MMA: Garcia’s 1st UFC main event fight is finally here

In the Octagon, Albuquerque’s Steve Garcia is not a patient man. You don’t win 14 fights by knockout/TKO, six of those coming in the first round, by waiting on the other guy.

Out of the cage, though, Garcia has had no option other than patience. Well, that and hard work.

Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada, Garcia is scheduled to contest his first UFC main event against Uganda native David Onama.

It’s been a long time coming.

Garcia, 32, turned pro 12½ years ago. It took him six years and 12 fights to get a spot on Dana White’s Tuesday Contender series, another six months to make his official UFC debut.

“The Mean Machine” didn’t get a spot on a UFC main card until July of last year, 20 fights into his career and seven into his UFC career.

Now, finally, a main event, which he enters riding a six-fight win streak — five of those coming by KO/TKO.

So, is Garcia complaining? No. Like virtually all fighters, his progress has been slowed by losses (in two of his first three UFC fights) and by fights cancelled due to injuries to him or a scheduled opponent. Nobody’s fault.

Now, his patience, and his hard work, have been rewarded.

“I’m truly blessed,” Garcia said on Wednesday during an on-site news conference in Las Vegas. “I’m truly happy for the opportunity.”

Yet, he acknowledged that the match with Onama, in terms of opportunity, is not ideal.

Garcia, who trains at Jackson-Wink, is the UFC’s 12th-ranked challenger to the featherweight title held by Alexander Volkanovski. An impressive victory over Onama might move Garcia into the top 10 or might not, depending on whether there’s any movement among fighters ranked above him.

“I kind of wanted something that was just gonna put me out there more, you know what I mean?” he said.

Garcia (18-5) was quick to say he meant no disrespect to Onama, who’ll enter the Octagon at UFC Apex riding a four-fight win streak of his own.

“He’s kind of like me,” Garcia said. “He’s a dark horse in the division. He’s tough … but yeah, I was hoping for something a little bit further ahead.

“It’s not a hit on him. It’s just, you know, you want to advance your career. It’s about you, you know what I mean, and that’s how the sport operates.”

Still, Garcia likes the matchup. Though Onama doesn’t have Garcia’s knockout ratio, seven of his 14 wins coming by that route, he prefers to fight on his feet.

“I think this should be a good one for the fans,” Garcia said.

Will it be a good one for Garcia? Bettors tend to think so, but it’s far from a unanimous verdict.

As of Thursday afternoon, oddsmakers listed Garcia as a minus-135 favorite and Onama a plus-114 underdog — odds logical enough for a match between fighters ranked 12th and 13th.

In a total absence of trash talk, both men agree on the likely route to victory, if not on who’ll get there.

“KO, baby, let’s go,” Onama said during his news conference on Wednesday.

“Punch him hard in the face,” Garcia said, replying to the same question posed to Onama.

“So hard, really hard.”

MORE J-W: A Garcia victory on Saturday would put a violent cherry on top of what already has been a good few days for Jackson-Wink.

On Oct. 19 in Amarillo, Texas, J-W’s Lajuan Davis (8-1) captured the Peak Fighting middleweight title in defeating Daniel De La Cruz by second-round KO/TKO.

On Oct. 25 in Las Vegas, 38-year-old J-W veteran Diego Brandäo retained his Tuff-N-Uff featherweight title with a split-decision victory over Hawaii’s Kai Kamaka III.