Team Quest vs. Brazil?
It’s certainly beginning to look that way.
In an exclusive interview with Bleacher Report’s Garrett Derr, UFC welterweight Mike Pierce sat down to discuss his upcoming bout with Carlos Eduardo Rocha at UFC on FX 3.
“I sent out on Twitter that I wanted an easy fight, so I called out all Brazilians in the 170-pound division. Carlos answered, so I got the fight that I wanted…I’ll be able to exploit everything. I think the only tool that he has that is any good, is his ground game. He’s pretty good at these weird scrambles and being on the ground. Other than that, I think that he’s a fish out of water.”
It shouldn’t surprise people that Pierce is taking an aggressive stance towards Brazilian fighters. His teammate and top middleweight contender, Chael Sonnen, has made a name off various feuds with South American fighters, including UFC champ Anderson Silva.
The more interesting question is whether or not Pierce is using social media to follow in Sonnen’s footsteps.
The Portland, Oregon native has been in the UFC for nearly three years, but he has yet to break from the shadows. Even after a controversial split decision loss to Josh Koscheck, Pierce remains relatively unknown to casual MMA fans.
For his teammate Sonnen, however, business is booming. His world class fighting abilities combined with an entertaining public persona has seemingly turned him into a superstar overnight.
At UFC 148, Sonnen will have an opportunity to take his stardom to new heights when he meets Silva in a rematch for the UFC middleweight title.
Pierce weighs in on the highly anticipated bout:
“I think Chael is going to go in there and do what he did the first time around. He’s going to go in there and do what he did the first time around and not get caught in a submission this time. You rarely make the same mistake twice. I’m hoping he goes in there and beats the guy for five straight rounds. There’s a chance he finishes him, but I’m not sure what is more gratifying, having him finish him or beat his ass for 25 minutes. I think that would be more gratifying.”
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