He may be one of the hottest mixed martial arts prospects coming out of Australia, but Joshua Culibao insists he has a point to prove.
The 26-year-old is set to face off against the highly-dangerous Charles Jourdain on Fight Island this weekend, but hopes that this time everyone remembers his name by the end of the night (or day depending on where you're watching it).
When Culibao arrived in the UFC, there was plenty of hype among fans and experts about the undefeated fighter coming out of Sydney.
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And the UFC clearly shared the same opinion.
Without hesitation, Dana White and the UFC matchmakers put the Aussie up against lightweight Jalin Turner on a stacked Fight Night card in Auckland - but Culibao had only ever fought at featherweight in the past.
And, well, it didn't exactly go to plan for the man dubbed 'Kuya' after he was knocked out in the second round in devastating fashion.
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"I know a lot of people are going to judge me off the last fight and I can't blame them - it was a s*** performance," Culibao told SPORTbible Australia.
"I can say hand on heart that I was terrible, there's no excuses. I came into the fight out of shape and fat, I literally did no training and I went in there and fought a killer like Jalin Turner.
"I understand people are going to base me off that performance, which is fine by them, but this time round I'll be able to right a lot of wrongs. I'm ready to put on a performance and shut up all these doubters."
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While Culibao is quick to take the blame for the defeat, you could make a strong argument that it wasn't entirely his fault.
His real reasons for taking the short-notice fight in the wrong division were later revealed.
Incredibly, Culibao decided to step up to the plate simply because he couldn't pass up on an opportunity to fight in the UFC - even if it meant fighting in the wrong weight class!
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But while he has already digested the feelings of a first professional defeat, Culibao insists the experience helped him grow as a fighter.
"Fighting outside of my standard weight class was different, mainly because of the size of the opponent," he said.
"What really shocked me the most was the size and strength of Jalin Turner - it's something I've never experienced before.
"There's usually not guys who are 6-foot-4-inches fighting at 66 kilos at featherweight. It was a massive learning curve and showed the differences between lightweight and featherweight in terms of size and power. I now want to take that into this next fight."
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The man standing opposite Culiabo come fight time is an absolute savage too.
24-year-old Canadian Jourdain has a point to prove himself following his defeat to Andre Filli in June.
And Culibao has a good idea of how the bout will play out.
"He will look at my last fight and undoubtedly underestimate me," he said.
"He's going to come out aggressive and look for the highlight reel finish but I can assure you that he's going to walk into something from me. I'm going to surprise him with my own stuff and spoil the party."
One thing that does play into the Aussie's hands is the time difference.
With the fights taking place in Abu Dhabi, the timings have plagued fighters travelling from different parts of the globe.
But for Culibao and his team, being in Sydney certainly helps with adjusting to the insane start times.
"We're actually fighting at around 4:30am local time here," Culiabo said.
"Interestingly though, that's around 6 hours behind Australian time. So when I'm fighting in Abu Dhabi, in Australia it'll be about 10:30am - which ain't too bad for me.
"It's nothing unusual, my team and I have just stayed on the Australian clock which is weird.
"I've been trying to sleep while the sun is out at around 4pm and then wake up at around midnight or 1am. So I'll wake up at 1am, chill out for a bit and then train at around 4am which is the time I'm meant to fight."
1am wake up? Not for me thanks.
But should Culibao get his hand raised this weekend, it puts him in good stead to climb up the featherweight rankings.
There's a certain Aussie champ already dominating the division, but there can always be room for one more.
Featured Image Credit: InstagramTopics: Fight Island, UFC, Featherweight, Australia, MMA,