Paul Craig, a UFC light heavyweight contender, wants to leave a lasting impact outside the Octagon.
On the most significant stage in MMA to date, Craig is currently in the most pleasing shape of his career. The Scotsman has gone 5-0-1 after falling to Jimmy Crute and Alonzo Menifield in a 2-5 run. The only loss during that time was a split draw with Mauricio Rua, whom he eventually defeated in a rematch.
Early in his most recent fight, which took place at the UFC London event in March and featured top-10 light heavyweight Nikita Krylov, it appeared as though Craig’s ascent up the rankings was going to be halted. But after taking a beating from ground and pound shots, “Bearjew” quickly changed the course of the fight with his patented triangle choke.
Now that Craig has increased his winning streak and moved up to eighth place in the 205-pound rankings, he has abandoned his early retirement plans and turned his attention to the throne. The 34-year-old native of Airdrie has a clear path to the gold given the ascent of Magomed Ankalaev, whose lone defeat in professional MMA came against Craig.
Craig does, however, have something more meaningful in mind regarding how he wants to be remembered than winning a title.
“I would like to be remembered for moments, rather than just having the title” – Craig
Craig spoke about his aspirations and the kind of legacy he hopes to leave behind when he retires from the sport on Wednesday during his presentation at UFC London media day.
And “Bearjew” wants to do more than being known as a “previous champion”; he also wants to make lasting impressions.
Check out Craigs interview below:
“Yes, I think (records and moments mean more). I mean, the title would be amazing because you are in actual history, but all these kind of things, like, nobody remembers who is the champion before,” Craig said. “I know the champion the last couple times because I’m actually watching and being like, ‘I need to know who these are.’ But champions come and go.
“I would like to be remembered for moments, rather than just having the title and then walking off into the sunset. For me, it’s about all these moments: the last-second (wins), getting beat up and then coming back — they’re worth more to me than the gold,” Craig added.
It’s safe to assume that Craig has already made some progress toward achieving that objective.
Craig is undoubtedly not forgotten, as evidenced by his literal last-second victory over Ankalaev, his comparable come-from-behind victory over Krylov, and the horrific way he dislocated Jamahal Hill’s elbow to deliver “Sweet Dreams” its first loss last June.
He’ll try to add another achievement to that list when he makes his second London appearance of the year today at The O2. Volkan Oezdemir, a past championship challenger, will stand in Craig’s path of another ascent up the light heavyweight ladder and maybe a third victory in London using the triangle choke.
