Sam Sicilia shows up to fight.
When the cage door closes behind him, and the referee steps out of the way, the Spokane-based scrapper is coming across the cage with bad intentions. There are plenty of colorful ways to describe this process, but the truth remains the same regardless: Sicilia is bringing the fight to his opponent.
In the seven years he’s competed at the professional level, the 28-year-old has competed in venues around the globe as he’s worked to hone his personal brand of brawling into a more refined form of technical violence. That said, the grit and fire in his formula is and will forever be visible every time Sicilia steps in to trade leather and it is a process that is starting to find a rhythm.
While he suffered through a rough patch after dropping down into featherweight waters in late 2012, Sicilia believes everything is beginning to fall into place at this stage of his career. The Ultimate Fighter alum has won two of his last three showings and will be looking to make it back-to-back successful outings when he squares off with Katsunori Kikuno at Fight Night 52 this Saturday.
Knowing he has a fight on deck has Sicilia fired up, but his overall perspective of what it will take for him to be successful in the fight game has finally come into focus.
“It’s about finding that balance between the sport and actually fighting,” Sicilia told Bleacher Report. “I’ve had to learn to brawl on my own terms if that makes sense. I can get in there and bring the pressure when I feel the time is right, but other than that, I have to use athleticism and stay on the outside. Then when I feel the time is right I’ll get in there, crash the party and start chucking. Afterwards, I’ll get back out and keep the fight moving.
“I used to just go in there and get after it. If they survived my first onslaught, then I was in survival mode until I got my wits about me then I’d attack again. Now, it’s more about piecing them up, moving around and staying on my offense.
“I feel I’ve had not so much a rough start, but an inconsistent start to what is going to be a good career,” he added. “I’ve really been figuring out who I am as a fighter and I think I’m there. Now I’m ready to go on a run. It started with Aaron Phillips and it is going to continue with Kikuno.”
While Sicilia will come into Saitama, Japan with a bit of momentum, his opponent will be looking to regain his footing inside the Octagon. Although Kikuno was successful in his promotional debut back in January, a first-round starching at the hands of Tony Ferguson at UFC 173 stopped him cold in his tracks. “El Cucuy” brought the former DEEP champion’s six-fight winning streak to an abrupt end, and Kikuno will be looking to rediscover his winning ways against Sicilia at Fight Night 52.
That said, Sicilia isn’t willing to give up that type of ground. He is coming into Kikuno‘s home country to bring the ruckus and plans on applying the pressure until his opponent breaks. That will be his goal on Saturday and Sicilia is confident he will get the job done.
“A lot of the people I’ve been talking to seem to think I’m just going to walk right through him because of his last performance,” Sicilia said. “They see that and think he sucks. But realistically, looking at all of his fights the guy is tough. He’s a good fighter and has proven that he’s pretty tough. People saw that fight against [Tony] Ferguson and think that’s it. He kind of walked in like Frankenstein, got caught early and never recovered. I think it’s going to be a tough fight and I’m treating it like any other fight I’ve been in. I’m prepared and I know I’m willing to go further than he is to get the victory.
“I’m going to put the heat on him. I’m coming off a win and he’s coming off a loss where he was knocked out. That is fact. I’m coming into his hometown. He is going to be pumped to fight me, but I’m going to light him up. He’s looking at his last loss and he’s looking at internal things like dropping a weight class or whatever instead of looking inside and seeing what he needs to change. He’s going to fight me exactly like he’s fought every other fight because he hasn’t changed anything. He’s going to walk out there with his hands down and try that crescent toe-kick to my body. I know what I’m getting with him and he has no clue what he’s getting into with me. That’s what we like about this.”
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
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