KO loss to Tumenov forced UFC Fight Night 85's Alan Jouban to alter training habits

BRISBANE, Australia – Fighters are typically eager to put losses behind them as soon as possible. UFC welterweight Alan Jouban is no different, but first he fully embraced the outcome of his most recent fight.

Jouban (12-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC), who battles Brendan O’Reilly (6-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in the featured preliminary bout of Saturday’s FOX Sports 1-televised UFC Fight Night 85 event at Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, said his first-round knockout loss to Albert Tumenov at UFC 192 in October is not something he shies away from.

In fact, Jouban said he learned more from the quick and violent stoppage than he has any of his previous career setbacks. The defeat forced Jouban to reanalyze the way in which he was training, and, more importantly, where he was dedicating the majority of his time and energy.

“For the last couple years, it’s been building,” Jouban told MMAjunkie. “In terms of any weaknesses I see, I try to strengthen my weaknesses. I did everything evenly. I would train striking twice a week, grappling twice a week, strength and conditioning twice a week and sparring twice a week – a very even platform. Everything was getting better at a very slow level.

“Then I go in there against a very high-level striker like Albert Tumenov, and my striking wasn’t on point, as good as it could have been. It wasn’t as polished as I like it. So I took some of the other things away and shifted it around, put more emphasis on my striking, which is from the beginning what got me to the UFC. This is how I made my name, from being an exciting fighter, who finishes fights, has knockouts. I just adjusted some of the things and put more emphasis on my strengths.”

Jouban was able to hang with Tumenov for a couple minutes. However, once “Einstein” found his range, timing and distance, he battered Jouban with some hard shots and finished the fight. Prior to the matchup, Jouban had every bit of confidence he would succeed on the feet, but then reality arrived.

The 33-year-old doesn’t blame the result on a vast disparity of skills or a non-shrinkable gap in talent. Instead, he said it’s all about devoting more time to his striking in training. He did that for the upcoming fight with O’Reilly.

“Do you want to spend 25 percent of your training week doing something that’s a low percentage move for you, something that you don’t go to that often?” Jouban said. “If I’m normally in the cage for 15 minutes, and for 12 of those I’m striking, I’m spending more time striking in my fights. So I should spend more time training striking during the week. That’s how I’ve changed my camp up.”

Jouban was forced to travel long and far in order to redeem himself from the loss to Tumenov. The American takes on Brisbane native O’Reilly in his hometown in Australia, which means the crowd is likely to be partial to Jouban’s opponent.

Although “Brahma” would have preferred to remain Stateside or fight somewhere closer to home, he said he’s not the type to decline any offer from UFC matchmaker Joe Silva. It also helped that Jouban thought the matchup is heavily in his favor, and he said he plans to capitalize.

“I’ve never turned down a fight in my life; there was no hesitation (coming to Australia),” Jouban said. “When the fight was presented I said yes right away. I looked up Brendan. I liked the matchup. I see areas in the game I can exploit him and look for a finish.”

Check out the video above for more from Jouban ahead of his fight with O’Reilly.

And for more on UFC Fight Night 85, check out the UFC Events section of the site.