Bart Palaszewski wants a title shot after he whoops Hioki’s a–!

This Saturday evening here in North America (Sunday morning in Japan) the UFC heads back to the land of the rising sun for UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson. The main PPV piece of the card is a whopping 7 fights which will will last 4hrs. The second fight on the main card is a featherweight battle between Hatsu Hioki and MMA veteran Bart Palaszewski.

Bart has 50 fights in his MMA career and his record is an impressive 36-14 with 17 KO/TKO and 11 Submission victories. Palaszewski recently spoke with Lowkick.com about his upcoming fight with Hioki and this is what he seems to be very happy with the match-up.

“I’m actually extremely happy with the match-up. That’s the fight I asked for. I actually think he got really lucky with George Roop. He lost that fight. I want to fight him, and to prove that I’m a better fighter. Octagon jitters are just an excuse, because we all know he fought in big events for DREAM Shooto and Sengoku. For me, if there are 10 or 10,000 people in the crowd – I’m coming to do work. Jet lag, Octagon jitters… all those are excuses. I just think he’s all hype.”

With a victory over Hioki, one must think that he is fairly close to a title shot against current UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo. Does Palaszewski feel he has what it takes to beat the champ? “Absolutely.”

“He’s a stand-up fighter, so am I. I think that a lot of guys he fought are not as durable as me, and don’t have the heart I have. As far as wrestling goes, I don’t think it’s going to be a wrestling match. It’s going to be a fight. I just believe I’m way more durable than him, and any of the opponents he faced. Aldo is better come prepared for a fight, because that’s something I’m going to bring.”

To read the rest of the interview, head over to Lowkick.com