Michael Chandler apologised to his wife after scrapping his original gameplan for his UFC 268 fight with Justin Gaethje.
Gaethje and Chandler put on a Fight of the Year contender earlier this month as Gaethje earned the win by unanimous decision.
Both fighters were taken to hospital after the fight and Chandler was still able to walk around despite being battered and bruised.
But fans wouldn't have been in for a treat had Chandler not have abandoned his original game plan for the fight.
Chandler admitted that he planned to try and outwrestle Gaethje and had to apologise to his wife after attempting no takedowns in the fight.
“I had to apologise to my wife because I told her what the game plan was. The game plan was; ‘cause I think I beat Justin Gaethje in a wrestling match 9 times out of 10," he said on ' The MMA Hour '.
"That’s not any disrespect to him. I just think my wrestling is better than his. I could’ve used my wrestling more. I could’ve used cage control a little bit more. I could’ve grabbed hands, under-hooked, grabbed the head.
"I could’ve made it a little bit more of a close-quarters type of fight, instead of going out there throwing big shots. But once the fight started, I reverted back to who I am as a person.
"I reverted to what courses through my DNA, which is just fighting, man. And I loved it.”
Chandler is now 1-2 in the UFC, winning his debut against Dan Hooker but since suffering losses to Charles Oliveira and Gaethje.
The fight marked Gaethje's first win since being submitted by now-retired UFC star Khabib Nurmagomedov in their title fight last October.
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Chandler is hopeful of setting up a rematch against Gaethje after getting a few more wins under his belt.
And he was glad his UFC 268 war was only scheduled for three rounds.
"I'm glad it wasn't a five-round fight. We both took as much damage as we needed to take in 15 minutes," he continued.
"He goes off and gets that title shot. I think he goes and beats Dustin Poirier and Charles Oliveira middle of next year, then maybe we setup a rematch when I get a win or two.
"In a lot of ways I think 15 minutes is actually better than 25 because there was no governor, there was no break pedal in sight.
"We wanted to go as hard as we possibly could for 15 minutes, 25 minutes you start venturing into the realm of your body shutting down and having to conserve energy."
