Scottish lightweight Stevie Ray thought about becoming a day laborer when a professional gamble backfired.

Now, he’s back with the UFC and training hard to ensure his next trip to the octagon doesn’t have the same end.

Ray (21-7 MMA, 5-2 UFC) will see a familiar face in his return when he meets Kajan Johnson (22-11-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 127, which takes place March 17 at The O2 in London and streams live on UFC Fight Pass. Ray stepped in when Johnson’s original opponent, Rustam Khabilov (22-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC), was forced to withdraw from the event.

“We know a little bit about each other,” Ray told MMAjunkie Radio of Johnson. “We’ll see who’s the best man.”

The two briefly trained together at Tristar Academy in Canada, giving Ray a lasting impression of Johnson’s style.

“He is willing to stand and fight, but he runs a lot, and ever since he got knocked out by Tae Hyun Bang, I know that he focused on his footwork a lot,” Ray said. “So he runs a lot and does taekwondo, almost point fighting.

“He runs, he runs, and then he tries to hit you. You try to chase him a lot, and he’ll punish you for it.”

Ray returns to the UFC after a knockout loss to Paul Felder this past July in his home country of Scotland. Prior to the fight, he’d lobbied for a more lucrative contract and was promised one with a win over Felder. A bad training camp and the pressure of fighting in front of his countrymen had gotten to him.

With a new contract, Ray gets the chance to make a fresh start after his promising run was cut short. It’s his job to avoid falling into Johnson’s trap.

As the head coach of Braveheart MMA, Ray said it’s on his shoulders to create the best possible environment for victory. He’s enlisted sparring partners to mimic his former teammate’s style in the gym.

Although the memory of his loss to Felder still fresh, Ray takes responsibility for the turn his professional career. He can’t promise there won’t be any more bumps in the road, but he’ll do his best to avoid them.

“I got caught by Paul Felder, but it was one of those fights where anything could happen,” he said. “I knew that. There’s always a possibility of losing. If you don’t know there’s a possibility of losing, then what would be the point of training?

“I’m training hard every day knowing there’s that chance you can lose, and that’s why I train so hard – to make that as little as possible.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 127, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, Brian “Goze” Garcia and Dan Tom. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.