Joseph Holmes has a ton of confidence heading into his UFC Vegas 63 matchup against Jun Yong Park.
Holmes is coming off his first UFC win as he defeated Alen Amedovski in the first round back in May. After the win, he wasn’t sure what would be next for him but he’s glad to be facing someone like Park.
“I had only seen him fight Eryk Anders and they fought the same night as I did and he didn’t seem too impressive and he seemed small,” Holmes said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “I didn’t realize he was a middleweight until I saw who he was fighting. He’s just a number name on the board.”
Once Holmes started studying Park he quickly realized he will have a seven-inch reach advantage. With that, he expects the Korean fighter to try and grapple him early as he doubts Park will want to stand with him.
“He’s not going to want to stand with me,” Holmes said. “I’d imagine he’ll go for a takedown in the first 20 seconds of the fight just because what else can he do? He’s not going to go jab for jab with me. He seems like a winner, so I imagine he’s pretty smart so he’s absolutely going to try and grapple me.”
Although Joseph Holmes is expecting a lot of grappling from Jun Yong Park he is confident in his takedown defense to keep it standing.
Should Holmes keep it standing, he believes he will eventually hurt Park and put him away in the first round.
“I’m going to take him out first round. Just hurt him. He’s going to try and grapple me early, but I’ll stuff his takedowns,” Holmes said. “There is not really much he can do, I’ve been perfecting my craft and my weapons like my knee and overhands and just put it on him. I don’t see us going the whole fight because that is what he wants.”
If Holmes does get another first-round stoppage win, he isn’t sure what is next for him. Yet, he is confident he has all the tools to be in the title mix in the next few years.
“Hopefully it doesn’t put me too far up there so they don’t throw me into some crazy stuff. Just hopefully gradually move up and get the right fights. I believe I can be in the title picture in the next two or three years,” Holmes said.
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This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
