Matt Frevola plans on luring Fares Ziam into a brawl.
Frevola (11-4-1 MMA, 5-4-1 UFC) meets Ziam (15-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 243 (ESPN+) main card opener at Accor Arena in Paris. Ziam is yet to score a UFC finish but has been able to use his sharp striking technique to outpoint his opposition. Meanwhile, Frevola knocked out three straight opponents in the first round before running into Benoit Saint Denis at UFC 295.
“He’s gotten those wins,” Frevola told BJPenn.com of Ziam. “A lot of them were close, but he’s been able to get the W. He’s a smart, intelligent striker, and he uses his length, his high fight IQ to squeak out those wins. But that’s not how I fight.
“I go in there looking for finishes. If he thinks he’s going to be skating and landing his jab and moving and making it a boring fight, that is not how I fight. I’m going to be in his face, and he’s finally going to have an exciting fight, fighting me.”
Although Ziam said he’s changed his style up in training, Frevola expects him to play it safe – but he won’t let him do that.
“It’s going to be a fight,” Frevola added. “He’s going to come out there and try to land his shots, try to outpoint me, and I’m going to come in there and look to finish him. I’m well-rounded, I can wrestle, I can strike, I got good jiu-jitsu, and I plan on utilizing all my weapons against him. It’s not going to be a pretty kickboxing fight like he wants. It’s going to be a dog fight.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 243.
