Coming out of UFC Mexico City, Steven Peterson is coming off of an ESPN highlight finish. With a spinning backfist counter off of a spinning backfist, Peterson is riding a huge wave of hype making the MMA fight word collectively say, “Wow.”
Riding the hype, Peterson is incredibly optimistic on his career and his goals after UFC Mexico City. He says his mission is to become a household name and such a highlight puts him one step closer to his goal.
“100%. I’m ecstatic. Cloud Nine. It’s incredible. I’ve been working so long towards this goal. One of my goals is not only to become champion and whatnot, it’s to become a household name. There’s plenty of champions that are gone and forgotten. But being a household name is in someways greater than that because it will help me achieve my goals outside of the sport. We’ve reached so many fans that aren’t really into MMA just by getting on to that highlight clip. I’m just ecstatic right now.”
Steven Peterson has his goals outside of fighting. He wants to pursue a career in a different type of entertainment. He has been taking gigs as a stunt man and been in movie skits and such, setting himself up for his career post fighting.
“Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be Superman. As a kid, I wanted to do everything. I wanted to be an actor in movies, I wanted to race cars, fighting came along later in life. Now, I can also chase these dreams of mine and the sky’s the limit. The way I’ve been working towards those is I’ve done some acting. I’ve done some little skits here, I’ve done some music videos, stunt man gigs, so I have experience in the field. Now that I’ve reached so many people, I can start to pursue those goals in the future.”
Peterson wants to get the word out to kids about being medicated and ostracized for being different. He reminds that everyone is different and just because someone tries to make you something, doesn’t mean you’re that thing.
“Everybody’s different. What the government tries to do is classify you. But everybody’s different. They can’t classify you. Just because you don’t fit into their box, they medicate you and try to make you like everybody else. You should be yourself and just chase your dreams.”
Steven Peterson’s Breakdown
Steven Peterson, as mentioned earlier, had an insane finish against Martín Bravo. A spinning backfist counter off of a spinning backfist was enough to make ESPN and turned a lot of eyes his way. While it was such a technical finish, Peterson says he didn’t think it through. Instead it’s just muscle memory.
“Everybody asks me, ‘What were you thinking in that moment?’ I wasn’t thinking, I was reacting. But at the same when I think back on it, I can walk you through what I was thinking,” says Peterson.
He continues, “It was real surreal. But, I remember the moment. We were in a closely contested battle. We were both landing a variety of strikes. I feel like I was deflecting most of them. I was landing heavier strikes and I felt like late in the first and early in the second. He was starting to slow. Then he turned with a spinning back fist, it was the way he turned his head, I know because I throw it all the time. I went to evade his spinning backfist and it just naturally came because I made the same step and it was right after I jabbed when he did it. The jab was the perfect setup. I was just in a flow state when I did it. Everything came natural when I landed that backfist. I saw him slump and all I could think was, ‘Don’t get up, don’t get up,’ as I threw those followup strikes. Herb Dean was quick on the action and that was the end of the fight.”
“He adds, “Muscle memory and being in the moment. You can be out there and be super stiff. At that point of the fight I was just in the moment; action-reaction.”
Peterson is ready to get back in the cage already. He’s looking to get back in front of his fans for more excitement and wild finishes. He says he took no damage at all.
“Honestly, [there is no damage] at all. I am completely unscathed. I talked to Sean and told him I wanted to get back in there soon. He told me they’re pretty much booked through the end of the year. He is expecting me to take some time. I took two fights back to back. Honestly, if something big comes up, like if somebody drops out, I’m the guy. I want a big opportunity after this. I want somebody that’s supposed to take me out and I’m like a 10-1 underdog and all my homies bet on me and we make it out.”
Never count him out, says Stephen Peterson. And the sport has proved it. Anything can happen on any given day. “I’m never out of a fight. That means especially when I’m the underdog, you can’t count me out. It’s a good bet.”
Ocho and Cowboy
Peterson says he believes he will be around for a long, long time. He envisions himself having a career similar to Cowboy Cerrone. Fighting often and fighting a lot.
“I’m definitely going to be around for a long time to come. You can call me the new Cowboy. Cowboy is getting old and I’m going to be just as active as Cowboy.”
Peterson is ready to get back and will be ready to answer the call at any time.
“Short notice, give me a camp, whatever. I’m always ready. I’m always training. It’s a lifestyle. I made a brand, Fightfit Lifestyle and that’s starting to blow up as well because it is a lifestyle. You can’t just go camp to camp and you’re only about it when you’re in camp. I’m about it all the time. I’m always in the gym because I enjoy it and I enjoy the lifestyle. If I’m injured I might have to take a little time off. But, for the most part I’m healthy and I’m ready to go. Even if I’m a little injured, I will take an opportunity. I’ve never backed out of a fight. I might not take a fight if I’m injured before hand, but fighting injured is nothing new to me.”
Mexico City Fiasco
The main event of UFC Mexico City ended in controversy. Just 15 seconds in, Yair Rodriguez pokes Jeremy Stephens in the eye. The doctor called off the fight and the fans erupted in a frenzy. It was loud, trash was being thrown, nobody was happy.
“I was backstage and we were watching the fight. I was really looking forward to that fight. When [the eyepoke] happened, you could kind of feel the building shaking a little bit. We were like, ‘Let’s go, time to get in the bus.’ We were escorted out of there immediately.”
While many people think the fans were rowdy and crazy, possibly bad fans too, Peterson was adamant about them being some of the best he’s ran across.
“I was just ready to get out of there. But once I got back to the hotel, there were so many Mexican fans that were just in love with us and the fact that the UFC was there. It was an honor. The Mexican fans were honestly amazing. It might not have seemed like it on the telecast, but the Mexican fans were incredible to the fighters and showed incredible respect even though we were on foreign territory. I’d be glad to fight in Mexico again.”
Pros Predict UFC 243
Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker have a date. The two will fight and unify the middleweight and interim middleweight titles. It’s one of the division’s most highly anticipated fights. Peterson weighed in on the fight and gave his take.
“It depends on how long the fights go. I think Whittaker can take it to him early. But, if Adesanya is able to avoid the onslaughts of Whittaker early in the fight, he can possibly drag him in the later rounds and shine in those moments. I’m really looking forward to that fight. I’m not going to take sides, but that’s my breakdown in that fight.”
Peterson is ready to fight and will be back soon. Be sure to follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and follow his fight journey.
