Tanner Boser is pulling on his gloves for his second shot at a UFC matchup.
Boser will go up against Daniel Spitz on Friday, Oct. 18 at the TD Garden arena in Boston, United States, after his first fight against Giacomo Lemos on July 27 was cancelled because Lemos tested positive for an illegal substance.
Training camp for the Bonnyville-born Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter is in full swing, and he's more determined than ever to have a successful showing in the ring. He believes his experience will give him the upper hand.
With 22 professional fights behind him, Boser has some experience over his opponent, who only has eight. Sixteen of the local fighter's matchups ended in his favour.
"He's very tall, and he uses his range reasonably well... He's going to be a tough fight, but I think that I've got the recipe to beat him," Boser said about Spitz.
He continued, "I think he's very long and tall, but he's not necessarily that big. I should be able to chop down his lead leg, low kick him a lot, and slow him down."
Although this may be Boser's UFC debut, this will be Spitz's fourth appearance in the UFC octagon, with his last match in June 2018 when he went down swinging against Walt Harris.
On the evening before the weigh-in for Boser's original UFC inception against Lemos, it was announced his opponent had tested positive for drostanolone, an anabolic steroid.
With just two days until the match, Boser was removed from the card and had to wait for another chance to step into the ring.
At six feet two inches tall, the 249-pound fighter described the news as "very disappointing."
"My coaches were like, 'you put in a lot of work, but it didn't go anywhere. You got better, you're still going to retain those skills,' which is true. But, when you just kill yourself doing cardio and crazy workouts to peak at a certain time and then it all goes down the drain because you've got to redo it, that sucks," he exclaimed.
Boser wasn't the only one let down by the cancellation of his first fight. Friends and family were looking forward to seeing him face off in Edmonton. In the end, they had to wait to see him in his first match since he was signed by the UFC earlier this year.
Regardless of the previous outcome, Boser has rolled with the punches and is looking forward to the upcoming match.
"If I got to pick somewhere in the states to go, Boston would be up there on the list. I'm still excited, and it's going to be an awesome time," he expressed.
Boser grew up in Bonnyville, and moved to Edmonton in 2013 to train in MMA full-time. His career has taken him all over the world, and he's eager to see where his contract with UFC will go.
"I just want to be good. I want to be a fighter that people think about as being good. I don't have any grand aspirations. I'd like to win more fights than I lose, and I'd like to fight some of the best fighters in the world... I just want to fight as often as I can, never turn down a fight, and be that guy that takes short notice fights."
