Paul Craig knows the pressure is on to find a win when he returns to UFC action this weekend and hopes an insight into the world of referees can give him an edge.
The 37-year-old Scot will face Modestas Bukauskas in a light-heavyweight encounter in Paris on Saturday night.
Having lost his previous three contests, Craig’s last bout in June was declared a no contest after he illegally up-kicked his opponent, Rodolfo Bellato, in the first round.
Despite recently signing a new contract with the mixed martial arts promotion, he is fully aware of the importance of getting back on the victory trail.
“Every fight is important but this has a little bit of added importance because the last thing I want to do is leave this sport on a negative record or be kicked out of this sport and that is pretty much what can happen,” he told My Newspaper Scotland.
“You might sign a five fight deal but, if you are not doing your job well, your employer has a right to release you.
“This is for my career, my livelihood, my family.”
Craig, who has a professional record of 17 wins, nine defeats and one draw, added: “Saying ‘just go out there and win’ is the easy bit but there is a young, hungry guy in front of me who wants to put me away.
“I need to be in the motivation of ‘Paul your UFC career can be over in 15 minutes, so leave no stone unturned’.
“Coming off a few losses, coming off moving back up to light heavyweight, having that weird fight just previously, I need the victory.”
After the no contest outcome, Craig took the unusual step of enrolling on a refereeing course.
“For me, that was upscaling through learning. I would advise anybody who is a fighter to do this because it is all about your knowledge.
“I wanted to know the ins and outs of why was that fight was not a disqualification and put down as a no contest.
“So now I am in a position I know what the referees are looking for, I know what the judges are looking for.”
While Craig will hopefully be competing a for a long time to come, when he does eventually stop, could he have a future as a referee?
“It is such a hard job to do,” he said. “Going on this course and picking up all these skills and realising how hard this job is, referees are human and they make mistakes.
“don’t know if I could handle the pressure of being a referee. It’s much easier being a fighter.”
