Spiritually balanced

Mind now on the fight



The ultimate goal

There aren’t many fighters like Alessandro Ricci.The 34-year-old is a relative newcomer to the UFC, but this weekend fans will get to learn a lot more about him when he opens the UFC Fight Night 105 main card opposite Paul Felder in a lightweight fight that has all ingredients for a classic.Ricci is coming off the back of an unsuccessful debut at UFC on Fox 21 last August when he stepped up at short notice to face fellow Canadian, Jeremy Kennedy. While some would be feeling the pressure of potentially having successive two losses in the promotion, the mental side of the game is something Ricci feels he has well under control.Speaking exclusively earlier this week to FloCombat, Ricci explained his unique ways for getting himself mentally ready for fights.“When I’m not in the gym I just like to connect with nature and get in tune with myself,” Ricci said. “I like meditation, I do many types of yoga and I work on my breathing every single day. These are things that really compliment my professional life as an athlete and preparing myself to go out there and do what I do.”This past weekend, Ricci and his coaches visited Pacifica Ocean Beach in California to take some well-earned before his fight this weekend in Halifax. The Toronto native posted some interesting videos on his Instagram documenting some of the activities they took part during their time away and he explained what they were doing.“We came down to California to just take a little break right before the final week so we could like decompress,” Ricci said. “We did a lot of hiking, getting in touch with nature and just a lot of different stuff to keep mentally balanced. For the last couple of weeks, camp has been very tough and I’ve been pushing myself to the absolute limit.“That little break in California was just a nice decompression for a couple of days just to relax and let my body heal. Now I feel refreshed, reenergized and that was the perfectness of this trip. It was a nice reward for me at the end of my camp to leave Vegas and come to California.“It was a decompression weekend, but we’ve still been training and been to some of the local gyms which has been very cool. It was very inspiring.”With the relaxing weekend away now over, it’s all eyes on Halifax and what lies ahead when he faces Paul Felder. Suffice to say, Ricci has a lot of respect for what his opponent brings to the table and he is expecting the two of them to put on a treat for the fans this Sunday evening.“This is a very big opportunity for me going up against Paul,” Ricci said. “This is my opportunity to let people know who I am. He’s a striking based fighter and he’s very talented. I believe it’s going to be a very exciting fight.“He’s a pressure fighter and in the fights that I’ve seen him, he’s never on the back foot. I’m excited to go up against him and I think that the two of us should put on a good fight and I’m excited to go out there and show that I belong in the top-25 at 155-pounds.”While displacing Felder in the top-25 might be his prerogative this weekend, Ricci has much grander overall objectives in the sport. Like most fighters that ever enter the UFC, Ricci fully believes that he has what it takes to be the best in the world and this weekend is just another stepping stone for him achieving his ultimate ambitions in the sport.“My goal is to be dominant and to be the next champ,” Ricci said without needing to think. “My goals this year are to work my way up the rankings and continuously work on perfecting my craft. When I step into that Octagon I’m going to be focused and I’m going to be joyous for the occasion. This is my time and I will embrace it with confidence and self-belief.“Being on the big stage in front of all those people is something I feel comfortable with. I’m blesses that in the past I have a lot of experience. I’ve been in this game for twenty years and I fought on some of the biggest cards in my Muay Thai career. The occasion elevates me and it gets me more excited. The tougher the opponent and the bigger the stage, the better I feel. It keeps me hungrier and it keeps me sharper. I thrive in that type of environment. I’m just taking everything in right now and living in the moment.”