On verge of retirement before big call, Alessandro Ricci now wants on UFC 206 in Toronto

Alessandro Ricci apparently wasn’t too very far away from deciding to call it quits on his MMA career. Then the phone rang.

Ricci has had a lengthy career in combat sports. But he’s only been an MMA pro for less than six years. At one point, he told himself it he didn’t make the big time before his 35th birthday, he’d bow out of the sport.

Ricci (10-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC) was only a month past his 34th birthday in July when he got the call to step in for the injured Josh Emmett in a lightweight fight against Jeremy Kennedy at UFC on FOX 21 in August in his home country of Canada.

Ricci lost the fight by unanimous decision, but it sent the retirement talk right out the window.

“I was kind of on the brink of retiring – I’m 34 years old, and I’m just starting right now,” Ricci recently told MMAjunkie Radio. “I’ve always said when I started my mixed martial arts career in 2010 – and I’ve competing in muay Thai for a very long time, for over 20 years now – during my MMA career, I’d always told myself if I don’t make the big show by the time I’m 35, I’m just going to retire. I’m blessed, I’ve accomplished so much already in the sport. And I finally got the call – I made it, and now I’m going to give it everything I’ve got.”

Ricci hopes he can give it everything he’s got in December when the UFC returns to Toronto, which is his neck of the woods. He wants on the UFC 206 card, he said.

UFC 206 takes place Dec. 10 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

And if it can happen, he doesn’t care who it’s against.

“There’s a little bit of a talk, so there’s a strong possibility I’ll be on that card,” Ricci said. “So I’m crossing my fingers. I’m ready to go down with anybody. I want to challenge myself. I want to fight the best and I want to beat the best. At this level, everybody’s good. Everybody has strengths and weaknesses, and that’s the beauty. It’s a high-speed chess match at the end of the day. I’m down to fight anyone.

“I want to work my way up the rankings. Now that I’m in the big show and in this league, I want an opportunity to go after that belt and win that belt. So I’m motivated and I’m blessed.”

Ricci hasn’t been able to string together more than two wins in a row since 2011-12. But he’s also never lost two straight, meaning there’s a strong chance he’ll rebound from his loss to Kennedy.

Looking up and down his resume, his four losses have been to three UFC veterans and a Bellator/Strikeforce/WEC veteran. And it’s that level of experience he’s been in the cage with that seems to be helping him as he looks ahead to what he hopes is a call for a second UFC shot.

“We’re getting ready – we’re possibly fighting very soon,” Ricci said. “I’m the type of fighter I’m always training year-round. I’m always ready to take a fight. That’s how I got booked – how I got signed (by the UFC). I replaced Josh Emmett on the Vancouver card. I’m always training, I’m always ready, I manage my weight really well, keep a strong mindset, and I’m ready to get that call any time – hopefully Toronto. That’s my home, that’s my home base, and that would be a dream come true to fight at the ACC.”

For more on UFC 206, check out the UFC Rumors section of the card.

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