Video: UFC 163's Anthony Perosh has another finish, not retirement, on his mind

At this point in his career, Anthony Perosh is a man who seems to know pretty much what he wants.

That includes who and where he’d like to fight – and that he’ll hang up his gloves when he’s good and ready, and that time sure isn’t coming soon.

Perosh (13-7 MMA, 3-4 UFC) on Saturday meets Vinny Magalhaes (10-6 MMA, 1-3 UFC) on the main card of UFC 163, which takes place at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro in Magalhaes’ home country of Brazil. They’ll fight prior to the pay-per-view portion of the show after on FX.

Although non-Brazilian UFC fighters have what amounts to a horrible record when fighting Brazilians in Brazil, it was Perosh who wanted to sign on the dotted line to go into enemy territory.

“I’ve been to Brazil many times to compete in (Brazilian jiu-jitsu), but never in MMA,” Perosh told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). “I asked for this fight in Brazil, so I’m really excited to be fighting there.”

One might assume that the Australian “Hippo” might not have everything working right upstairs to want to go into Brazil, where he’ll get the short end of the stick when it comes to fan support.

And after a nasty toe injury late last year took him out of a fight against Joey Beltran, Perosh will be returning after more than 18 months on the sidelines – also no easy feat.

But he said he adapted quickly in South America and has a finish of Magalhaes on his mind, especially since that’s how all of his 13 wins have gone down.

“It’s always easier to adapt when you go somewhere and you have a goal,” he said. “It only takes one night, so I woke (Wednesday) morning refreshed, had a good workout and I’m ready to go. I’m going to look at whatever comes first. It could be a standup knockout, it could be in the clinch against the cage, it could be on the ground. I’ll take whatever comes first.”

Considering Perosh turned 41 earlier this year, the topic of him potentially stepping away from MMA – he’s the second oldest fighter on the UFC roster after Dan Henderson – the topic of retirement seems to work its way into conversations with him.

A convincing win over Magalhaes might help people to knock that off.

“When people ask me that, I tell them it’s when one of three things happen,” Perosh said. “Obviously, when you lose more matches than you win, it’s time to give it away. Secondly, if your body can’t keep up with the training, it’s time to give it away. Or finally, if you mentally don’t want it anymore – there are fighters out there 10 years younger who look like they don’t want to be there.

“But at the moment, I want to be there, I’m physically fit, I’m winning more than I’m losing – so I’m not going anywhere yet.”

And he intends to prove that point to Magalhaes and the Brazilian fans.

For more on UFC 163, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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