After parting with the UFC in 2020, Dana White’s Contender Series alum Juan Adams has gone on a two-fight winning streak with Fury FC. Now, he is slated to compete at Fury FC 49 opposite Richard Odoms in a bid to capture the Fury heavyweight title on August 29. In July, he and Will Miller talked about the matchup, Adams’s Contender Series experience, his time in the UFC, and more. 

The championship fight comes after a short turnaround, as Adams last competed at Fury FC 48 just over a month ago. Adams describes Odoms as a “game opponent” and says that it should be “a good scrap.” Stylistically, Adams likes the matchup, and anticipates that Odoms’s striking will be “pretty accomplished.” He says he is willing to fight often to “get where he needs to be” and says he is prepared to fight “two or three more times” in 2021. He says he prefers being active because it helps him stay fresh and at the forefront of people’s minds, and he does enjoy it. When fighting, he says that it’s about finding out who’s better at imposing their will on the opponent. 

When asked about his thoughts on what it might take to get to a reunion with the UFC, Juan said that he will fight whomever they put in front of him. His goal is to fight for a major promotion again and fight “the top talent in the world” again. 

Adams is one of many fighters to earn their UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series. His opportunity came after three victories in the Legacy Fighting Alliance, and the fight took place just over a year after his professional debut. UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard was in attendance at his third LFA fight, and from there, he took the opportunity and trained hard for six weeks leading up to the bout. However, he said that that “doesn’t really work” anymore, and would like to have a day job to not think about fighting “all the time.” He does state that he felt an added pressure to perform well on the Contender Series in order to earn the UFC opportunity. He likens the smaller crowd to being in sparring, and said that he “really enjoyed that.” Juan said that being in Vegas for the fight was also very cool.

When asked if he has changed his game since being in the UFC, Adams said it was “a different perspective” since he has “been where so many people are trying to be.” He does say that that aspect takes away some of the “rushing and stress” since he doesn’t rush the game plans as much as he used to. 

Juan’s favorite fight card that he has been a part of was the Contender’s Series “hands down”, saying that you couldn’t beat the combination of experiences, like the five-fight card, good pay, and being in Las Vegas. He participated in the UFC 247 card which was headlined by Jon Jones, and describes being with him during that camp. Adams spoke about the “media circus” that came with a Jon Jones fight, and that the “sheer amount of coverage” was something to adjust to. 

As far as typical fight week preparation, Adams spoke about managing his weight carefully, minimizing contact with a lot of people during the week, watching movies, and eating and drinking what he can. He says he likes the grappling side of training, and doesn’t enjoy the striking side as much. Juan says that a fight that stands out to him is his bout with former NFL Pro Bowler Greg Hardy, stating that he “put so much into that camp.” He does say that he will “never give that much of my existence into a single event ever again.” He said that with regard to facing Hardy, who was more inexperienced in MMA when the two fought, his defense was “better than I expected it to be” and that the fight was a learning experience for him. 

Juan said he would prefer to fight grapplers because “their striking isn’t very good” and is confident that with his striking training he can possess “a slight edge in that department.” When it comes to facing strikers, Adams said that you always have to be “cautious and cognizant of their opportunities to knock you out.” He says that fighters cannot walk into shots from him, and he feels that he is dangerous “pretty much everywhere.” He also pointed out wrestling as an aspect of his skill that makes him dangerous. As far as nerves, he said that one specific step in overcoming them for him was getting knocked out on a pay-per-view, and that it was one of his biggest fears, but now he has “a blueprint on how to get through it.”