UFC Fight Night 35's Sam Sicilia Looking to Further Prove He Belongs With the Best

Sam Sicilia made a statement his last time in the Octagon. That statement is one he says came at the expense of Godofredo “Pepey” Castro, who he explains couldn’t beat Sicilia if given 100 opportunities.

Sicilia says he’s on a different level.

“That’s a guy I can beat 100 times out of 100 times,” Sicilia told MMAWeekly.com. “I believe I should be fighting better guys and I kind of had to make it look like that. Beating him in a decision, or even if he had moments where it looked like he was getting the better of me, wouldn’t look good. I just wanted to show that I’m on a different level and shut him off and get out of the cage.”

The win over Castro at UFC Fight Night 32 got Sicilia back in the win column – something he was in dire need of following two consecutive losses. Even so, the fighter says he manned up and accepted the losses. The idea of shaking off the lost fights is easier to come by when he feels he wasn’t being completely overwhelmed in the cage.

But letting a third loss in a row happen just wasn’t in the cards for Sicilia, who says he was happy to go out there and prove he’s in the upper echelon.

“I try to take these losses like a man,” he says. “I also feel like I wasn’t getting outgunned. I wasn’t beat up; I was fine.

“I had to put my foot down and say this ain’t happening anymore. I belong here and guys like Godofredo Pepey can’t beat me and that’s for damn sure.”

Now Sicilia faces Cole Miller in what will be the opening main card fight at UFC Fight Night 35 in Duluth, Ga. Hoping to continue proving doubters wrong, Sicilia says he’s preparing for a three-round war.

It’s a fight he says won’t come easy because Miller has already taken on some of the best in the UFC. A win in Georgia for Sicilia might just make an even bigger statement when lobbying for his case of belonging with the best in the fighting world.

“Cole Miller is a vet,” he says. “He’s not going to be intimidated. He’s fought guys like Jeremy Stephens and Ross Pearson and some other hard-hitting guys.

“If I get him rocked or clipped and I have an opportunity then I’m going to tear into it, but I have to train to beat him for three rounds for sure.”