Marc-Andre Barriault believes he “did great” in his UFC debut despite falling short. Barrault, the former TKO light heavyweight and middleweight champion, failed to get the win against Andrew Sanchez in a competitive decision at UFC Ottawa back in May. However, he said he learned a lot from the fight, including simply what it’s like to fight on the biggest stage in the sport.

“It was a very, very intense fight week,” Barriault told Bloody Elbow. “The debut jitters overcame everything.”

Barriault, who generally has a very aggressive style, said he didn’t fight like himself in his first Octagon outing due to those nerves. Instead, he was worried about what his opponent was trying to do, and that backfired on him. He started slower than usual, too, and ultimately ran out of time, he said.

“I knew Andrew was a standout wrestler,” Barriault said. “I thought too much during that fight about what he will do to me – the takedown, everything – instead of letting everything go and fighting like a real fighter.”

Barriault, who meets veteran middleweight Krzysztof Jotko at UFC 240 on Saturday in Edmonton, said he believes his next opponent is actually better than his first. But the French-Canadian is confident he’s made the necessary improvements since May to pick up his first UFC win.

Barriault said if he fought Sanchez again, it would go much differently than it did the first time.

“I have a lot of respect for Andrew Sanchez; we used to train together at TriStar,” Barriault said. “Honestly, I think I can beat this guy eight times out of 10. I know his wrestling skills are great, but for MMA, we need to be more complete. I think with the standup aspect and all the powerful things, I can beat this guy anytime.”

Barriault, 29, said he wanted to get back into the cage as soon as possible after losing to Sanchez.

“After the fight, I was a little bit disappointed, so I just needed to know what my new boss thinks of me,” Barriault said. “My manager told me the UFC really liked my performance. So I said to him, ‘OK, let’s do this quickly. I need to go back very fast, I need to jump back.’

“When they announced the UFC was going back to Edmonton, I said to my manager, ‘OK, let’s go. I’m already in fight shape, I want to have my second chance right now.’”

UFC 240 takes place July 27 at Rogers Place Arena in Edmonton. The event is expected to be headlined by a featherweight title bout between Max Holloway and Frankie Edgar. Barriault’s bout against Jotko will open the pay-per-view portion of the card.