Lessons learned in Sioux Falls

Scarred for life

Making changes to return to winning ways

The Madison Square Garden dream

Now, it's personal

Coming off back-to-back losses, UFC middleweight Josh Samman knows it's now or never in terms of his UFC career.Samman was last in action in July at UFC Fight Night Sioux Falls, where he was beaten by UFC veteran Tim Boetsch. Two months removed from his most recent defeat, Samman has been reflecting on the loss. And while he can't pinpoint exactly where he faltered, he seems to have a good idea of what went wrong that night."For lack of better words, I don't know man -- I think I took him lightly," Samman said. "There are many things you can say in hindsight after losses like that, but it's two in a row now. It takes a lot of self-reflection to go back and see what could have been done differently before, during and after in this sport."I need to remember that I'm top of the food chain right now and you can't afford to have an off day. These guys have been around forever -- Tamdan McCrory and Tim Boetsch. While I've had five fights in the UFC and been competing for 10 or 11 years now, there are still guys with way more experience than me and I need to show up with my A-game."I can't stand the thought of being the guy that used to be good at fighting. I need to get back in there and whether it's with the same style I used to have or something different. I need to find a way to come away with the victory and still entertain the fans while doing it."After a particularly scrappy fight, Samman suffered a gruesome broken orbital that caused his eye to swell up and impair his vision for days after. The Florida native said he stills wears the scar from that battle in more ways than one."It was a broken orbital, but thankfully not one that needed surgery," Samman said. "It healed on its own. It's just a massive reminder that this is not a regular sport. You can't just show up and have an off day because there are going to be health consequences. Some of the injuries happening out there are so frightening to me and going through that, just talking about it now it feels like... just having my eye so swollen up, I couldn't see out of it--it was a rude awakening, that's for sure.[tweet url="https://twitter.com/JoshSamman/status/753663675169382400" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]"It helps serve as a reminder. I still have the scar tissue right underneath my eye, and every time I look in the mirror, I remember the day I took a guy too lightly and he broke my eye socket because of it."Heading into his next fight, Samman feels he must adjust his regimen to get back in the win column. He will begin by reintroducing sparring into his training schedule."I'm trying to take steps to stay in better shape between fights; I ran a half marathon his past weekend," Samman said. "That way, I don't have the extra-long process of getting in shape between training camps. I'm at a state right now where I could just jump into camp because I'm in such great shape. I'm ready right now. I'm hungrier than I've ever been.[tweet url="https://twitter.com/JoshSamman/status/771395399739334658" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]"A big part of it is also the sparring. I've been under the impression over the last two years that I should be more risk-averse with all the awareness and growth of brain injuries and everything. Because of that, I almost stopped all sparring completely, and I think that may have been something to do with why I wasn't putting it together on fight night. I will definitely be doing more sparring in my camp for my next opponent. It's about finding the middle ground between the sparring and the gym wars I used to have."Samman sees it's time to correct his recent poor run. Like many of the men and women on the UFC roster, Samman is eyeing a spot on November 12's UFC 205 card at Madison Square Garden to make things right."I've asked the UFC to put me on the MSG card, but I'm sure there are 500 other fighters asking for that exact same thing," Samman said. "I think I made a good case for it in my last few fights. I've been able to walk the fans through exactly what it's like to have my experiences with my post-fight blogs."Everyone has their brand, and mine is transparency and authenticity. I have an ability to express myself in a way that some fighters may not be able or willing to do. I want to give fans a feel of what it's like to be on the inside of the MSG card. I want to be part of the story and I want to tell the fans what it was like to be part of history on the first-ever UFC card in New York."I get goosebumps just thinking about it and being a part of it. This is a card that will be packed from start to finish and atmosphere will be electric. I don't want to read the story, I want to be in the story and tell the story."[instagram url="https://www.instagram.com/p/BJWG9zWgZGv/" hide_caption="0"]Samman has juggled multiple careers in the past -- fight promoting, training and authoring a book -- but for now, all these distractions are being put aside. Samman is now 100-percent focused on his fighting career and righting the wrongs of the last year."There's tremendous pressure on this fight, but it's now personal for me," Samman said. "This is the first time in my whole career I've lost two fights in a row. I'm doing this for myself now. When I go out there I'm fighting for me. This one isn't just for the fans, it's not just for my family, it's not just or the UFC--it's for me, myself and my own peace of mind that I still have the talent to go out there and make a statement."