TORONTO — Fighting in the UFC has taken Canadian featherweight Charles (Air) Jourdain to France, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Rochester and Elmont, N.Y., Newark, N.J. and six times to Las Vegas.
On Saturday, the 28-year-old from Beloeil, Que., finally gets to do it on home soil when he faces American Sean (The Sniper) Woodson on the undercard of UFC 297 in Toronto.
"My first opportunity to be in the UFC and to fight in Canada, I'm very grateful for that," said Jourdain, who improved his record in the promotion to 6-5-1 with back-to-back wins over Brazilians Ricardo (Carcacinha) Ramos and Kron Gracie in 2023.
His first 10 fights were in his Quebec backyard, with the last April 2019, on a TKO card in Montreal. He is 9-1-0 in Canada, with the lone loss at the hands of TJ. Laramie at TKO 41 in December 2017.
Woodson (10-1-1) promises to be a challenge for Jourdain (15-6-1).
At six foot two with a 78-inch reach, the 31-year-old American is big for the 145-pound class. The 28-year-old Jourdain is five foot nine with a 69-inch reach.
Jourdain says he faced a similar physical specimen in Ottawa's Matar (The Mantis) Lo on a TKO card in 2018, knocking out the bigger fighter in two minutes 19 seconds.
"Woodson has a very special morphology," said Jourdain, adding he has seen holes in the American's game in studying his fights.
"Those mistakes are easy to see but hard to capitalize (on) when it comes to fighting," Jourdain said.
"It was very gruelling, mentally and physically, to prepare for this body type," he added. "But I think we came up with the proper solution to deal with this man."
Woodson is unbeaten in his last four outings (3-0-1) and is 4-1-1 since winning his UFC contract with a win over Terrance (T. Wrecks) McKinney via flying knee on Dana White's Contender Series in July 2019.
A former amateur boxer with a 46-3 record, Woodson is a good striker with dangerous knees and calf kicks.
And while he did not attempt a takedown in his first five UFC fights, he landed four of five takedown attempts last time out in his unanimous decision win in August over Dennis (The Great) Buzukja, his fourth opponent for the bout.
Known as a striker, Jourdain has shown he can handle himself on the ground.
"I understand when people were saying it's a chess game, but it's a very violent chess game," the black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu said in his post-fight interview after the Ramos win in September.
The two recent victories snapped a two-fight losing streak for Jourdain, who has finished his opponent in 13 of his 15 wins. He lost to Nathaniel (The Prospect) Wood and (Hurricane) Shane Burgos in close contests in 2022.
Jourdain did not fight for eight months after the decision loss to Wood in September 2022. He notes the Wood bout in Paris was his fifth in 12 months, with another short-notice fight that never took place.
That's six weight cuts and a lot of training, all of which takes a toll.
"That was too much," he said. "My body shut down, my brain was shut down. I didn't want to eat. I was burned out. But I wanted to do (fight in Paris). I have no regrets … But afterwards I needed a long break, which I took. I reassessed what I wanted to do and accomplish. And now I'm on the proper path towards this world title."
He kept training, but did not return to the cage until last May.
Jourdain, who grew up playing team sports like hockey and soccer, says it has taken time adjusting to a sport where it is just him.
"I was less prone to being accountable when it was a team sport … Now I understand that there's some dire consequences to losing — more than just 'Ah it's a loss on my record.' Now I'm losing half my purse. I'm losing opportunities with sponsors.'"
Woodson, while calling Jourdain "my toughest opponent to date, for sure," says he welcomes the challenge. The UFC tried to match them up previously but Woodson turned it down because it was on short notice and he didn't think he could make weight.
Since then, he said he has been keeping an eye on Jourdain and has no qualms about fighting a Canadian in Canada.
"If I could have it my way this is how it would be every single time," Woodson told All Access MMA. "I'd want to be against a super-tough violent scary opponent. (Being) the underdog, in enemy territory, odds against me. This is where I feel like I thrive."
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 17, 2024
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
