If there is one person you do not want to be on the wrong side of, it’s Jimmy Crute.
An intense stare down at today’s UFC media day with Michal Oleksiejczuk saw Crute give his Polish opponent some intense words.
“I said your f***ing dead c**t,” Crute said after the face-off.
“Because he’s f**ing dead.”
Crute revealed Oleksiejczuk’s team had been private messaging him ahead of their co-main event spot at UFC Auckland and Oleksiejczuk did not take to kindly when Crute responded.
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Oleksiejczuk failed a USADA test in 2017 with his win over Khalil Rountree and Crute said he does not take kindly to cheaters.
“It’s not through emotion or anything, I just see a dead body when I look at him,” Crute said.
“I’m going to catch him and he’s going to be motionless on the ground. I’ll get a knockout or I’ll choke him until he’s unconscious. I see my shots landing really clean.”
Crute will return at UFC Auckland after suffering the first loss of his career last year to Misha Cirkunov. The Bendigo native won 10 straight including his first two fights in the UFC before tasting defeat. Crute says he took the loss hard.
“I never thought that a loss would chew me up but it did,” Crute told.
“It chewed me up on the inside, I just knew that I was better than what I showed and not because there is now an L on my record, but just because I didn’t perform to my ability. It really chewed me up.”
Fighting Circunov was a step up in competition for Crute with Circunov having a distinct experience advantage both inside and outside of the cage. Crute had Circunov in trouble in the early stages of the fight before eventually being submitted with a Peruvian necktie.
At only 23-years-old, Crute believes the loss will only improve him as a fighter as he looks to get back in the win column at UFC Auckland.
“I was kind of winging it before,” Crute said.
“Now I have a purpose. I know my game plan backward and forwards, now I understand what I need to do. I have confidence in myself. I went my whole career just winging it and not really having that much self-belief. I just saw myself as a kid from a country town that really was just a bit of a lad you know? I see myself as one of the best fighters in the world now.”
Crute now has Dan Kelly in his corner full time which he says has more of a strategic element to this camp. Kelly fought in the UFC 10 times and understands the ups and downs that can come with being a professional fighter in the UFC.
“Dan Kelly has always sort of been my coach but I have brought him in full time,” Crute said.
“MMA and jiu-jitsu are two very different things. I’ve refocused on an MMA grappling mindset and he’s been the best for connecting MMA to grappling.”
Jimmy Crute takes on Michal Oleksiejczuk in the co-main event of UFC Auckland this Sunday.
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