VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Luis Pena made a significant change in training camp ahead of UFC on ESPN+ 27, and he said the move has taken his confidence to another level.

Pena (7-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC), who meets Steve Garcia (11-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) in a lightweight bout on Saturday, relocated from American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Calif., to American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Fla. It was a dramatic shift across the country, but the decision has done wonders for his happiness.

“I switched camps from AKA to American Top Team,” Pena told MMA Junkie on Thursday. “Not because of anything bad at AKA, it was just financially. Living in Silicon Valley is very, very expensive. Talking to my managers about what to do to kind of mitigate that they had brought up the possibility of moving to Florida. I talked to my coaches at AKA about it and told them the situation and they gave me their blessing to kind of do what I had to do. Now I’m at American Top Team and it’s been a lot easier for me. I don’t have to focus on anything other than showing up and training.”

Trimming down all possible distractions has produced immediate results for Pena, he said. He wasn’t sure how it would all pan out, but he feels his level of skill has taken a quite the boost, and Pena likened himself to a “2009 Anderson Silva,” the former longtime UFC champ.

“Something really clicked,” Pena said. “I don’t know if it was the actual environment of California compared to Florida, the weather or something. Ever since I’ve got to Florida there’s just been something different. I feel 10 times better when I train, I feel super, super motivated to get up every day, cook breakfast, go through all the supplements and everything.”

The transition has been made easier for Pena because of the familiar faces at ATT. He said he spent three months training at the gym prior to his professional debut in 2016, and he also has a bond with one of the team’s premier coaches, Muhammed Lawal, who will be in his corner on the card, which takes place at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Va., and streams on ESPN+.

“I was real close to ‘King Mo’ beforehand, so there wasn’t really an adjustment period so much as me just getting used to the way they do things and being part of their team,” Pena said. “They’re a lot more hands on with the way they control the fighter schedules and everything like that. It took me a little while to get used to that, because at AKA it’s pretty much on you, the onus is on you to get all that figured out. But I can’t lie: I do appreciate everything the coaches do at ATT to help us out and take care of us pretty much 24/7.”

The comfort level with his new team has Pena at ease going into fight night. That’s despite a turbulent lead-up to the card, where his opponent has been switched twice. He ultimately landed with Garcia, who took the fight on five days’ notice. Pena isn’t stressing, though, because he said his plan remains all the same.

“I’m going to go in there and do what I do,” Pena said. “I’m going to go in there and be ‘Violent Bob Ross’ like always.”