Jake Matthews fights in his native Australia for the fourth time in five UFC appearances when he meets Johnny Case at UFC Fight Night 85.
Some fighters enjoy traveling the globe, but Matthews (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC), who meets Case (22-4 MMA, 4-0 UFC) in a lightweight clash on the main card of the FOX Sports 1-televised event on March 19 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, said he’d gladly have a home game every time.
“If I never fight internationally and I just fight in Australia for the rest of my fights, I’ll be happy,” Matthews told MMAjunkie Radio. “Regardless of what city in Australia I fight in, I feel like I fight at home. I got the crowd behind me; all my friends and family can come watch me. … You don’t have to go through jetlag. You don’t have to fly out too early. You can train all the way up to the fight, so it just makes it a lot more easier. It’s more comfortable.”
Matthews’ upcoming fight on his home soil is his most significant yet. Case brings a 12-fight winning streak into the matchup, including four straight under the UFC banner. “Hollywood” is a finisher, as well; 18 of his 22 career victories have come by some form of stoppage.
Although Case is on hot streak, Matthews believes he has the solution to shut him down. He said he views Case as “the most confident fighter in the UFC,” and if he can take that away, everything changes.
“It’s not so much that he’s so much better than his opponent; it’s just that he’s a real confident fighter,” Matthews said. “He’s probably the most confident fighter in the UFC at the moment. He goes in there and he’s that confident. He’s not too confident that he’s cocky and leaves himself open; he’s just confident in the fact that he goes in there and doesn’t hesitate. He has confidence in his technique, so he goes out there and does what he trained for.
“He doesn’t hold back, he doesn’t wait for his opponent, he doesn’t start out slow, and because of that, his opponents play into his game a little bit. … He’s a long guy and has got long reach, long legs, and he always keeps people right on the edge of his range. If you can stay right out of his range and close in quickly then back out, I think that’d be the sort of style that would get past his standup.”
The 21-year-old may have less than half the time in the sport compared to his opponent, but he said that’s not a discouraging factor. Matthews said his has a firm understanding what his Case does poorly and how he could capitalize for the victory.
“I don’t think people try to wrestle with him enough,” Matthews said. “He’s a pretty good counter wrestler, and he might stuff a takedown or two then they sort of give up on that, and they’ll just get sort of picked apart by the standup. We’re just going to avoid his strengths and try to attack his weaknesses.”
For more on UFC Fight Night 85, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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