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Gian Villante Not Bothered By UFC Fight Night 102 Opponent Change

December 9, 2016 | Posted by Joseph Lee

In an interview with MMA Junkie Gian Villante (14-7 MMA, 4-3 UFC) spoke about his sudden opponent change for UFC Fight Night 102. He was set to fight Patrick Cummins, but a staph infection forced him out. Saparbek Safarov (8-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) was called to replace him on short notice. The fight happens today at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York. It streams on UFC Fight Pass. Here are highlights:

On how his gameplan has changed: “It doesn’t change much. Me and my coaches, we don’t really go into a fight ever with a game plan. We just go in there thinking we’re going to do what we want to do, and they’re going to have to adjust to us. If we have to make some adjustments on the fly, we will. We never know what they’re going to do. I’m sure he’s watched plenty of film on me, and he knows what I’m going to do, and I’m not changing it. I’m going to go forward, I’m going to punch you, I’m going to kick you, I’m going to knock you out. That’s it.”

On looking at Safarov’s work: “I watched his last fight and maybe one more before that, just to kind of see where he was at. I couldn’t really tell what he wanted to do. Fighting different guys, you never know. … He stands conventional, same size. Patrick was more of a specialized opponent where he likes to wrestle so much, so I did a lot of wrestling for this camp. That was the only thing that changed a little bit – I don’t think this guy’s going to try to wrestle as much as Patrick wanted to. If he is, I’m prepared for it. The biggest thing was just getting in shape, and If I could wrestle that much every camp I probably should because it got me in good shape.”

article topics :

Gian Villante, Joseph Lee