UFC featherweight Mirsad Bektic was three weeks from a fight with Tatsuya Kawajiri at The Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale when he landed wrong on his knee and popped his ACL.

Today, he is cleared to train, having passed a series of benchmarks in a rehabilitation regimen that started almost immediately after his injury. But as he told MMAjunkie Radio, he is not the same person in the gym as he once was.

“Now, it’s just more about controlling myself,” Bektic (10-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) said. “My coaches are on the same page with my rehab guys and my conditioning guys, so everybody is working as a team. My volume has definitely gone down, compared to what I used to do.”

Bektic, an up-and-comer in the UFC’s 145-pound division with three octagon wins, faces a different anxiety in returning to the famed American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Fla. Instead of worrying about his knee, he worries he doesn’t train enough.

“I feel crazy after every session; I always want more,” he said.

A crazed work ethic pushed Bektic to the gym when he wasn’t cleared to train. Just two weeks after his surgery, he was swimming three times a week in addition to twice-daily physical therapy sessions. But his motivation didn’t entirely come from within.

“I was blessed to have the guy I did working with me,” said Bektic. “He’s an old-school Nebraska dude from the farm. All he did was talk smack to me, and sometimes, I would hate him. He kept me going.”

There is still one more benchmark for Bektic to meet, and that’s to get cleared to fight. It’s been eight months since his knee injury, and by all measures, he’s on a faster track to recovery. Now, it’s just a matter of making sure he doesn’t overdo it.

Check out more from his interview in the video above.

And for more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show, available on SiriusXM Ch. 93, is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.