Chris Cariaso will step into the Octagon to face Demetrious Johnson this Saturday at UFC 178. While many fans are counting Cariaso out of the fight, he believes that he will silence his critics and claim the flyweight championship from Johnson, one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world.
Cariaso will be riding a 3-fight win streak into the bout, with wins coming over Iliarde Santos, Danny Martinez, and Louis Smolka.
He spoke to MMAJunkie about the fight.
“Wherever the fight goes, I’ll be ready for it. He’s never fought a striker like me. He hasn’t met a guy with grappling like me on the ground. A lot of people haven’t seen my grappling, but it’s definitely something to watch out for.”
The pair were originally expected to meet at UFC 177 in August, but after Jon Jones was forced out of his UFC 178 bout against Daniel Cormier, the bout was moved from the end of August, to the end of September.
“To me it was a little bit frustrating in a sense. I got serious a little bit faster than expected. It gave me more time to finish polishing the tools, and it’s a good thing that happened because it gave us more time.”
Who takes the flyweight belt home this weekend when the pair square off?