UFC Hidalgo’s main card kicks off with a fun fight between Chas Skelly and Maximo Blanco, and Skelly has made quite a few changes going into this fight.

Chas Skelly has been a fun fighter to watch since making his UFC debut in 2013. After dropping that debut to phenom Mirsad Bektic, Skelly went on to beat his next four opponents, stopping three of them. His win streak was snapped by the grinding style of Darren Elkins, so Skelly has shaken things up this camp in response.

Tonight at UFC Hidalgo, Skelly will take on the dynamic Maximo Blanco. Ahead of his potential bounce-back fight, the wrestler took some time to talk to Cage Pages about his changes, his past fights, and more.

Chas Skelly has cemented a spot in the UFC record books by winning two fights within 13 days of each other. It was a unique opportunity for the Texan, and a great chance to erase his debut loss off his record quickly.

“It was cool. The first fight ended pretty quick, I think it was 35-45 seconds. I didn’t take any damage. I got a call afterwards and they asked me if I wanted to come back and fight in 10 days, I think it was 13 days between fights but 10 from when they called me. So I said, ‘yeah let’s do it.’ Two fights, two paychecks, one fight camp. You can’t beat that. The weight cut was really hard though for the second fight. But I got to fight night, got the win, and that’s the most important part. I guess it’s a record.”

About that weight cut, that is one of the main things Skelly has changed this camp. Although he’s never missed weight, Skelly’s cuts have always been massive.

“This camp has been different. In the past I’ve cut a lot more weight. For example, the Jim Alers fight. They called me on four and a half weeks’ notice and I was 185 pounds at the time. Other fights I’ve started at around 175, so that’s a 29 or 30 pound cut. After my last fight I decided to change my lifestyle, be more healthy. Less beer, more spinach and grilled chicken. This camp I’ve kept it under 170, I haven’t been over that at any point. Pretty much this whole camp I’ve been sticking around 160 to 164. It should be a fairly easy cut this time. When I’ve had my better cuts I show up at weigh-ins around 158, but I was already cutting to get there. I woke up this morning (August 30) at 159 and that’s just from working hard and eating right. I’m guessing I’ll have to cut around 10 pounds this fight. I’ll probably do it all the day before weigh-ins or the morning of. I think the weight cuts were really affecting me in the past, I was feeling really bloated and had weaker cardio. I think I’ll perform a lot better this fight with my nutrition, having cut my weight down.”

Another big change Skelly has made is moving from Team Takedown in Texas, to the Blackzilians gym in Florida. It’s a move that has been very beneficial in Skelly’s eyes.

“I’m with Blackzilians now in Florida. I’ve been here all camp so the plan is after this fight to move all my stuff here permanently. I love it here. Beautiful weather, great coaches, great partners. The one thing I’ve always lacked in my career is having partners around my weight. Team Takedown had a lot of good coaches, I had Marc Laimon, Kenny Monday, Tony Cabello, Steven Wright. I had good coaches but I didn’t have any high-level guys around my weight to train with. The only time they brought someone in for me was Pat Curran and that was just for one camp. Pat’s actually here at Blackzilians now so it’s nice to have a friend here.”

Although Skelly lived in Florida for this camp, he was born and raised in Texas. However, this fight in Hidalgo, Texas, is not exactly in his backyard.

“It’s cool and everything that it’s in Texas but it’s still nine hours away from my hometown. Texas is a huge state, and they’re doing it right on the Mexican border and I’m from up north, in Fort Worth, in north central Texas. It’s like fighting in a different state. I should have some people there but it’s gonna be tough for everyone to make the nine hour drive. I’d rather fight in Dallas or Houston, but I got Hidalgo. Hopefully my people make it out.”

Skelly’s last fight was at UFC 196 in Las Vegas against the very tough veteran Darren Elkins. It was a hard battle fought under suboptimal circumstances for Skelly.

“I knew I didn’t have the cardio before the fight. I’m not gonna make any excuses, nothing wrong with my weight during camp. I knew going into it I was going to have to finish it in the first round or it was gonna be a long night. I completely 100-percent thought I would finish early and that I would win the fight. I just knew in the back of my mind that my cardio wasn’t there. It was a terrible camp. Sometimes in this business things don’t go your way when preparing for a fight and you only have two options: pull out or you suck it up and take a beating like a man I guess. So that’s what I did. Pulling out just wasn’t an option for me. I just went in there and tried my best. The weight cut wasn’t bad. It’s always tough but it was one of my better ones. It was just a bad, bad camp. I just couldn’t work out. I couldn’t stay in the gym.”

Skelly’s current opponent, Maximo Blanco, is the opposite of Darren Elkins, and Skelly has adjusted his game plan accordingly.

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“This camp is completely different. It’s gone the way I’ve wanted it to go. My cardio is excellent, I’ve worked hard for the past eight weeks, I’ve busted my ass, I’m healthy and I feel good. I’m just going to go out there and do what I do. I’m going to keep the pressure on him. I’m going to break him. I will make him fight the whole 15 minutes if that’s what I have to do because I know he starts strong and slows down, and when he slows down, I’ll keep my pace up. I’m a durable guy so if he wants to come out with all this energy and throw bombs and burn all his energy in the beginning, that’s going to play to my advantage.”

In non-fight related topics, this will be Skelly’s third fight in the USADA-era of the UFC, and it has taken some getting used to for Chas.

“I got tested today actually. They just showed up at the gym and got me. I guess the only thing that surprised me is when you’re peeing in the cup, the guy is basically holding it for you. My first USADA test, I went in there and I’m peeing in the cup and the guy, who’s standing literally right next to me said, ‘Can you turn towards me?’ I was like, ‘What do you want? You want to f**king hold it?’ I couldn’t get any closer or he would get splashed with pee. No horror stories or anything, they’re all really professional. In fact that guy showed up at my house early in the morning. I just peed after going for a run. I had to drink a ton of water to get the 90mL they needed.”

You can see if Chas Skelly’s changes will lead to success tonight at 10:00 p.m. EST on FOX Sports 1 during UFC Hidalgo. Will the smooth weight cut and new gym allow him to drag Maximo Blanco into deep waters?