUF 31.” When McGregor chooses to train when he’s in Dublin, it’s with his longtime SBG home.
“I remember watching the first season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ when I was 14 years old, just getting started in the sport,” Katona said at his post-fight news conference next to his second “TUF” trophy. “To be making history and winning it for a second time … that’s special.”
Katona beat Gibson with a pair of 29-28 scores and a 30-27 in a pure slugfest that had many observers thinking back to “TUF 1” with Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar.
Considering Gibson wasn’t shy to say he was not a Katona fan during the season, it likely made the win all the more sweet for Katona. Gibson said he was a boring fighter, yet their bout picked up $50,000 extra for each of them for Fight of the Night.
Katona, who went 4-0 after his UFC release and won the Brave CF bantamweight title, said he’s been told he should take some time now to relax before he figures out his next step.
“Right now, my coach gave me some pretty clear instruction, which is soak this in just for a time,” Katona said. “This is something special. I’m usually the one I have already texted some people, ‘OK, what’s the plan next? How are we going to recover from this so we can perform again?’ But I’m kind of getting told to pull back a little bit, so I want to soak it in with some family.”
But after he’s done doing that, Katona said the bantamweight division has a new contender. Considering the “TUF 31” win and his two-time winner status, he suspects he has the sway to jump the line a little in the division.
“In terms of managing my career going forward, you’re in the UFC. You’re going to be fighting killer after killer after killer. We were just talking about this in the back,” Katona said. “… We get to jump (the line) a little bit (and go to) base camp. We’ve got Everest to climb, so I’m going to be looking at the competition ahead and making a clear plan. There’s nothing left to chance now. We’re going to cut through the competition.
“This isn’t the end goal. Winning it twice wasn’t necessarily (the goal). It’s another step on the way. Obviously I’m going to be very proud of this and soak it in. But after that, this is not what I want to just hang my hat on. It’s going to be a very nice accolade that I can look back at the end of my career and be like, ‘Man, that is pretty cool.’ (I’ll) probably (be) the only person to ever do it, quite frankly. I can’t foresee it happening again.
“This isn’t the end of the road, though. I’m eyeing that bantamweight title. That’s what we’re working toward. That’s where we’re living every day. It feels really good to be back. I’ve had a smile on my face all day. There was very little nerves. I’m at home here. This is where I should have been all along, and I think I proved that.”
Check out Katona’s full interview in the video above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 292.
