Heavyweight Adam Milstead doesn’t believe in “cage rust” and he backed that theory up August 22nd with an impressive first round TKO victory over Lewis Rumsey at GOTC MMA 18. On the sidelines for more then a year due to a serious knee injury, Milstead earned his first win since July 2014. “I wasn’t thinking too much about it, all I wanted to do is get in and out and it went according to plan.” Milstead told MMAOddsBreaker. “There wasn’t one aliment on my body, I felt absolutely perfect. Let’s just say after the fight, nothing was injured or anything. I was [satisfied with my performance], that’s not to say I haven’t already picked out a couple of mistakes that I did make, that I could work on. I’m always striving for perfection but never accepting it.” With the quick finish – dispatching his opponent at the 1:10 mark of the first round – Milstead didn’t waste any time getting right back in the gym. “When I woke up Sunday morning, I [realized] I’m basically right back in fight camp. I’m glad I didn’t party too much. I was back in on Monday, I just did some light stuff. Did a bit of strength and conditioning, a little bit of cardio as far as technical wise.” Mistead (6-1) has a quick turnaround as he’s scheduled to compete September 26th at KOTC: Hands of Steel against Robert Morrow. The 28-year old knows the importance of keeping active, especially when it comes to making the leap from the regional circuit to the UFC. “Believe it or not I actually had [Robert Morrow] as my original fight. I had set this up about 2-3 months prior, which gave me plenty of time, I was ready to go, I was getting in shape and I was getting in shape a lot faster. Then of course Robert Joseph called me from Gladiator Of The Cage and gave me the fight [against Lewis Rumsey]. At that particular moment I was confident enough with my ability, strength and conditioning wise to compete at that level, so that’s why I decided to take that fight. I know I haven’t talked much about it because I don’t like jump into the future, whatever’s in front of me I want to tackle [that first].” The Pittsburgh native likes the matchup and one advantage he’ll have heading into this bout is his training partner Daniel Spohn. The TUF veteran can provide Milstead with some great insight as he already defeated Morrow in 2013 “Daniel Spohn is probably the perfect replica of Robert Morrow, not in the sense of the way he fights. Daniels a southpaw and of course he’s fought Robert Morrow. He offers a lot of insight on what he likes to do, how strong he is, how fast he moves. It’s really a blessing having him [here]. I like the fight. When I originally viewed him immediacy off my head, I have a feeling that’s he’s not going to be able to compete with my speed level. But the guy himself just like Lewis Rumsey is a journeymen. Both of those guys are actually very similar fighters other than Morrow is a southpaw. Yeah he’s 6’3 guy, but he actually weights in about 185lbs-205lbs. So again he’s coming up to fight me in the heavyweight division similar to Lewis Rumsey. There isn’t going to be much of a change to my camp and what I’ve been working on.” With a dearth of heavyweight talent outside the UFC, Milstead knows an impressive win could earn him a phone call from the UFC. Part of his cross training means frequent stops at Strong Style in Ohio, where he gets to train with UFC heavyweight Stipe Miocic. Putting in the work with one the worlds best heavyweights only fuels his confidence that one day he’ll be competing in the octagon. “Working with Stipe, he’s right there, he’s the next contender. But I personally know what it’s like to go against him. I have a great manager and he was absolutely impressed with the way I performed last Saturday. He said he’s really going to push me, as he said it after this ‘win’. Let’s just say if the UFC comes calling fantastic I’ll stay ready, I’m going to stay in shape. I don’t care if it’s two day notice, I don’t care who it is. I’ll go in there and fight as long as I get those three letters on my glove. You never know, in this sport hard work definitely gets noticed.” You can follow Adam on Twitter @AdamMilstead You can listen to the full audio interview below on an “Extra” edition of The Parting Shot Podcast 50 seconds in.