Alex Nicholson going full 'Spartan' at LFA 32: 'I'm going to kick him right into the well'

Alex Nicholson plans to embrace his “Spartan” nickname in tonight’s LFA 32 co-headliner and title fight.

“I’m going to kick him right into the well and take the belt home,” Nicholson told AXS TV Fights reporter Phoenix Carnevale. “He’s going down.”

Nicholson (10-4), a former UFC fighter who looks for his fourth straight knockout win since September, meets Ryan Spann (12-5) in the AXS TV-televised co-main event at Golden Nugget Lake Charles in Lake Charles, La.

With the inaugural LFA light-heavyweight title on the line, Nicholson sees it as his fight to win, especially since the 27-year-old thinks he can avoid Spann’s ground game.

“I don’t think he’s strong enough to get me down, and I don’t think he’s going to be able to deal with the pressure and the onslaught of the brawl that I bring,” said Nicholson, who hopes to parlay an LFA belt into another UFC shot. “You don’t have a choice when I’m coming forward to throw back or to try something, and I just don’t think he’s at the level to deal with someone like me.”

Spann, a 26-year-old veteran Legacy FC/LFA fighter who also appeared at a recent Dana White’s Contender Series event, is coming off a big first-round knockout win over Myron Dennis at LFA 27.

However, Spann said he doesn’t dwell on game-planning and embraces Bruce Le’s “Be Water” philosophy.

“I go in there not expecting anything and make myself better in camp and training,” he said. ” … I don’t watch him. Don’t know. Don’t really care. I train with the best guys in the world, and he’s not on those mats every day, so I’m not worried.”

Check out the full interviews above.

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LFA 32 is live on AXS TV tonight at 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. PT). Make sure to tweet along using #LFA32. AXS TV airs new, live fights almost every Friday night in 2018. Find AXS TV on your TV right here: www.axs.tv/fights.