Jared Vanderaa didn’t hesitate to accept a fight against Aleksei Oleinik at UFC 273.

Oleinik was supposed to face Ilir Latifi on Saturday night, but on just a weeks’ notice the Swede was forced out of the fight. When Vanderaa was offered the fight he immediately accepted it as it is his shot to get back into the win column.

Vanderaa is coming off a split decision loss to Andrei Arlovski at UFC 271 and against Oleinik he likes the style matchup. He knows the Russian will try and pull guard but he is a BJJ black belt himself so he believes he will keep the fight standing and find the stoppage win. However, he thinks the finish may happen via ground and pound once he rocks Oleinik on the feet.

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“First of all, I have only knocked out one person in my entire career, the rest have come by TKO. I have broken people’s bones, but I don’t have that Francis, Derrick Lewis’ power,” Vanderaa said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “I do have power in my kicks but I haven’t gotten the head kick KO but maybe this is the first one. I do think I will get a TKO in the first or second round on the ground. And, honestly, I don’t care if it’s first, second or third round, I just want to win and I’m focused on winning.”

Although Vanderaa is confident he will find the stoppage win, he says he won’t force anything. Instead, all he cares about is winning as he says his job could be on the line if he loses as it would be three straight.

“Yes and no, that is why I’m just focused on winning. But, when you work with them (it helps you),” Vanderaa said. “I didn’t have to take this fight, it’s a lot of risk for me as I took it on a weeks’ notice. But, at the same time, I don’t think anyone else wanted to fight him.”

If Jared Vanderaa gets his hand raised on Saturday night at UFC 273, he isn’t sure what would be next. But, all he cares about is the fact he would remain a UFC fighter and wants to start working his way up into the top-15.

“Honestly, I don’t know. I thought Arlovski was the gatekeeper to the top-15 and that’s not a shot at him and I lost that,” Vanderaa concluded. “But, Oleinik was just in the rankings so if I win this then maybe it’s like one more fight could put me in the rankings. I just know if I beat him I’m in a better place than I was yesterday.”

Do you think Jared Vanderaa will beat Aleksei Oleinik at UFC 273?