After "depressing" July Loss, Jorge Gurgel Next Meets Aaron Riley At Ufc 91

By Author: Larry Tang
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After dealing with the first bout of depression in his entire life, submission specialist Jorge Gurgel (12-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) will next fight at UFC 91 against Aaron Riley (26-10-1 MMA, 0-2 UFC), who returns to the UFC for the first time in nearly three years.

Gurgel today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that bout agreements have been signed for the Nov. 15 fight, which takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Gurgel, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, looks to rebound from his disappointing submission loss to Cole Miller at UFC 86.

Although seemingly on his way to a tough-fought unanimous-decision victory in the July bout, Gurgel ran into disaster in the fight's final moments. While scrambling for position after securing a trip-takedown, Gurgel was trapped by Miller's triangle choke and forced to tap out with just 12 seconds remaining in the fight.

It would have been Gurgel's fourth UFC victory in a five-fight span. Instead, he suffered just the second submission loss of his career -- and his first in nearly five years.

"It was extremely difficult for me," Gurgel said. "I ...
... never in my life -- never in any circumstance -- I've never been depressed. Depression can't get to me. I'm always happy. I don't get depressed. But, I got to the point where I couldn't sleep.

"My parents were disappointed. My family was very hurt, and the first words out of my step-dad's mouth, as soon as he walked down the aisle in the arena (at UFC 86) and saw me -- he goes, 'This is the first time in my life, Jorge, that I saw a fighter win and lose a fight in the same fight.' And that quote has never left my head because that's exactly what happened. ... I lost my focus for one second, and it cost me 14 minutes and 30 seconds of beating [Miller] up. It was my best fight yet. I didn't even have a black eye, but I just lost focus for that split second."

After such a stunning and stinging loss, Gurgel heard the same thing over and over from friends, family and fans.

"It was either 'tough break' or '[expletive] happens,'" Gurgel said. "I'm just ready to get in there and put it behind me."

Standing in his way is Riley, who returns to the octagon for the first time since a first-round TKO loss to Spencer Fisher at UFC Fight Night 3. Ten fights and four years earlier, the former PRIDE and BodogFIGHT veteran made his UFC debut with a unanimous-decision loss to Robbie Lawler.

Since his latest UFC appearance, Riley has posted a 3-2 record in a variety of organizations; the losses came to notables Eddie Alvarez and Ryan Schultz.

Riley, a former Golden Gloves champion who made his professional MMA debut as a 16-year-old in 1997, has won seven of his past 10 fights.

For the latest on UFC 91, which features a main event of UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar, check out the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.
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