Iuri Alcantara will be stepping into the Octagon at UFC 209, where he will be taking on the undefeated Luke Sanders.
While his opponent enters the fight undefeated, Alcantara says it will be his training that gives his opponent the first loss of his career.
?For all my fights I look to train and train and train, this is why I come here,? Alcantara told MMA Junkie. ?That?s all I do. I train, I train, I train. I face a lot of difficulties. I?m just learning English, but not very well. No one speaks Portuguese. The guy who helps me out doesn?t speak it. It?s hard. So I?ll always give it my best to represent Brazil, my team and my family. I have good training here. I have good people to train with in Brazil, tough guys, but they were also my students. There was a lot of respect. Not here. Here nobody knows me, so it?s a lot better, more productive.?
Alcantara has already earned a total of eight wins thus far in the UFC. Opponent's undefeated streak aside, Alcantara believes he?s getting a quick finish on Saturday Night.
?Every fight, for me, is very important,? Alcantara said. ?This is the life I chose for myself. And you can be certain that on Saturday I?ll be giving it my best and looking to finish the fight quickly. (He has) a pesky game. He grapples to work the knees and the elbows. All the fights I lost were like this. They kept grabbing me, taking me down, stalling there. It ends up being a bad fight. But I?m working very hard to get there and show that I?m not that guy who stalls fights to get the win. I?m very trained for that, and for sure I?m going to give it my best, and for sure this fight will end in the first or second round. I have a lot of faith in this.?
UFC 209 takes place on Saturday, March 4 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson headlining. Fightful will be providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.