Antônio “Pezão” Silva admitted that his strategy for fighting Mark Hunt, at UFC Fight Night 33, will involve taking the opponent to the ground and working on their jiu-jitsu positions.
Hunt is one of the most dangerous athletes in stand-up fighting in the heavyweight division. He has a great track record in the K1 event, which brought together the best strikers on the planet, having won the title in 2001.
Precisely for this reason, Pezão stated that he emphasized his training on the ground. “He is a striker with enormous experience, he had excellent fights in K1, so the perfect way to win would obviously be using my jiu-jitsu. I trained a lot of jiu-jitsu and wrestling, but I also trained my striking. The fight starts standing up and I have to be prepared for everything”, said the Brazilian, in an interview with the North American website MMA Fighting.
Despite recognizing his opponent's qualities, Pezão also doesn't rule out the fight being resolved on the feet. “If I see some gaps, I'll try to end the fight with striking. I was always very against strikersas alistair overeem, Travis Browne and Fedor Emelianenko. I will try for the knockout if I have the opportunity, but my strategy is to take him to the ground.”
Even though he is focused on his fight against Hunt, Pezão already knows who his next ideal opponent would be. “I'm not the type of fighter who chooses his rivals. I will fight whoever the UFC casts me. But if I was given the choice, I would like to face [Josh] Barnett. We have a history and that’s why I would like to have this fight,” he pointed out.
UFC Fight Night 33 will take place in the early hours of Friday to Saturday (December 6th and 7th), in Brisbane, Australia. The fight between Pezão and Hunt will be the main fight of the event, which will also feature a confrontation between Mauritius Shogun and James Te Huna.
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