Felipe Arantes looking for big first-round knockout over Erik Perez at UFC Fight Night 98

Felipe Arantes will be fighting a few unfavorable factors when he takes on Mexico’s own Erik Perez in Mexico City this Saturday.

However, neither Perez (16-6 MMA, 6-2 UFC) nor the city’s high altitude – which has apparently given it a pretty curious backstage record – seem to particularly faze Arantes (18-7-1 MMA, 5-3-1 UFC), who opted out of acclimating to its unique’s set of conditions ahead of his UFC Fight Night 98 bantamweight showdown.

“Erik Perez is a very versatile guy,” Arantes told MMAjunkie. “He knows jiu-jitsu, he knows muay Thai, he’s very aggressive. So I think it will be a very interesting fight. I also know jiu-jitsu and muay Thai, and the winner will be the one who makes the least mistakes.

“As for the altitude, we’re training for that. I’m not too worried, I think when the door closes, the heart beats stronger than any altitude, so may the best man win.

“Each place has a different climate – Las Vegas for instance has a very dry one. I think five days is enough to adapt. Either you get there on the very last minute so the body doesn’t feel it, or you go in there one month earlier to adapt 100 percent. So we opted to get there five days before, to not give my body enough time to get re-accustomed. I don’t think it’ll make a difference.”

The bantamweight scrap will close out UFC Fight Night 98’s FS1-televised preliminary portion, following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass. The event takes place at Mexico City Arena.

For the first time since joining the UFC in 2011, Arantes will go into a fight riding back-to-back wins. In fact, since moving down from the 145-pound division, the Brazilian striker has not only beat, but submitted both Yves Jabouin and Jerrod Sanders with armbars.

And, after getting a taste for finishes, he hopes to be able to come out with yet another one on Saturday – this time, on his preferred area of expertise.

“I intend to get a big knockout in the first round,” Arantes said. “I’m sure he’ll want to strike, and I’ve been training my hand, my kicks, so I believe that if he falls into my game I will knock him out in the first round.”

As for the changes that allowed him to finally get some octagon momentum on his side, Arantes believes that they were less about the training process, and more about his own focus.

“I didn’t change too much, I just switched divisions,” Arantes said. “I always trained what I trained, and just started taking it more seriously. I’ve always liked to fight, but I was a bit lazy when it came to training, something of that sort.

“And there were a few fights in which I was having personal problems – all fighters go through personal problems, I’m no different than anyone, I can’t place the blame on that, but I know how much it hurt my evolution in the 145-pound division. I also learned to leave these personal things aside, when I’m on the mat I have to forget them a little and do my job.”

Say his job is successfully performed and Arantes comes out victorious? Well, don’t expect him to use waste mic time on callouts.

“I don’t think about (asking for ranked fighters), especially because I don’t really agree with the rankings,” Arantes said. “There are fighters there who don’t deserve it and fighters who deserve it and aren’t. So, as far as rankings go, I’m not worried. Of course the bigger the name, the bigger the fight’s visibility, and obviously that’s better for me.

“But I’ll fight anyone, I’ve never been scared to fight anyone. If I could, I’d fight at 135, 145. Whomever the UFC determines, it’s determined. Whomever they tell me to fight, I’ll fight.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 98, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.