Vinc Pichel (11-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) will likely enter his UFC Fight Night 131 lightweight bout with Gregor Gillespie (11-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) as the major betting underdog. Gillespie has garnered a lot of hype with his wrestling ability and heavy hands, currently a 96-4 percent favorite in Tapology picks.
Pichel said none of that fazes him, however.
“I’m assuming I’m going to be the underdog which is cool,” Pichel told MMASucka. “All that means is I’ll put some money on myself and I’ll get that extra paycheck when I knock him out. When it comes fight time and they see how much trouble he has taking me down, people will see that if someone’s in a fight with me, they’re in a fight.”
Gillespie has had success in the stand-up; he knocked down Andrew Holbrook and finished him with ground and pound in 21 seconds for his second UFC win. He stood with Jason Gonzalez in the first round before submitting him in the second with an arm triangle.
Pichel said he doesn’t think Gillespie will want to stand with him…although he hopes that’ll be the case.
“If he wants to stand and bang, I’m all for it,” Pichel said. “Once I hit him, he’s going to instinctively shoot like he does with other guys. He’s a wrestler, he doesn’t like to get hit. If he liked to get hit, he’d be a kick-boxer. Once I hit him, he’s going to try to take me down. I’m going to hit him and continue hitting him until he regrets taking this fight.”
Pichel will be looking for what will arguably be the biggest victory on his record, and it couldn’t come in a brighter spotlight. “From Hell” Pichel will be featured on his first UFC main card with the co-main slot to boot.
“I don’t mind being the bad guy.”
Not only that, but he’ll be in enemy territory against the New York native, Gillespie. Pichel doesn’t mind, though. In fact, he likes it.
“I don’t mind being the bad guy,” he said. “I feel there’s a lot less pressure on me. All of the pressure is going to be on [Gillespie]. I feel good about it, honestly. There’s a reason I got that nickname ‘From Hell’ and that it’s stuck to me.
“I’m going to upset New York, Gregor and his camp. I just hope New York doesn’t hate me too much for knocking out their little golden child.”
Pichel comes into the bout riding a four-fight winning streak. Two of those came following a three-year absence in which Pichel contemplated retirement due to a plethora of issues. He rebounded from his UFC debut loss to Rustam Khabilov with wins over Garett Whiteley, Anthony Njokuani, Damien Brown and, most recently, the previously-undefeated Joaquim Silva.
Pichel will hope to give Gillespie his first loss, too. He has an idea of how the fight will play out.
“[Gillespie’s] going to try and wrestle-fuck me,” Pichel said. “I’m going to stop that and knock him out.”
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