After broken jaw vs. 'Cowboy,' John Makdessi starting fresh at UFC 194

Less than seven months after a kick to the face that would have many reconsidering their career options, John Makdessi returns this week at UFC 194.

In May at UFC 187, Donald Cerrone drilled Makdessi with a kick in the second round. The footer from “Cowboy” broke Makdessi’s jaw, and that was the end of that.

But on Saturday, Makdessi (13-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) is back against Yancy Medeiros (11-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC) at UFC 194, which takes place at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass. Makdessi and Medeiros’ lightweight bout is on the Fight Pass stream.

The loss to Cerrone, Makdessi recently told MMAjunkie at his training home at Tristar Gym in Montreal, was one that had him thinking about the side of the game that doesn’t involve punching or kicking.

“It’s all about mental,” Makdessi said. “And nothing to take away from Donald Cerrone – he’s a veteran with experience, a big lightweight. Fighting a guy like that, it kind of told me how mentally, you’ve got to be 100 percent confident in yourself and you can’t take mental breaks in the cage because every little second counts.

John Makdessi and Donald Cerrone

“The moment you hesitate or start doubting or questioning yourself, you’re getting hit in the face. You don’t have time to think. Fighting a guy like that gave me more of a perspective of how I should be training and how my mindset should be going into a fight.”

There was talk of Makdessi retiring after Cerrone broke his jaw, but Makdessi said that was misunderstood.

Instead, the 30-year-old Canadian was thinking about moving down to featherweight, believing some of the bigger fighters at lightweight, like Cerrone, will always have an advantage over him. But

“It wasn’t really about retiring, it was more questioning the weight division,” Makdessi said. “It was a sense of frustration that I’m fighting guys who are much bigger. I’m always at a disadvantage, but this is the game. (Featherweight) for me, for health reasons, is not a good choice. But 155 is hard enough as it is.”

And so at lightweight, Makdessi will stay for now. Although he has dropped two of his past three fights, before the setback against Cerrone he had won four of five.

And besides, Makdessi seems to be at a level of pretty solid respect from his bosses. As he approaches the fifth anniversary of his first fight in the UFC, and heading into his 11th fight in the promotion, Makdessi has always appeared on pay-per-view cards – never on “Fight Night” events.

Still, he’s relegated to Fight Pass thsi week – but he said he just wants to get back in the win column so he can work his way onto main cards – and, ultimately, the opportunity to get to title contention.

“I really want to get a chance to fight for the title,” Makdessi said. “That’s why I’m in the sport. I want to get back in there and test my skills and get back to the win streak.”

For more on UFC 194, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.