PERTH, Australia -- Australian Jimmy Crute is adamant he will one day become the UFC's light heavyweight champion, declaring himself a different fighter to the one whose career hit a sudden halt through back-to-back defeats and then a knee injury.
Crute is returning from a 14-month layoff at UFC 284 in Perth this weekend, a matchup with the "very dangerous" Alonzo Menifield to be a measure of whether this is indeed Crute version 2.0.
While initially disappointed to have to undergo surgery on an ACL injury he had been dealing with for some time, Crute now looks at the layoff as a blessing in disguise having had the chance to really strip back his approach to the sport and to identify exactly where the improvements had to be made.
"The only way to describe the road back is that's it's just been a journey, ups and downs, mostly positive, a lot of work, a lot of growth," Crute told ESPN. "But I feel like I needed to take the time off, I'd never had time off in my career, so it was just really good for me to reevaluate everything.
"I think I've come along way and I'm ready to get back in there and show the world."
Crute had appeared to be heading towards the top five of the light heavyweight standings before he suffered a TKO stoppage at the hands of Anthony Smith in April 2021, a perennial nerve injury leaving the fight doctor little choice but to stop the bout at the end of Round 1.
The loss was a tough pill to swallow for the Australian -- he even questioned whether he had the desire to go on -- but he would return later in 2021 and face Jamahal Hill. Unfortunately for Crute, that fight also did not go to plan after he was floored by a devastating right hand from Hill.
But some 14 months on, Crute is ready to open the second chapter of his UFC career, one that has had its opening pages banished altogether.
"That's been the quote of the whole camp, 'it's my debut,' it's my first fight, nothing else matters," Crute said. "I really feel like the purpose of this fight is to showcase who I actually am without all the baggage.
"There's a lot of upskill physically, I've done a lot of work with my boxing, my wrestling, my jiu-jitsu, but the biggest improvement in my game in the last 12 months has been mental. It's been everything.
"I feel like I'm living in a new head, I feel like I'm living in a new mind right now. I live a completely different lifestyle today to what I used to do - I almost feel like a different person, let's put it that way."
Just how much improvement Crute has made will be evident when he fights Menifield on Sunday, his American opponent enjoying a successful run that has seen him win four of his past five fights.
"Look there's no question about it, Alonzo Menifield's very dangerous. He's a quick starter, he's a powerful man," Crute said. "I don't want to get into my game plan, that's for me, and for you guys to see on Sunday, but I've got him. I know I've got him."
While never short on self-belief before his extended injury layoff, Crute appears to have a renewed trust that his career is headed in only one direction. He acknowledges the defeats by Smith and Hill mean many will doubt his ability to really mix it with the elite company of the light heavyweight division, but believes he is truly better for those experiences.
"Their wins are their wins," Crute told ESPN. "Jamahal deserves to be a world champion, and the fact that I got to share the Octagon with him, I learned a lot from that bloke, not just physically, I learned a lot just from having conversations with Jamahal Hill, and Anthony Smith.
"So it was good and it's good to see him be a champion because that's what he deserves to be.
"[But] the way to describe the light heavyweight division is 'wide open', it only takes a three-fight win streak and you're eyeballing a title shot. Obviously I've got to focus on one fight at a time, but I know where I'm heading, I know where my goals are set, and I'm going to be a world champion one day - there's no doubt in my mind at all about that."