LAS VEGAS – Rafael Estevam met the media Saturday after his unanimous decision win over Felipe Bunes at UFC on ESPN 71.

Estevam (14-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) was a heavy favorite against Bunes (14-8 MMA, 1-2 UFC) at the UFC Apex, but had his win – a trio of 29-28 scores – marred by another big weight miss. Estevam missed the bantamweight mark by 4 pounds Friday – his second weight miss in three UFC fights.

“If you asked any athlete to have 26, 27, 28, just under 30 days to get ready, we would probably see who’s who,” Estevam told MMA Junkie through a translator at his post-fight news conference. “You have to either prepare yourself or focus on the weight. I was going to either focus on my weight or focus on the preparation, and I wanted to be prepared.

“I’m not an athlete who follows the rules. I’m not as disciplined. I have flaws. There are things I need to improve. I want to get better every single time. That’s what I was doing: Focus on the preparation. I think there are things I need to evaluate about the weight cut. That’s the problem. Weight cuts are hard from me. I have to work on the mental side. I have to work on the psychological side, maybe go through therapy for this. Whenever you go through what I just did, the psyche needs to be unwavering and unbreakable. Last fight, I had the proper time, I prepared myself properly, and I made the weight.” 

Check out Estevam’s post-fight news conference in the video above.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Rafael Estevam explains big weight miss for UFC on ESPN 71

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