UFC 144 Results: Tim Boetsch Says Conditioning Is to Credit for His Comeback Win

On a night when a new champion was crowned in the lightweight division, one man may have stolen the show with one of the most tremendous comeback victories we have seen in years when Tim Boetsch came back to knockout home-country favorite Yushin Okami at UFC 144.

After taking an absolute beating in the first two rounds, Boetsch made an unexpected comeback to score a knockout victory over Okami in the third round. 

"I had never been beaten up that bad [and came back to win]," Boetsch told MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani in a post-fight interview.

Okami has been known as one of the top fighters in the middleweight division for quite some time and had been finished just once in his 13-fight UFC career coming into Saturday's bout. The Japanese middleweight looked to be well on his way to another victory through two dominant rounds, utilizing his jab to keep the former light heavyweight away while inflicting some big damage.

"I was standing right at the end of his punches. I was letting him dictate the range of the fight and as you can see from my face, that's not a good thing to let your opponent do," Boetsch joked. "But once I got my footwork going in the third round, I was able to take that way from him." 

Things looked bad going into the third, however, Boetsch's corner never gave up on him.

"They were just telling me to rely on my training. They saw that my gas tank was still full, my conditioning was fine. So I could push the pace in the third round."

Now 3-0 since dropping to 185 pounds, Boetsch's career has been reignited in the middleweight division. He credits much of that success to his new-found conditioning. 

"The major factor of why I'm looking better is my conditioning. I'm able to fight hard for 15 minutes and that makes a world of difference."

That ability to continue to push the pace deep in fights seemed to overwhelm Okami as Boetch rocked him early in the third round. 

"As soon as I landed that head kick and it rattled him," Boetsch said. "I knew that was my chance to jump on him and that's what I did. I landed that big uppercut to shut him off." 

After dispensing of a recent No. 1 contender, Boetsch should be inching closer to an eventual title shot himself. He might not have the name value that some of the other middleweights do, but it's hard to deny that the drop down to 185 pounds has been an amazing move for his career. 

"Really it comes down to the training and in the third round, it clicked and ended up going pretty well for me."

For more MMA news, fighter interviews and opinions, follow Nick Caron: @NicholasCaron.