He looks at this reality in a concrete way. To improve, he needs reps, which he got with Borshchev as well as middleweight Anthony Hernandez.
As for his opponent, he’s less concerned with what Naurdiev is going to bring to the Octagon and more focused on implementing his game. That game revolves around his experience as a wrestler, but with the work being done in camp, he also hopes it includes improvements to the feet.
He’ll find those skills pushed against Naurdiev, who split his two fights in the Octagon, scoring a decision victory over Bruno Silva at UFC 308 before falling on the scorecards against JunYong Park in June.
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For Loder, it’s about moving forward, getting that next live performance, racking up more time in the Octagon and getting that first official UFC win.
“I can’t change what happened,” he said. “It’s a learning experience. It grows from that experience. Now I can present like, OK, now it’s a different fighter. And every time I come out, I’m a different fighter. I’m just getting better, which is scary for a lot of people being a little older for the game, but coming into it relatively new and just jumping into it, [and] I have great people around me who have helped me so much…I’m excited to show it off.
