Ian Heinisch spoke recently with MMA Junkie, ahead of his fight vs. Kelvin Gastelum on the main card of UFC 258 on Saturday, and vowed to expose his opponent.
With Kelvin you never know the guy who’s going to show up, but the guy we’re training for to show up is the guy who fought Israel Adesanya, said Heinisch. He’s on a three-fight skid, his back’s against the wall and that’s when people usually fight the hardest. So that’s what we’re expecting, but I feel stylistically it’s gonna be a very fun fight to watch, especially the first three minutes.
I feel like I just have to mix it up. Between clinch, striking with him, taking him down, just mixing everything up, just being super unpredictable. His timing is impeccable and so I can’t be the guy who’s one-dimensional. I feel he’s a little one-dimensional, and I’m gonna expose that.
Heinisch says it’s the biggest fight in his six-year, 17-bout career.
Usually your next fight is always your biggest fight, but yeah, definitely [it ’s my biggest fight], said Heinisch. I compare this to the Derek Brunson fight. It was a super-seasoned vet guy, someone who’s fought everyone. I learned so much that fight, I took a lesson that fight.
I was inches away from a knockout in that fight and just had to kinda go back and work on some basics because inches win fights at the highest level, and that’s what we’ve been working on – a ton of basics. I feel like I’ve learned a ton of lessons, I feel more of a seasoned vet now and more comfortable in that cage, and I’m excited to show it.
Fans are gonna see a high-paced, exciting fight. I know he’s ready to throw down, he’s ready to get his hands on me. I feel the same way. My path to victory is walking forward, eating shots, giving shots and just making this an exciting fight and making the fight go everywhere and just being unpredictable. So, tune in, it’s gonna be fireworks, we’re gonna try and steal the show with ‘Fight of the Night’ or hopefully ‘Performance of the Night’ for me, and fans can definitely look forward to this one.
