Ricky Glenn appears to have reached a crossroads in his mixed martial arts career.
The Marshalltown, Iowa, native has lost consecutive bouts for the first time in his professional tenure, falling to Drew Dober and Christos Giagos via KO/TKO in his last two UFC appearances. Those defeats were also the first two knockout losses of Glenn’s career, which began in 2006.
Glenn will look to return to the win column for the first time in three years when he squares off against Kenan Song in a preliminary lightweight bout at UFC 305 at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, on Saturday night.
“I’ve never been TKOed or KOed, so that’s kind of weird,” Glenn told UFC.com. “F—k man, you can control everything you can control, but then when you get in there, you just kind of gotta roll the dice, do the best you can do.
“Obviously the best I can do wasn’t enough, and I lost my last couple fights, and I’m just looking at this one as going in there, having fun; trying not to game plan too much and just throwing my shots when I see them.”
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Glenn, who turned 35 earlier this year, is well aware that fighting has an expiration date. At this point, his expectations are simply to enjoy his time in the Octagon as much as possible.
“I’m getting older, I’m not gonna be fighting for much longer,” he said. “The title shot is definitely out of the picture, Top 10 is probably out of the picture. I want to go in there and have fun; hopefully win, but if not, then so be it.
“It’s like, ‘Well s—t’ I gotta keep my head high and be proud that I made it, I guess. Some people here in town — I’m from the Middle of Nowhere, Iowa — they’re like, ‘Aw man, you’re in the UFC, you made it — you should be proud of that,’ and it’s like, I am, but s—t — I had such higher expectations for myself.”
With that in mind, perhaps it will be easier for Glenn to throw caution to the wind when he steps into the Octagon with Song on Saturday. After beginning his career at featherweight, UFC 305 will mark Glenn’s fifth promotional appearance at 155 pounds.
“I think it’s gonna be a freeing type feeling for me; I’m not tied down to a bunch of expectations,” he said. “I hope I win, of course, but if not, gosh — whatever. It is what it is, and I hate to say that and it sucks, but I’m confident. I feel a lot healthier at this weight class [155 pounds]. I feel a lot sharper and, surprisingly, I feel a little quicker. I’m heavier, but I feel healthier, so hopefully that translates into my fight [on Saturday].”
