After shift from Matt Brown to Dong Hyun Kim, Tarec Saffiedine just happy to remain on UFC 207 card

LAS VEGAS – It hasn’t been smooth sailing for Tarec Saffiedine’s UFC career.

In the nearly four years since he slid over from Strikeforce as the promotion’s final welterweight champion following a dominant unanimous-decision win over Nate Marquardt in January 2013, he’s had just four fights in the UFC and posted a 2-2 record.

But tonight at UFC 207 against Dong Hyun Kim (21-3-1 MMA, 12-3 UFC), Saffiedine (16-5 MMA, 2-2 UFC) caps off 2016 with a third fight in the calendar year – something he hasn’t done since 2010. And he said he owes it to a different style of training.

“Because my training is more consistent now, (I feel better),” Saffiedine told MMAjunkie. “I had a lot of injuries, a lot of setbacks the past couple years, and now I’m healthy. I’m training at a good pace. I’m training constantly – a little bit harder, but smarter, too. And my body is feeling good. I think I’m going to finish this year strong.”

UFC 207 takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card, including Saffiedine-Kim, airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Saffiedine started off 2016 with a decision win over Jake Ellenberger in January. That came after a 16-month layoff kept him out all of 2015 following a TKO loss to Rory MacDonald in October 2014.

After the Ellenberger win, though, he stumbled in a decision loss to Rick Story at UFC Fight Night 89 in May. Now he needs to rebound. He was supposed to have a chance to do so against Matt Brown, who was ultimately shifted to a fight against Donald Cerrone earlier this month at UFC 206.

Instead, the 30-year-old Belgian veteran gets South Korea’s Kim – and the major adjustments that went along with it.

“It was a big change – from orthodox to southpaw, to a different style of clinching, to a different style of ground game, to a different style of movement,” he said. “It was frustrating, but it is what it is. I had to adjust, make the change, change my sparring partner. …

“I stayed focused right after (hearing Brown had been moved). I just thought, ‘What’s next? Obviously they’re going to give me another opponent.’ All I wanted was to stay on the same date. I didn’t want the date to change, and it didn’t, so I’m happy.”

Saffiedine, who fell out of the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA welterweight rankings after his loss to Story, said he thinks Kim, who’s ranked No. 9, will want to stand and trade with him. That has proved problematic for some of Saffiedine’s opponents in the past, so maybe that will be just what the doctor ordered to get back on track.

Check out the full video above.

And for more on UFC 207, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.