Never Count Out Darrius Flowers
Flowers May Be A UFC Newcomer, But He Does Not Lack Experience
To most, Darrius Flowers will be the “new guy” when he steps into the Octagon on Saturday night to face Jake Matthews. It’s a short notice fight against an established vet for the graduate from Dana White’s Contender Series, and some will wonder whether he’s ready for all that comes with making his UFC debut.
Spoiler alert…he is. And if you doubt him, that’s okay because he’s been down this road before.
“Everybody's underestimating me, but I've always been underestimated my whole life, which is part of the reason why I'm here now. I know everybody's looking as if I'm just somebody who will either be here and gone or be like a journeyman, but they don't really know yet. And that's what I'm happy about.”
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The element of surprise is a beautiful thing, but with Matthews entering the Octagon for the 18th time this weekend in Salt Lake City, you have to assume that they’ve done their homework on the 28-year-old Flowers, and if they have, they’ll see that while his MMA record sits at 12-5-1, those losses were lessons that allowed him to put everything together last August, when he slammed his way to a UFC contract, defeating highly-touted Amiran Gogoladze in 73 seconds.
“It feels like everything's lining up perfectly, and I've been feeling that way for some time now,” said Flowers. “God has a plan and I'm just here for the ride.”
That ride is a smooth one at the moment, highway driving with no traffic and no end in sight. But it took some roadblocks, potholes and bumper-to-bumper misery to get here, as evidenced not just by his ups and downs in MMA, but on the pro boxing circuit, where his 1-10, 1NC record is explained by the fact that he fought 10 unbeaten opponents. That just doesn’t happen.
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“This was to get better in MMA striking,” he explains. “Simultaneously, I was getting my ass whipped in boxing, but I was knocking everybody out in MMA. And even when I stopped fighting in boxing, I was still knocking guys out in MMA. It was just my mission to get better at MMA. And I had fun in boxing, I fought on some nice cards, Mikey Garcia undercards and made a little bit of money and got to travel, which I didn't get to do before. And it just made me a tougher fighter for what I love.”
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It's paid off. Flowers’ last boxing match was in November of 2019, and since then, he’s gone 4-1 with three consecutive knockouts in MMA. That leads him to Saturday and a UFC debut where he plans to open some eyes.
“I'm going to get the job done however I got to get it done.”
UFC 291: Poirier vs Gaethje 2 took place live from the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah on July 29, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
