Athletes
Ricky Glenn: Reckoning With Reality
Midwest Veteran Confronts Harsh Realities, Accepts Difficult Truths Ahead Of UFC 305 Return
Thirty-five-year-old Ricky Glenn is already 32 fights into his professional mixed martial arts career, having navigated the Midwest regional scene and won gold in World Series of Fighting before landing a spot on the UFC roster in 2016.
Yet, despite all his experience, the Iowa native is in unfamiliar territory on three fronts this week as he touches down in Perth to take on Song Kenan as part of the UFC 305 preliminary card.
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“Some people are like, ‘Oh my gosh — Australia; it’s the other side of the world,’ but I don’t care — I’ll fight him in my front yard right now,” laughed Glenn, who is fighting outside of North America for the first time in his career. “I’m down to fight anywhere, anytime.
“I don’t care if it takes me a month to get there; let’s get it done.”
There were talks of a fight in Australia when the UFC ventured to Sydney last September, but a bout never materialized, resulting in Glenn making a fifth straight start in Las Vegas. Now, more than 18 years after making his pro debut, “The Gladiator” will mix things up some place other than the United States or Canada.
“I did some traveling abroad for some other stuff, but this is the farthest away from home that I’ve fought, for sure,” added Glenn, who admitted there is some uncertainty about the new situation and getting settled upon arrival. “Hopefully I can acclimate fine.”
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The other two new elements to this weekend’s bout at RAC Arena in Perth work in concert with one another, as Glenn ventures up to welterweight after suffering consecutive losses for the first time in his career.
A long-time featherweight, the Midwest veteran shifted to competing in the lightweight ranks following more than two years on the sidelines leading into his bout with Joaquim Silva in the summer of 2021. He won that bout by first-round knockout, putting the dangerous Brazilian down with one shot just 37 seconds into the contest before battling then-unbeaten hopeful Grant Dawson to a draw in his second appearance in his new surroundings.
The performance filled him with confidence and expectations of pushing into the Top 15, but then things went sideways.
Last April against Christos Giagos, he was the one stopped quickly; the momentum he’d built brought to a sudden halt. A similar ending transpired a little more than five months later against Drew Dober, leaving Glenn frustrated and forced to confront some difficult questions about his career and his future competing inside the Octagon.
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“I’ve never been TKOed or KOed, so that’s kind of weird,” began Glenn, who had only been submitted twice in his career, and only once after suffering his first pro loss in his third career appearance. “F*** 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.
“Both of those fights could have put me in the Top 15, and they definitely changed my career around,” continued Glenn, reflecting on the impact of those outcomes, the tone of his voice shifting to that of someone coming to grips with realities that can be impossible for many athletes to accept and even harder for those that haven’t been through it to understand.
“I’m getting older, I’m not gonna be fighting for much longer,” he said, sounding resigned and weary. “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.
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“It’s like, ‘Well s***!’ 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*** — I had such higher expectations for myself.”
Glenn looked everywhere but into his phone as he said this, as if he still wasn’t quite ready to confront the disappointment of a career that didn’t pan out the way he had hoped face-to-face, and it’s entirely understandable.
After years of committing himself to being the best fighter he could possibly be and experiencing championship success on the way to the UFC, he came up short of his goals, and reflecting on everything that went into coming up short feels like you’ve been short-changed.
“I’ve trained with UFC champions, Bellator champions, ONE, RIZIN — champions from all over the world, fighters from all over the world; I know where I sit and I put the work in,” he said, trying to articulate the ineffable hurt and sourness that inevitably comes with reaching this stage. “I think I’m deserving — and that’s a weird thing to say, but I think I’m deserving.
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“It’s just frustrating.”
All of this stuff gets weightier the more you’re forced to sit and confront it, the longer you go between appearances, and having not fought since October, Glenn has spent a lot of time pondering if his career was going to end on a two-fight skid and back-to-back first-round stoppages.
That also prompted him to start working on life after fighting, which includes purchasing a home even further out in the Middle of Nowhere, Iowa, closer to the Iowa River, and opening up the first jiu jitsu academy within an hour of his home.
And then the phone rang with an offer to compete on Saturday, and he jumped at the opportunity, ready to make his first business trip outside of North America, in a new weight class, and no longer weighed down by the expectations of how he wanted things to work out, even if he wishes he still were.
“I think it’s gonna be a freeing type feeling for me; I’m not tied down to a bunch of expectations,” he said when asked how it will feel stepping back into the Octagon at this point in his life and career. “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,” Glenn added. “I feel a lot healthier at this weight class. 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 next Saturday.”
Don't miss a moment of UFC 305: Du Plessis vs Adesanya, live from RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia on August 17, 2024. Prelims start at 8pm ET/5pm PT, while the main card kicks off live on PPV at 10pm ET/7pm PT.
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