Greg Foster barely had time to celebrate becoming one of the newest additions to the UFC roster.
On the season finale of Dana White’s Contender Series, Foster (9-1) was one of four fighters to earn a UFC contract, but unlike the others, he didn’t get his chance to properly celebrate in the Meta APEX. Foster went three thrilling rounds against Jason Asher and came out with a unanimous decision win, and was then immediately rushed to a waiting ambulance.
Foster wanted nothing more than to continue putting
on a show after his fight was over, and looking back, he can see how surreal the whole experience was.
“I just want to let the fans know I was trying hard to get that energy, baby,” Foster told MMA Fighting’s José Youngs. “The doctors were getting mad at me in the back. I was trying not to go to the hospital, but they wouldn’t do it.
“In regards to it settling in, not fully. I try to stay very present, so I’m on to the next moment, and it’s a lot, after the performance and all that, getting together with the crew, hanging out, having dinner, partying, all that good stuff. Up for two days and then just back to life and doing this and doing that and dealing with my mom, getting down there to deal with her, her being in the hospital and all that. So I’ve had moments of like, f*ck yeah, and this and that and whatnot, it’s kind of hit me, but I haven’t fully took it in. I’ve got to sit down, I’ve got to let life get a little less crazy and just really take it all in. So we’ve just had moments that it’s hit me, but it’s still surreal to just understand how much work and time we’ve put in this, and now we’re in the door.”
Foster fought on DWCS with a heavy heart as his mother had recently been in an accident prior to him receiving the call for the biggest opportunity of his pro career. So when he was done going toe-to-toe with Asher, that left two members of the Foster family hospitalized.
“It was pretty wild,” Foster said. “I was training, kind of had a little bit of a notice of the fight, but nothing official, and then my mom gets in a car accident and I’ve got to rush down to Tucson. She fractured her neck, her pelvis, eight broken ribs, collapsed lung, so we didn’t really know if she was going to make it. She got rushed into neck surgery. She was in the ICU for two weeks, rehab the past three weeks.
“It was just f*cked that I had to leave her and go back and train, not knowing if I was going to fight or not because of this opportunity that may or may not happen. So it was tough to see your mom in a hospital bed and have to leave her, but she’s bulletproof. She’s got a great mentality. She’s strong as shit. People see my mom and, she’s a nice sweet little, old lady, but she’s pretty hood and she’s gangster and she’s got a great attitude. So that was tough. Then once I got the official notice, I had to just focus on training. So I didn’t really get to see her for about two-and-a-half, three weeks, but she was cool with it. She was good. She was awesome. And then to go get that win on her birthday and her laying in the hospital bed and see me go get a UFC contract on her birthday, shout out to Dana, giving her a birthday wish and hoping she’s all well, greatly appreciate that.”
The first thing Foster did once he was settled in in the ambulance? Call his mom, of course.
“I got in the ambulance, and I was kind of f*cked up,” Foster said. “I was a little f*cked up, I was feeling so-so, but I got in the ambulance, got on my phone and called her right away. So she was pumped up. She was happy. It was great. It was the first thing on my mind to call mom when we got in the ambulance, I could get on my phone. So it was a good time.”
At 34, Foster is certainly on the older end of the spectrum when it comes to new UFC signings, but don’t expect him to change his style at all now that he’s finally in the big show. Even though he didn’t get a finish against Asher, he was confident he made an airtight case for UFC CEO Dana White to offer him a contract.
“I knew I was going to pressure Jason and bring the fight to him,” Foster said. “I’m not stupid, I know what Dana White Contender Series is looking for. I know what Dana is looking for. I know what the UFC is looking for in regards to marketability, performances, and whatnot, and I knew what type of fight needed to be in there. So I was going to go in there and give them that f*cking fight and just be undeniable.
“I think selling my case on age, I’m different. I’m different than another 34-year-old dude that has 30, 40 f*cking fights. Truthfully, everything went as good as it can go, and I’m super, super thankful.”
Up next for Foster, he awaits the call for his UFC debut with plans to drop back down to featherweight after competing on DWCS at 155 pounds due to having less notice than usual. He guarantees whenever the time comes to make that walk to the octagon again, he’ll continue to keep the fans and matchmakers on their toes.
“At the end of the day, you’re going to have to kill me,” Foster said. “I know everybody says, ‘You’re going to have to kill me’ and this and that, but like I know my heart. I’ve been training 16 years, and I’ve been training with some of the best in the world, and I’ve been tested in the gym and I’ve learned my heart. I’ve been tested in fights, you know what I mean? I’ve been in bad positions and fights as an amateur and as a professional. When you’re in those bad moments in live competition, that’s when you learn about yourself.
“Just like life too, when adversity hits, you learn how you handle shit. So I’ve never been put down. I’ve never been knocked out. I’ve never been dropped in training, stopped in training. I think I’ve been put to kind of like a knee, like that, you know what I mean? So I know I have a crazy f*cking chin and heart. So that’s going to come. If the fight gets to that level, f*ck, it’s going to be Greg dogging this shit out. But I am a technicality. I’ve got so many layers to my game. You go watch a lot of my other fights.I am a clean striker. I’m very fake-heavy. I’m setting things up. I’m smooth. I’m calculated. I’m fast. So I have that too, you know. It’s just certain fights require certain tools, and I got the tools in the toolbox, and it’s just what tools I need for this fight. But you’re always going to expect a sick f*cking fight from me.”
