Glaico Franca banking on well-rounded game against Gillespie at UFC Fight Night 95

After a loss to James Vick in April, Glaico Franca had to chalk up his first UFC setback to experience.

But that works in a couple ways. For starters, the experience he gained in the fight, a decision loss at UFC 197 in Las Vegas, should only work to his advantage going forward. On the downside, it was Vick’s experience in the UFC that Franca believes cost him the fight.

“I trained very hard for that bout,” Franca told MMAjunkie. “I think he mostly beat me due to experience. He’s had a longer UFC career. I believe that was the reason. Fights are often decided in the details.”

Tonight, Franca (13-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) will be hoping the details work out for him this time. In his third fight in the UFC, he meets a promotional newcomer in Gregor Gillespie (7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) in a lightweight bout to open the card at UFC Fight Night 95.

UFC Fight Night 95 takes place Saturday at Nilson Nelson Gymnasium in the Brazilian capital of Brasilia. The card airs on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

Franca is nearly a 2-1 favorite against the UFC debutant, and he’s fighting in his home country. (The only time he’s fought outside of Brazil was against Vick, and that didn’t work out.)

But Franca said he’s not banking on home-cage advantage against Gillespie or any kind of an advantage from the fans.

“I’m very happy to be fighting in the UFC (and) in Brasilia,” he said. “Being the favorite makes no difference to me one way or the other. Fighters always have a 50-50 chance, whether fighting at home or in their opponent’s country. It’s a matter of being well prepared because, come fight time, it’s just the two of us. Favorites don’t matter. I don’t worry about that.”

So when it comes to being well-prepared, Franca said he’s been focusing on all three key aspects of the game. He knows his opponent is unbeaten and has only gone to the judges’ scorecards one time.

Franca’s focus, he said, is on getting a finish – and if he has to go the distance, so be it. But he better have been dominant.

“We’ve studied him and we’re ready for whatever he brings to the octagon,” he said. “We train striking, submissions and wrestling. We’re ready for all areas of MMA. And if it’s not possible to get a knockout or submission, at least we plan to have a dominant performance, so it’s pretty obvious who won once it goes to the judges.”

A win would get the “TUF: Brazil 4” victor back on the right side of things after the loss to Vick and would give him two of three in the UFC. That would still leave a long, long road ahead toward title aspirations. But that’s not going to stop Franca from keeping that as a goal.

“The greater goal is to be a world champion,” Franca said. “Of course, I have much to learn still. My short-term objective is just this next fight. I take things one step at a time. We’ll figure out what’s next after this fight.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 95, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.