Sam Sicilia: ‘I guess I just gotta keep knocking guys out until they give me a top guy’

UFC Fight Night 71 is just hours away, and Sam Sicilia sees his opponent as just another guy to get knocked out.

Coming off a devastating knockout over Akira Corassani in January, Sicilia looks to stop Yaotzin Meza in San Diego, Calif., and doesn’t see any weapons in his opponent’s arsenal that could give him much trouble inside the Octagon.

“He trains out of a tough camp, MMA Lab, with Benson Henderson and a lot of names, but I don’t really see many weapons,” Sicilia told MMAFighting.com. “Maybe cardio being one, just because he doesn’t really goes for it, he just kind of hangs out in there and kinds of accept the things that happen. And he’s got a lot of experience, got a lot of fights, but other than that, he’s just another guy. It doesn’t really matter who this guy is, really.”

A third of Meza’s wins have come via submission, and Sicilia expects his opponent to go for takedowns on Wednesday night.

“I’ll crack him and then he’s going to try to take me down, but he won’t be able to take me to the ground — unless I want to go to the ground. I’m not afraid to go to the ground with him by any means,” he said. “And he’s a little bantamweight, so coming up another weight class and all that, going down… I’m going in there and win my fight. It’s going to be a worse KO than my last fight. Not necessarily faster, but it’ll be just devastating, for sure.

“Instead of this win, loss, win, loss, just stay active and keep all the wins coming. That’s what it’s about now. Staying focused.”

Originally booked to face Doo Ho Choi, Sicilia has harsh words towards the Korean featherweight. Sicilia and Choi were booked to fight at UFC 173 and then at UFN 71, but “The Korean Superboy” pulled out from both fights due to injuries.

“It doesn’t bother me because I still have a fight, but to me he’s a guy who only fights if everything is perfect,” Sicilia said. “He would never fight with a bruise or whatever. To me, that’s not what this sport is about.

“He didn’t show up twice. That guy is made of glass. He’s always injured. And he’s a nobody. Nobody knows who he is. He has one good fight in the UFC, and got hurt twice. Working all that time and having him pull out twice, I just feel he’ll do that again. I don’t really have interest in that guy at all.”

Gunning for a “devastating” knockout over Meza, Sicilia eyes the top of the division. The eight-fight UFC veteran, who called out Charles Oliveira following his win in January, believe he’s two wins away from the best guys at 145 pounds.

“I think they’re going to give me just another guy like this (after I beat Meza), see me string more together, but guys like Charles and whoever, Cub (Swanson) and all those top guys that I need to be competing against,” he said. “I’ll just knock them down until they give me somebody.

“(Charles) is a top guy, he’s a tough guy, and he’s ranked,” he continued. “I need those fights. I win this fight, I win my next, and they got to give to me, eventually. I got to fight a guy like that. I sure wouldn’t mind taking another trip down to Brazil. When the timing comes, they’ll do it. I guess I just gotta keep knocking guys out until they give me a top guy.”

Not many UFC athletes are willing to fly to Brazil to fight, but Sicilia is one of them. At 1-1 when fighting in Brazil, bouncing from a loss to Rony Jason with a first-round finish over Godofredo Pepey, he welcomes another bout in the country.

“I really jump on opportunities like that,” Sicilia said. “If I wasn’t fighting, I wouldn’t get the chance to flown down there and meet places. I’ve got a lot of friends down there now and I love going down there, so I switch my tickets so I come home later and can hang out on the beach. To me, it’s a bonus.

“And how much they love fighting? Whether or not they do the ‘uh, vai morrer’ or whatever, after the fight nobody cares, and everybody appreciates a good fight.”

UFC Fight Night 71 is just hours away, and Sam Sicilia sees his opponent as just another guy to get knocked out.

Coming off a devastating knockout over Akira Corassani in January, Sicilia looks to stop Yaotzin Meza in San Diego, Calif., and doesn’t see any weapons in his opponent’s arsenal that could give him much trouble inside the Octagon.

“He trains out of a tough camp, MMA Lab, with Benson Henderson and a lot of names, but I don’t really see many weapons,” Sicilia told MMAFighting.com. “Maybe cardio being one, just because he doesn’t really goes for it, he just kind of hangs out in there and kinds of accept the things that happen. And he’s got a lot of experience, got a lot of fights, but other than that, he’s just another guy. It doesn’t really matter who this guy is, really.”

A third of Meza’s wins have come via submission, and Sicilia expects his opponent to go for takedowns on Wednesday night.

“I’ll crack him and then he’s going to try to take me down, but he won’t be able to take me to the ground — unless I want to go to the ground. I’m not afraid to go to the ground with him by any means,” he said. “And he’s a little bantamweight, so coming up another weight class and all that, going down… I’m going in there and win my fight. It’s going to be a worse KO than my last fight. Not necessarily faster, but it’ll be just devastating, for sure.

“Instead of this win, loss, win, loss, just stay active and keep all the wins coming. That’s what it’s about now. Staying focused.”

Originally booked to face Doo Ho Choi, Sicilia has harsh words towards the Korean featherweight. Sicilia and Choi were booked to fight at UFC 173 and then at UFN 71, but “The Korean Superboy” pulled out from both fights due to injuries.

“It doesn’t bother me because I still have a fight, but to me he’s a guy who only fights if everything is perfect,” Sicilia said. “He would never fight with a bruise or whatever. To me, that’s not what this sport is about.

“He didn’t show up twice. That guy is made of glass. He’s always injured. And he’s a nobody. Nobody knows who he is. He has one good fight in the UFC, and got hurt twice. Working all that time and having him pull out twice, I just feel he’ll do that again. I don’t really have interest in that guy at all.”

Gunning for a “devastating” knockout over Meza, Sicilia eyes the top of the division. The eight-fight UFC veteran, who called out Charles Oliveira following his win in January, believe he’s two wins away from the best guys at 145 pounds.

“I think they’re going to give me just another guy like this (after I beat Meza), see me string more together, but guys like Charles and whoever, Cub (Swanson) and all those top guys that I need to be competing against,” he said. “I’ll just knock them down until they give me somebody.

“(Charles) is a top guy, he’s a tough guy, and he’s ranked,” he continued. “I need those fights. I win this fight, I win my next, and they got to give to me, eventually. I got to fight a guy like that. I sure wouldn’t mind taking another trip down to Brazil. When the timing comes, they’ll do it. I guess I just gotta keep knocking guys out until they give me a top guy.”

Not many UFC athletes are willing to fly to Brazil to fight, but Sicilia is one of them. At 1-1 when fighting in Brazil, bouncing from a loss to Rony Jason with a first-round finish over Godofredo Pepey, he welcomes another bout in the country.

“I really jump on opportunities like that,” Sicilia said. “If I wasn’t fighting, I wouldn’t get the chance to flown down there and meet places. I’ve got a lot of friends down there now and I love going down there, so I switch my tickets so I come home later and can hang out on the beach. To me, it’s a bonus.

“And how much they love fighting? Whether or not they do the ‘uh, vai morrer’ or whatever, after the fight nobody cares, and everybody appreciates a good fight.”