Heading into his RFA 45 bout last October against Frank Schuman, welterweight up and comer Chad Curry knew he was in a tough spot.
Coming off a loss in his previous bout, Curry had spent just under a year on the shelf dealing with injury issues, and knew he had to have a strong performance against Schuman to re-establish himself on the scene.
“That win there was definitely a must-need win, just because it had been about a year since I fought last since I lost to Lando Vannata,” Curry told MMAWeekly.com. “I had a fight lined up after the loss to Vannata, and I had a pretty severe sprain in one of my ankles that kept me out for 8-12 weeks.
“Going into that (Schuman) fight there were a bit a nerves. I was putting a little pressure on myself to get the win – and not only get the win but have an outstanding performance – and I feel like I performed well. It felt good, like some pressure got taken off me, so I could relax a little bit and get this next one lined up.”
Curry admits the recovery process isn’t always easy, but it helped lead him to develop a training routine that was less demanding on his body while retraining its intensity.
“Healing up and trying to keep sharp, that’s tough when you’re really off the mats for six weeks,” said Curry. “After that it was coming back and doing technique and trying to get that back up to par. After I got that, I started to get my body back into shape and then go through the process of the fight camp.
“We’ve been adjusting the fight camps where we’re not doing these 12 or 14 week fight camps that aren’t super-intense. We’re still keeping them intense, but we’re doing a better job of keeping baseline conditioning.”
Curry (8-1) will look to build a winning streak when he takes on late replacement Kyle Kurtz (7-4) in a main card 170-pound bout at LFA 12 on Friday in Prior Lake, Minn.
“Getting the win I can pick and choose where I feel like getting the win out,” Curry said. “If I want to stand and bang with him, I can do it, or if I want to take it to the ground and get a submission, I can definitely do that as well.”
Curry does have goals he wants to work towards in 2017, but he also realizes circumstances can change in an instant, so he’s keeping his mind focused on one fight at a time.
“Each time you step in there, you roll the dice,” said Curry. “You might take a lucky shot and get knocked out, and it may be only one loss, but that can set you back because there’s always someone ready to take that spot if you’re not. I do take it one step at a time, but I do have goals I want to accomplish before the end of the year.”
