Jimmy Crute is looking to return to the win column at UFC Auckland when he battles Michal Oleksiejczuk.

Crute is coming off a first-round submission loss to Misha Cirkunov at UFC Vancouver where a win would have put him in the top-15. In the fight, the Aussie was close to finishing it but he says he let his emotions get the better of him.

“I studied it quite a bit and seen where I went wrong. It was very simple mistakes and I let myself get too emotional. I was very close to finishing him, the ref had said two more punches and he was going to call it,” Crute said to BJPENNN.com. “But, I let my emotions get the better of me. And, to get thrown into that situation at 23 years old to break into the top-15, I had to come in with a level head.

“Anyone that has seen me grapple knows I don’t make that mistake,” he said. “I threw away all my techniques. I just wanted to knock him out too much. I’m a black belt, I’m a legitimate black belt.”

Since the loss, Crute has been in the gym improving every day. The 23-year-old is set to battle fellow prospect Michal Oleksiejczuk, who’s coming off a loss to Ovince Saint Preux.

Crute is not surprised he was matched up with him.

“People think it is killing off a prospect but what, are we supposed to avoid each other? We are both on the same route,” he explained. “I’m not avoiding anyone, he’s not avoiding anyone so let’s see who the better prospect is.”

With Crute coming off the loss and fighting close to home in New Zealand, many would expect the pressure to be on him. Yet he isn’t worried about anything as he is just focused on the task in front of him and not looking ahead.

“Just going to let my fighting speak for itself. I’m not going to put any excess pressure on me. I’m going to go out and flatten him,” Crute said. “The thing is, I can sit here and tell myself I have to win and if I don’t it’s the end of the world. That’s excess pressure, I’m just going in there to put my fist in his face and I’m going to just do that.”

To get his hand raised and get back into the win column, Jimmy Crute has a very simple game plan. He wants to test Oleksiejczuk’s chin, and if he can survive that, he expects to take the Pole down and choke him out.

“I’m not one to make predictions. But, I can tell you right now I’m going to test his chin and he is going to test my liver. I’m testing his f**king chin,” he said. “I’m going to test him, he is a good hammer and a good nail. If he can survive it, I’m going to take him down and choke him.”

Should he do just that, it will be the start of a very active 2020 for Jimmy Crute who plans on being ranked very soon.

“I think it does get me another ranked guy. Another one of my issues was I was in a rush to get to the top. I’m going to go take out Michal and have a busy year,” he concluded. “The problem with guys in the top-15 is they don’t want to stay active. Whoever wants to dance can dance with me.”

Who do you think will win the fight between Jimmy Crute and Michal Oleksiejczuk at UFC Auckland?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 2/17/2020.