Journey Newson wanted to get one more fight this year and he has gotten his wish.
Newson ended his layoff in May at UFC 274 as he beat Fernie Garcia by decision. After the win, the plan was to fight at the end of the year and he will return at UFC Vegas 66 against Sergey Morozov.
“We planned on fighting at the end of the year to get one more in before the year is out. Hopefully, start next year pretty early,” Newson said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com.
Once Newson got the fight against Morozov, he knew he would have to work on his takedown defense and his ability to get back up. He’s well-aware that Morozov will try and wrestle him early and often, but in this camp, he worked with Ricky Simon to help him with that.
Along with worrying about Morozov’s grappling, Newson also knows he has underrated striking which he will have to be cautious of.
“Obviously, it is a lot of wrestling and that is what we are working on the most, cage wrestling and stuff like that,” Newson explained. “We are feeling pretty good going into this fight… I’m going to assume he is going to stand until he is ready to shoot. He’s 18-5, he’s been around a while and he’s dangerous on the feet just as much as I am. He’s in the UFC, there are no easy guys or easy fights that we are taking here in the UFC. I’m definitely taking him as a challenge on the feet and on the ground.”
If Journey Newson can keep it standing as he expects, he believes he has the power advantage and will eventually connect and will KO Sergey Morozov at UFC Vegas 66.
“I see it playing out with a lot of scrambles, a pretty high-action pace. I’m working on a lot of conditioning for it, just to make sure we are ready for two or three rounds of high-action pace. I can easily KO this guy, honestly, that’s best case scenario, I throw that straight two or left hook,” Newson said. “Any punch can knock him out. We are both pretty much the same in height and reach and I feel like that favors me because I have fought so many guys who are taller. Now that we have the same reach, I can get a little bit more comfortable. The best case scenario I KO, TKO this guy, worst ace scenario we go back-and-forth for three rounds.”
Should Newson get the KO win he’s after, he believes this would show he is a real darkhorse in the bantamweight division. Along with that, he thinks a win here could get him a ranked opponent next time out.
“If I win this will level me up to the rankings and possibly meet up with one of those guys who beat him,” Newson concluded.
Do you think Journey Newson will beat Sergey Morozov at UFC Vegas 66?