LAS VEGAS – Steve Garcia’s win Saturday was a gory comeback that ended violently with opponent Melquizael Costa attempting a takedown on referee Chris Tognoni.
With a highlight comes attention. Garcia (15-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC) thinks his victory at UFC Fight Night 233 showed the masses who he truly is. He hopes his name will be circled on their mental bout sheets from here on out, if it wasn’t already.
“I want to be the guy they tune into when I’m on that stage,” Garcia told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a post-fight news conference. “Like, ‘It’s going to be a banger when Steve is on that card. Let’s tune in.’ I hope you guys enjoyed it.”
“… That’s just the style that I bring every time I come in here. Every time I’m in here, you might just see a dog. I tell people all the time. I don’t have the biggest bark or the loudest bark, but I have bite. I bite pretty damn hard. I’m just not going to quit. I’m going to keep coming for you. I’ll just keep gnawing at that fight however I can. I just need to figure out a way to win. I think I’ve had a couple fights to show that. We’re just going to keep doing it.”
After the fight, Garcia didn’t grab the microphone and cut a WWE-esque promo. Instead, he respectfully suggested a name he’d like to fight next when asked by interviewer Paul Felder.
“Out there, I kind of just threw out a name – a name I think people would like and I think he’s really good. his name is Nate Landwehr,” Garcia said. “The kid is a stud. I think the fans would love to see something like that. We’ll see if (my manager) Jason House and Sean Shelby and all those guys will want to put that together. If not, they got my phone number. We can figure it out. … March-April sounds good to me.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 233.
