Gatineau's Julien Leblanc on getting back into the Octagon

Julien Leblanc has been a mixed martial arts fighter since he was 16. Now in his early 30s, the Gatineau-born athlete's MMA dreams are finally coming true.

Leblanc made his Ultimate Fighting Championships debut earlier this year, though it didn't go as planned: he was forced into a first-round submission after blowing out his knee against Swiss opponent Robert Valentin.

But he didn't let the setback get to him. On Saturday night, Leblanc steps back into the Octagon for the UFC Championship Fight Night in Edmonton.

CBC Ottawa's Giacomo Panico caught up with him earlier this week while he was training at Patenaude gym in Gatineau. Here's part of their conversation:

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What goes through your mind when you're in a match like that? There are so many things you must be thinking about?

So there's a lot of things you think about, but I mean, you think about them before. When you enter the cage, you must not think. You must execute. If you think, you'll mostly be behind. You have really got to rely on your instinct in that cage.

How would you describe your style?

I would describe my style as a striker. I've been doing MMA for 18 years, so I know how to grapple. I know how to wrestle. I believe I'm a complete fighter. But if you ask me what I love more ... it's striking.

Julien Leblanc, right, throws a punch during an MMA bout. (Yassine Sanou/Samurai MMA)

What do you mean by striker?

It's a fighter who loves to fight on their feet — so, [using] his hands, his feet, his elbows, his knees.

MMA means mixed martial arts. So we combine everything, every martial arts together. There's some rules, but there's not a lot of rules. We're allowed to use hands,