I en intervju för MMAfighting nyligen delade Fabio Maldonado med sig av sina tankar kring helgens tungviktsmöte mot Stipe Miocic
Efter att ha spenderat de senaste fem åren i lätt tungviktsklassen återvänder Fabio Maldonado (27-6 MMA, 4-3 UFC) till tungviktsklassen imorgon för sitt första huvudevenemang i UFC. Trots att han tog matchen på kort notis uttrycker Maldonado sig självsäkert om sin förmåga att vinna.
”My manager Alex Davis called me saying that Joe Silva asked for a favor and I told him that I’m a man and I live to fight.
My third son was born two days ago. If I had said no to this fight, what would I tell him in the future?”
”Win or lose, I can get beat up bad Saturday night, but when I get in there I turn off the f— button and I go for the kill.”
Maldonado ska dock endast ha gått med på matchen för att den var bokad för fem ronder:
”I wouldn’t take this fight if it wasn’t a five-round fight.I love the fact that it’s five rounds, even though he had more time than me to prepare.”
”Anything can happen. I believe that five rounds is better for me. Let’s see who has a better cardio.”
Hans motståndare Stipe Miocic (11-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) kommer till matchen med imponerande vinster över Roy Nelson och Gabriel Gonzaga i bagaget, vilket Maldonado medvetet erkänner som något av ett bekymmer.
”He rocked Roy Nelson. If you think for a second, Roy Nelson has more knockouts at heavyweight than I have at 205, and he took some shots from Roy Nelson.”
”Maybe I’ll be the one taking him down, I don’t know. I’m going for a suicide.”
”I did this my whole life. I always got beat up and come back. He’s stronger than me and maybe he even surprises me standing, but I’m well trained and I’m going forward, you know that.”
Vad det gäller game-plan har Maldonado en klar målsättning:
”My strategy is a bloodbath on Saturday night.I promise that from the bottom of my heart.”
”If 80 percent of that blood is mine, I’m okay. I can’t promise I’m going to win, but I can promise a war.”
Han tillade även att han förväntar sig en plats i rankningen om han vinner.
”I would be at the top 10. That would be fair. Vitor Belfort defeated Dan Henderson at 205 and got a shot at the middleweight title.”
”I’m not saying I should fight for the title next, but I deserve to be in the top 10.”
