UFC welterweight Yancy Medeiros is ready to brawl every time he walks into the octagon. He just doesn’t want to.

“Yes, I’m competitive, and I’m down to go to war, but that’s not my initial reaction – ‘I’m going to stand toe-to-toe and see who takes the harder punches,'” Medeiros told MMAjunkie Radio after his barnburner with Alex Oliveira at UFC 218. “That’s not something I pride myself on.”

First and foremost, Medeiros said, health and longevity matter. He can’t achieve his goal of becoming a long-term investment to his promoter if he keeps on brawling.

“An asset is replaceable,” he said. “When you’re an investment, that’s when the company takes care of you. And how do you do that? You’ve got to find your windows of opportunity and take them.”

Medeiros (15-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) certainly did that in the octagon when he faced Oliveira (17-4-1 MMA, 7-3 UFC) earlier this month in Detroit. Dropped by punches early in the fight, he rallied to pick up a third-round TKO for his third consecutive UFC win. He also earned a $50,000 bonus for “Fight of the Night.”

Afterward, the thrill he felt from overcoming adversity was coupled with disappointment at taking so many punches. When he sat down and watched his performance against Oliveira, he couldn’t help but notice how many shots he’d blocked with his face.

“I took way too many hits,” Medeiros said. “‘Cowboy’ is definitely a tough individual. Usually, I punch people, and they make adjustments, and they’ll back off and give you some space. I punched him right square in the nose, and he seriously ran after me. I’m like, ‘Alright, this guy, he’s going to take it. We’ve got to make some adjustments.’ And then he friggin’ dropped me, my first drop in the first.

“In my head, I was like, ‘This mother(expletive) dropped me. I can’t believe it.’ I got so pissed off. I got egotistical. I got prideful. I was like, ‘I’ve got to punch him back, and I’ve got to drop him.’ Then he dropped me again, and I was like, ‘You’ve got to get back to the game plan.'”

With that lesson learned, Medeiros faces another challenge moving forward. How does he turn all of the excitement over his performances into something more than just a fleeting wave of attention from fans? How does he get his promoter to look at him as more than just an expendable asset?

Medeiros seems to be getting closer to his goal. He’ll make a quick turnaround to headline his first UFC event, facing veteran Donald Cerrone (32-10 MMA, 19-7 UFC) in an FS1-televised headliner at UFC Fight Night 126, which takes place Feb. 18 at Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. As it happens, Medeiros said he’s also up for contract renegotiation.

“I would love to talk and get locked in with the upper staff and have a good talk,” he said. “I want to know what they see in me and if they want to invest in me and how much am I’m worth to them.

“Because you get guys like Sage Northcutt, (and) he fights, but he gets seen way more than me. He gets endorsed, and he gets pushed out, and I’m not saying that’s unfair. I’m just saying that I’ve put in the work, and I know I’m entertaining. I don’t get fights like that guy, and I don’t get paid like him.

“These guys give me headbangers. They give me guys that try to take you out. And I’m all for it. I just want to get paid more, because I know I fight to entertain, and this is an entertaining business, and I’m going to put my life on the line, because it’s kill or be killed. I want to build my brand and do what I can with the time that I have. This sport is growing fast, and the fight life isn’t forever.”

Medeiros believes a fighter should be improving with age, getting more mobile and more facile with skills. He mentions UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture as cautionary figures in a career in which physical damage racks up fast.

“All these old-time fighters, they have a hard time being mobile,” Medeiros said. “It’s not supposed to deplete, and that’s something I really focus on. I don’t want to be immobile after my career is done. That’s a huge factor I focus on, especially when it comes to training.”

Medeiros isn’t the first fighter to complain of depressed pay during an era in which the gap between stars and rank-and-file is wider than ever. It’s a persistent problem for fighters who’ve seen rankings thrown out the window in search of lucrative matchups.

That’s one reason Medeiros wants a sit down with the UFC, because he doesn’t have many answers for how to fix the problem. Asked what he needs to do to become a star, he presents one solution. It’s the only constant in the way fighters get ahead.

“Keep knocking guys out,” he said with a laugh.

For more on UFC Fight Night 126, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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