At only 31-years old, Efrain Escudero is already three UFC runs deep into his career.
The TUF 8 winner has since moved on to the surging and controversial ACB promotion, where he'll fight fellow UFC veteran Dennis Siver. Despite both having a dozen-plus fights in the UFC, they never locked horns there. In an exclusive interview with Fightful.com's James Lynch, Escudero explained how his ACB deal came to be.
"I was training for a fight, I was going to fight in Rhode Island. We kept going back and forth to see where we were going to fight, always training. When ACB called we were ready to jump on board. They're putting some cards on where the guys on the card are pretty good. I signed a four-fight deal with them. It's really good pay," said Escudero.
Some of ACB's notable fighters include Mamed Khalidov, Bubba Jenkins, Pat Healy, Leandro Silva, Takeya Mizugaki, Danny Martinez, Zach Makovsky and Thiago Silva among others.
Escudero said that while he's not making UFC-level money, he has other motivations.
"I'm not going to get paid what I got paid in the UFC in smaller promotions. I didn't do it to be in the UFC. I did it because I love it and I want to evolve," said Escudero before saying he'd be willing to fight the week after competing against Siver.
In the full interview, Efrain Escudero (28-12) discusses his upcoming fight against Musa Khamanaev (17-5) at ACB 74 on Nov. 18. Efrain also talks about how this ACB contract came together, training in Texas ahead of his matchup and why he feels rejuvenated in his career.
