For most people, carrying 20 extra pounds is a cause of stress.

Most people don’t fight in the UFC.

Tim Boetsch will be a light heavyweight, not a middleweight, when he fights Sunday night on a UFC undercard in Boston.

Tim Boetsch, a native of Lincolnville, will be 20 pounds heavier when he steps into the octagon Sunday night at TD Garden in Boston to fight a fellow UFC veteran, Ed “Short Fuse” Herman.

Both fighters have spent most of their career at middleweight, which requires getting down to 185 pounds for the weigh-in. This is Herman’s first bout at light heavyweight. Boetsch, coming off consecutive losses and with two wins in his last seven fights, hasn’t competed at this weight since 2011.

“The biggest (significance) for me is obviously not having to cut down to 185 pounds, which for me is honestly the worst part of fight week,” Boetsch said Thursday. “Eliminating that takes a lot of stress off me and stress off fight week. It’s a big stress relief. You certainly want to eliminate as much stress as possible.”

Boetsch, 34, has enough stress to deal with when it comes to his mixed martial arts career. He has an 18-9 overall MMA record and is 9-8 in the UFC, but his last fight was arguably his worst.

Boetsch was in the main event in New Orleans on June 6. His opponent was 44-year-old Dan Henderson, a former champion in the Strikeforce and PRIDE promotions, who had lost five straight fights. It was supposed to be Henderson’s swan song and Boetsch’s chance to move back into the ranks of middleweight contenders.

Instead, 28 seconds into the bout, Boetsch was KO’d, buckled by Henderson’s first right hand connecting squarely with his chin.

The loss did not cause Boetsch to consider retirement.

“I really didn’t. I feel like I have a lot to prove and I plan on doing that,” Boetsch said.

A four-time state wrestling champion at Camden-Rockport High, Boetsch was reminded that having 17 previous UFC fights already proved his toughness and resilience.

“That might be good enough for some people but I still have the desire to climb back up the ladder and smash some of those guys at the top,” Boetsch said. “When you lose, the fans all talk about how you were never good in the first place. But if you put on a little run in this sport, it doesn’t take long to get right back in the mix.”

Boetsch’s last win came Aug. 16, 2014, in Bangor when he recovered from a tough opening round to knock out Brad Tavares in the second.

Herman, 35, has 23-11 overall record and is 9-8 with one no contest in the UFC since appearing on “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2006.

His last fight – like Boetsch’s – was a first-round knockout loss. Herman didn’t land a strike against Derek Brunson at UFC 183 on Jan. 31, 2015, losing in 36 seconds.

Boetsch also lost that night.

“I’m actually surprised we haven’t fought sooner,” Boetsch said.

Boetsch anticipates Herman will come right to the center of the ring and begin trading shots.

“It’s the perfect opportunity to get people talking about how violent I am again,” Boetsch said.

Boetsch lives in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, but has been in Maine leading up to the fight to again work with Marcus Davis as his trainer. He said Davis has the technical and motivational skills to bring out Boetsch’s inner beast.

“I do well in chaos,” Boetsch said.

NOTES: Former World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champion Mike Brown of Standish will work the corner Sunday for Charles Rosa of Peabody, Massachusetts, in Rosa’s preliminary fight. … The four preliminary fights and four main card bouts can be seen live on FoxSports1. The Boetsch-Herman fight is part of the prelims that begin at 8 p.m. The main card begins at 10 p.m., concluding with a bantamweight title fight between champion T.J. Dillashaw (13-2) and top contender Dominick Cruz (20-1).

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