LAS VEGAS – Carl Williams might have been back to work sooner than Saturday if he hadn't taken it upon himself to improve his home.
Williams (9-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) takes on Justin Tafa (7-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) in the heavyweight co-main event of UFC on ESPN 53 at UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Compete against. Tafa replaced his younger brother, Junior, who had to miss the originally scheduled game against Williams due to injury.
Williams himself had to shelve a recent failed surgery due to his desire for do-it-yourself supremacy.
“I had surgery, recovered, and was looking to fight in December,” Williams said at media day Wednesday. “…I did a lot of things after surgery that I shouldn’t have done. I built a fence, redid the bathroom, redid the closet, but it just ruined the surgery again and ended up costing me a lot of money in the long term.” I have to take a vacation.”
Williams said her time on the sidelines made her appreciate what she does for a living, almost in classic “you don't know what you have until it's gone” mode.
“It's not that I don't like my job, but when I want a vacation and I take it for too long, I'm like, 'Okay, I'm ready to go home,'” he says.
Now that he's back in the cage for the first time since May 2023, don't expect Williams to be back in improvement mode after Saturday.
But once again, he destroyed the fence.
“I built a really nice fence. If anyone needs a fence built, I'm here to help,” Williams said.
Watch Williams' full Media Day interview in the video above.
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