Instead, Gillespie chose MMA, and he may be hitting his physical prime as he closes out his 2019 campaign this weekend. It’s been a good run thus far, but he admits that it doesn’t feel like three years since he started wearing gloves with the UFC letters on them.
“No, it doesn’t,” he said. “I was just thinking about my Pittsburgh fight (against Jason Gonzalez), which was two Septembers ago. My brother got married two weeks after that fight, and it’s incredible to think it’s been two years since then. I also remember my buddy Adam (Kownacki), he’s a heavyweight boxer here and he’s probably gonna have a belt pretty soon, he was making fun of me because I hadn’t broken into double-digit wins yet. And that seems like it was not that long ago.”
Gillespie hit that double-digit mark with his Fight of the Night submission of Gonzalez, and three more victories have followed, putting him in a perfect spot heading into his showdown with Lee. It’s a reminder that sometimes you can make it by going against the grain. But then again, Gillespie has often been ahead of the curve on many things. I remind him that as the world has gotten on board with retired U.S. Navy SEAL David Goggins, he’s been living that life for a while.