LAS VEGAS – Joanderson Brito enters UFC on ESPN 65 with a sour taste in his mouth.
Saturday, he’ll compete for the first time since a controversial split decision loss to William Gomis in September. Brito (17-4-1 MMA, 5-2 UFC) thought some home cooking influenced the judges in Paris to side with a French fighter. He isn’t willing to let that happen again vs. Pat Sabatini (18-5 MMA, 6-2 UFC) at the UFC Apex.
“Everybody knows I’m not very used to it,” Brito told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter at a pre-fight news conference Wednesday. “My fights don’t usually go to the third round. I know I won. You know I won. Everybody knows I won. William Gomis knows I won, as well. That’s it. Going back to the drawing board and working at it because I don’t want to leave anything to the judges. But you all know I won that fight.”
“… The idea is actually to just continue on to finish the thing and not to leave it to (the judges). You all know I’ve fought guys from every discipline possible. I’ve got the grapplers. I’ve got the strikers. I’ve got the wrestlers. It doesn’t matter. What we focus on is actually to be patient and be smarter and go for more forceful, significant strikes, many damaging strikes, and that’s what makes the difference.”
Brito, 30, quietly built a five-fight winning streak prior to the Gomis loss. He aims to get back on track Saturday and would like to compete more frequently going forward.
“I’ve actually been telling people ever since I got into the UFC, I wanted to be active and fight three or four times a year,” Brito said. “I kept asking UFC, it’s my kind of my beef with the UFC because I’ve only been getting one or two fights because people don’t want to fight against me. It’s frustrating because there are so many people in the division and no one wants to fight. I’ve been trying to get that.”
As for the test that is Sabatini, Brito sees a clear style matchup with obvious game plans both ways. Brito aims to finish the former CFFC champion.
“Pat’s a tough guy but we know what he’s all about and what he’s going to try to bring in,” Brito said. “He’s going to try to bring in the wrestling into it. I’m ready for whatever need-be. I’m ready to exchange with him and I’m ready to grapple him. It’s probably not going to be a factor that I’ll exchange, because I could see him straight shooting for my legs right away. We know what he’s about. We know what he’s going to go for. But I’ll be ready for it.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 65.
