Jonny Parsons (9-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) will look to make it two UFC wins in as many appearances when he takes on Uros Medic (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) at the UFC Vegas event scheduled for Nov. 18 inside the Apex.
Parsons and Medic are set to open up the main card with their welterweight duel, which Parsons believes was “strategically” done by the UFC to get the main card started with a bang.
Both men have nine professional wins – seven by T/KO each – so they know how to bring the fistic fireworks.
“Someone’s getting finished, but it’s not going to be me,” Parsons told MMASucka.
When analyzing the match-up, Parsons said Medic is a typical southpaw. While he said southpaws usually hold an edge over an orthodox counterpart, Parsons believes he’s an exception.
“I just feel like I have a lot of answers for that and a lot of adjustments I can make,” he said. “If anything, I’m a problem for southpaws as opposed to the southpaw being the tricky one. I’m going to be the tricky one.”
Defense will be Parsons’ X-factor in the stand-up, he said. He said he can be very defensive and elusive while not running away, circling out too much and playing the cage. He still dishes out offense while remaining defensively responsible.
“Being able to be comfortable standing in the middle, having solid defense I can count on and having that elusive factor where punches are more grazing than landing solid. I feel like that’s really going to give me the edge.”
While Parsons stresses the importance of defense, he also believes it’s “really important” to put on a show for the fans.
“I want to keep that reputation of being able to put on exciting fights and putting on a show for the crowd and be that person.”
Parsons entered the UFC off a Contender Series split decision win over Solomon Renfro in October 2021. He didn’t make his UFC debut until July when he knocked out 14-UFC-fight veteran Danny Roberts late in the second round.
Now, “The Sluggernaut” draws “The Doctor” Medic, who entered the UFC with a lot of hype and has delivered well on it, only losing to the highly-touted Jalin Turner. Parsons said he doesn’t think too much about the UFC throwing him into the relative deep end of the pool for someone fresh off the Contender Series.
“If anything, maybe they just know that they’re going to get an exciting fight by putting these guys who are similar as far as strikers who like to bang. The way I look at it, I actually strive in those situations. Going into my fight with Danny Roberts, I told myself, ‘From the outside, I’m going to crush him with my kicks. Once he gets frustrated being on the outside, he’s going to come into bang, and that’s where I’m best.’ I think the fight is going to play out a similar way. Obviously, Medic is going to be a little bit more tricky. He’s going to maybe be a little faster and utilize a little more kicks. But I’m no stranger to kicks coming at me. I think it will play out a similar where I’m going to frustrate him at range, and then he’s going to try to brawl with me, and that’s where I’m gonna put him away.”
Parsons called his shot for how he plans to finish Medic.
“I’m going for the head kick. I’m going to set it up, he’s not going to see it coming, and it’s going to be lights out for him.”
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