UFC 158's Daron Cruickshank adjusting on the fly after behind-the-scenes mishaps

Everyone knows things rarely go according to plan during a cage fight, but unless you’re Nick Diaz, behind-the-scenes mishaps frequently go unnoticed.

Lightweight Daron Cruickshank has had his share of snafus before his fights, and now, he’s learned to go with the flow.

“I worry about myself,” he told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). “The fight is going to happen no matter what. If I make weight or he misses weight, I’m still going to fight.”

The “he” in this case is John Makdessi (10-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC), whom Cruickshank (12-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) fights on the FX-televised preliminary card of UFC 158, which takes place tonight at Montreal’s Bell Centre.

The current mishap Cruickshank is dealing with is the loss of his fight shorts, which were in a tube that broke open during his flight to Montreal. The tube also contained his sponsor banner, which was easily replaced, but he’s still waiting for the shorts.

New ones should show up any minute now.

“Things like that happen,” he said. “You lose your luggage. Hotels don’t have saunas, and you have to go searching for a sauna. All that stuff I put behind me and concentrate on the task ahead.”

Cruickshank stands to win his third straight UFC fight if he can get past Makdessi, who recently rebounded from a two-fight skid with a win over the tough Sam Stout. Makdessi brings a sharp striking game that could give the Michigan native difficulty if he doesn’t use his reach advantage. And Makdessi is fighting in front of a hometown crowd as a representative of the city’s famed Tristar gym.

Saturday can’t here quick enough for Cruickshank, who rebounded from an unsuccessful run on “The Ultimate Fighter 15? with a pair of wins.

“Obviously, where I have the most fun is in the cage when the bell rings,” he said.

Afterward, he’ll have plenty of time to think about all the problems he had to solve along the way, not to mention the things that he did when fists were flying.

“After the fight is done and I’m sitting in the room by myself, it kind of hits me, the things that I’ve done,” Cruickshank said. “But it’s hard to think about it when it’s going on.”

For more on UFC 158, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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