Oldbury's Jake Hadley heading into battle in confident mood
Oldbury fighter Jake Hadley insists he’s in the “prime” of his career so far ahead of his UFC Vegas 99 clash against Cameron Smotherman tomorrow night.
Smotherman has stepped in with less than a week’s notice after Hadley’s original opponent Brady Hiestand withdrew from the fight for unknown reasons.
Hadley produced a short-notice upset victory up a division against Caolan Loughran at UFC 305 in Manchester earlier this year.
He has decided to stay in the bantamweight division for his latest fight, which is on the main card of the hotly-anticipated clash between Anthony Hernandez and Michel Pereira.
Hadley started in the UFC as an unbeaten hopeful as a Cage Warriors flyweight, but registered a 2-3 mark in his first five fights as a flyweight.
And Hadley feels he has matured as a fighter in recent years as he heads into the fight in confident spirits.
He told UFC News: “I feel a lot more healthier and a lot better throughout my training camp. This fight week, in my last fight I felt better.
“I felt like I had my brain more rather than killing myself on the cut and then not getting my brain back to full capacity. From bantamweight, I feel like it’s going to be back.
“I’ve grown a lot as a fighter, I’ve matured a lot as a fighter. I’ve got a lot of experience now.
“Before contenders in the UFC, I had hard and good opponents but they never gave me hard fights whereas now I’ve lost two on the bounce and had to comeback, I’ve been dropped in a fight and had to comeback.
“I’ve matured a lot as a fighter and I’m in my prime right now so far in my life. I’ll probably be better when I’m 30-31, but I’m in the prime of my career so far.
“Fair play to him stepping up at short notice. What makes him more dangerous than the other opponent is he does have knockout power, but I’m a threat also.
“We can expect an entertaining fight. What do I want? I want to stay active, keep fighting as much as possible and keep pushing up the rankings.”
