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Sam Bruce
The last time Jimmy Crute wore UFC trunks he was kneeling in the centre of the Octagon. The Australian was inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, broken, his gloves tossed out a couple of paces in front of him. A mixed martial arts career seemingly over, almost before it had really begun or at least without the success it had once so earnestly promised.
In the days that followed UFC 290, the same event where Alexander Volkanovski last tasted success, Crute (12-4) added further context to his post-fight actions, clarifying that he was not retiring.
Crute did confirm, however, that he was stepping away from the sport. A third loss in four fights had rammed home a brutal reality for the then-27-year-old, that he was in no fit state to be competing in one of the toughest sports around, indeed that he was effectively mentally exhausted.
“I took a big step out of the pressure cooker,” Crute reflected to ESPN. “I felt like I kept having one injury after the next. I was never truly injury free. My mind was very scattered, and I felt like I didn’t really truly know myself.
“So, when you’re trying to be someone else in a sport like this, you get found out pretty damn quick. So, now I’m just myself and that’s all I have to be.”
For a fighter rated No. 1 in ESPN’s top 25 fighters under 25 in 2020, Crute’s fall was as fast as his rise was rapid.
Having come through Dana White’s Contender Series, icing his place in the promotion proper with a stunning Round 1 knockout of Chris Birchler, Crute then won four of his next five light heavyweight bouts to earn himself a spot in the division’s top 10.
But an untimely doctor’s stoppage during his fight with Anthony Smith set in motion a run of defeats, culminating in a Round 2 submission loss to Alonzo Menifield in their rematch at Las Vegas in July, 2023.
Crute had gone from one of the light heavyweight division’s rising contenders to a fighter who had almost completely lost his way. But there was far more going on under the surface than perhaps he, his coaches, or anyone with an interest in the UFC could have imagined.
“He wasn’t in a good place,” Crute’s coach and three-time former world kickboxing champion, Sam Greco, told ESPN. “To continue and not be in a good place is quite dangerous. It’s dangerous enough as it is. He accepted that, went off.
“He trialed many things. A lot of things didn’t work and there’s a few things that did work. I think one of the things that he realised is family is a key component, having them very close and also having a structured team around you that actually genuinely cares for you, irrespective of whether you fight or you don’t fight.
“I’ll be honest with you. I couldn’t care whether Jimmy fights or he doesn’t fight. To me, he’s like a son to me. That’s why I treat myself like a father figure. I’ve had him from day one… I know his abilities. I know his capabilities. The thing was just making him believe, being able to believe what he’s capable of.
“He went to the dark side for a while then, but again, mental health is a big thing in today’s youth, in today’s world. He sourced help and he’s come back to a family and he’s enjoying this family environment.”
Having taken 12 months to clear his mind, Crute eventually found his way back to Greco’s Australian Elite Team.
But even with a refreshed mind, a mended body and a newfound Christian faith, the early days posed more on-mat questions than answers.
“The scariest part was when I did decide to come back. There [were] a few moments where I thought maybe I can’t come back,” Crute said. “That was scary. I decided to come back. My knee blew up again. I went ‘oh, maybe my body can’t do this anymore’. That was scary.
“It was a big mountain to climb, don’t get me wrong. I didn’t train for six months. Only time in my career I’ve ever had a long extended period of time off. Getting back into it, I was like, oh, I don’t have the fitness I used to have. My timing’s gone. Maybe I can’t do this.
“But I have faith and I kept going. You can move mountains with faith. Believing in yourself is one thing, but you have to earn that belief.”
While Crute’s confidence wavered in those early weeks, Greco could still see glimpses of the same fighter he had taken up the UFC’s light heavyweight rankings just a few years earlier.
But first, Crute had to learn some home truths.
“I think it’s given him a new lease of life,” Greco said. “The first thing I said when he did come back is, you’ve got to find yourself. You’ve got to prove to me that you can find yourself and by golly, he has.
“He’s attended every single session. He’s done what he’s told and he’s just realised that, wow, there’s been a year or two there that was a bit disastrous; but hey, perhaps he needed that to realise exactly his worth and who he is. So I take my hat off to him.”
Fast forward to Crute’s return against fellow Contender Series graduate Rodolfo Bellato this weekend in Sydney, the light heavyweight showdown will be one of the more intriguing bouts on the UFC 312 card.
What will be different about Crute? Can he still mix it with division’s upper echelon? Does he still have the desire for UFC gold?
“It’s funny, man. I never had desires to be the number one fighter in the world. Never. I was just here,” Crute revealed. “I do have desires now. I think I work too hard not to be. I think I dedicate too much not to be. I think I make the sacrifices necessary to be. So why not be number one?
“The beautiful thing about this sport is we get to go in there and fight for it. The light heavyweight division is arguably one of the most entertaining divisions in the UFC at the moment, there’s a plethora, a whole stack of quality fighters who want to have a crack at you.”
And then there is the risk that, again, it all gets too much for Crute.
“He’s got to show himself, believe in himself, knowing that he’s in ability because he’s one of the top-rated fighters,” Greco said of his charge. “As far as I’m concerned, when he’s on, he can be one of the top-rated fighters, not just in Australia, in the world. I’ll back him on that.
“Like I said, things are going to fall into place. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle. Things need to fall into place, and it takes a lot of time and a lot of building. He’s found those building blocks. He’s come back. We’ve found those building blocks and we’re getting ready for a war and he’ll be prepared for it.”
When Crute tossed the gloves aside in Vegas more than 18 months ago, for a fleeting moment, it looked like it could be for the final time. Period.
Armed with a whole new mentality and outlook, in a fresh pair of UFC trunks, the gloves may come off once more. Only this time; could they be hurled over the Octagon fence in celebration?
“I think I’m just going to be happy to be there,” Crute replied when asked about a potential victory celebration. “I’m going to just be happy to be back in the Octagon. As I said, I’m in a really good place now, but I wasn’t [beforehand]. It was a lot of work to get back here, so I’m going to enjoy every minute of being back in there.
Not that he plans on going the full three rounds.
“I’m going to knock him out. I’m going to go in there and go to war. That’s it.”