Devin Clark is confident he will be the first one to hand Alonzo Menifield a loss.
Menifield is currently 9-0 and returning to the Octagon after a year away due to a neck injury. For Clark, he thinks the year away from the cage might impact the prospect, but he isn’t counting on it.
“It doesn’t matter to me because he’s going to try and do what he’s good at and that’s to try and knock me out in the first round. I’m going to do what I’m good at and that is avoiding that stuff,” Clark said to BJPENN.com. “The game plan is a little different and my mindset is different this time. It will be a good scrap and I’m excited about it.”
Clark says his mindset has changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He was forced to leave his family and go to JacksonWink and spend weeks by himself. So, he knows that sacrifice will fuel his fire to get another win on Saturday night.
Entering this fight, Clark knows the pundits believe he will suffer a first-round knockout. But, he knows, if he can get out of the opening frame, Menifield will be in for a world of trouble.
“That will be a huge problem for him. I’ve fought guys before exactly like him. Darko Stosic was a first-round finisher. Once I got out of the first he didn’t have that gas to go the second and third round,” he explained. “Alonzo might be able to go three rounds but it’s my job to make sure he can’t. All my UFC wins have been doing that by grinding out a win.”
For Devin Clark, he only sees this fight going one way and that’s him dominating Menifield for 15 minutes and earning a decision win.
“I’m really just focused on being as dominant as possible. If that comes by knockout that is great. I’m going to dominate him and beat the life out of this guy on MMA terms,” Clark said. “To me, that is more impressive than a knockout by controlling someone for 15 minutes and beating them up the entire time. I’m going to end the hype on Saturday.”
Should Clark do just that, he knows the win would be massive for his career and hopefully earn him a top-15 opponent next time out.
“It should put me in the top-15 but I’m not too worried about that. I’m just focusing on stacking up some wins. Get some hype behind myself which will be nice,” Clark concluded. “I’ve had some ups and downs in the UFC. So, I’m ready to have a long winning streak and this is the fight where I can extend mine to two.”
Do you think Devin Clark will be able to dominate Alonzo Menifield as he says?