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SYDNEY – Nik Lentz might feel like a new man when he steps in the cage against Will Brooks in Australia.

A little more than a month ago, the lightweights were supposed to fight at UFC 216 in Las Vegas. But when Lentz wound up having diabetic-like symptoms that turned out to be hypoglycemia (non-diabetic low blood sugar), the fight was scrapped.

After Lentz saw some doctors and got his blood work in order and started to understand just how he could control his levels with his diet, the fight was rebooked for UFC Fight Night 121.

UFC Fight Night 121 takes place Sunday (but airs live on Saturday in North America due to the time difference) at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. It airs on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

There never was a doubt in Lentz’s mind that he would want to rebook the fight with Brooks, a former Bellator lightweight champion.

“I wanted to beat up Will Brooks,” Lentz told MMAjunkie this week in Sydney. “Second, it’s really not my fault I had those issues. The fact I had a week to try to figure out how to manage blood sugar and stuff, that’s not really a thing that I messed up. Now that I’ve got it figured out, now that I understand, I owe it to Will Brooks to reschedule the fight. If you say you’re going to fight somebody, and then whether it’s your fault or not you back out of it, you better sign up and do it again. I was all about it.”

Lentz took his fair share of grief from some fans – the keyboard warrior types, no doubt – on social media who said he just wanted out of the fight with Brooks.

And Brooks himself has not been shy about throwing some verbal shade Lentz’s way. Lentz believes that’s just in Brooks’ nature.

“He can say whatever he wants,” Lentz said. “The fact of the matter is, I never had a grudge with Will Brooks. He’s one of these guys that has to make something up in his head to get motivated – the world’s got to be against him. He did the same crap in Bellator before he left. He’s always been this guy that has to perceive that something is against him, because that’s how he motivates himself.”

But when it comes to reciprocation, Lentz doesn’t think he needs to go down that path. Instead, he’d rather do his talking in the cage, where Brooks will walk in as a 5-1 favorite, making Lentz one of the biggest underdogs on the card.

It might help matters a little than Lentz was a longtime resident of American Top Team in South Florida, but since has moved on to Combat Club, the team Henri Hooft formed in the wake of the dissolution of the Blackzilians. Brooks remains at ATT, and Lentz believes the lightweights still there may harbor a grudge with him for leaving.

“I’ve gotten myself into trouble through the years because I really don’t take this stuff personally, and sometimes it shows on camera,” he said. “But when it comes to Will Brooks, he kind of annoys me, and I would love to smack him – and I’m going to.”

For more from Lentz, check out the video above.

And for more on UFC Fight Night 121, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

Filed under: Featured, News, UFC, Videos