David Branch is back in action at UFC Fight Night Philadelphia, facing Jack Hermansson in a middleweight division affair.
The fighter is coming off of a loss to Jared Cannonier at UFC 230 and is looking to rebound from the emptiness that Branch felt after the defeat.
“Not to take anything away from my opponent, he beat me – it was a beautiful right hand he landed on the inside and found the opening,” Branch said at the UFC Fight Night Philadelphia media day (via Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie). “But to my credit, I think emotionally I was just not there. I felt it during the walkout – I was trying to get that fire. It’s not that I lost that fire, but it’s just with so much happening in the lead-up, there’s a lot of things I was going through personally, there was a lot of things I was going through with family and then the opponent switch was just the cherry on top.”
Branch has just won two of four in his second UFC run, but the fighter hasn’t picked up a win in almost a year.
A rebounding Branch feels that he can beat anybody at middleweight when focused.
“It’s a learning process and you have to remain focused no matter what is happening,” Branch said. “Life can come at you at any time. … I feel like when I’m focused I can beat anyone in the division.”
UFC Fight Night Philadelphia takes place on Saturday, March 30 from the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with Edson Barboza and David Branch headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which airs live on ESPN.
