There’s no shortage of confidence in Arjan Bhullar and Juan Adams.
Bhullar (8-1) will take on Adams (5-0) in an intriguing heavyweight matchup, which goes down at UFC Ottawa on Saturday night.
Holding a slight experience edge over Adams, Bhullar, 32, said he doesn’t believe Adams has faced anyone of his level.
“He hasn’t fought with someone of my calibre or wrestled with someone of my calibre,” said Bhullar.
“I see my movement, my agility, my stamina, and my speed being a major factor. When he’s pushed, he will break.”
One of Bhullar’s colossal strengths on his resume is his wrestling. His list of wrestling accolades includes multiple provincial and nationals titles, the gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and a spot on Canada’s Olympic team roster for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
And while his wrestling alone is a major edge, Bhullar said how he got to the level he’s at is a major advantage as well.
“What I’ve had to go through in terms of training, competition, and years of work, to get that wrestling pedigree is equally important,” said Bhullar.
“He has neither the wrestling pedigree nor those years of deep, deep work that I have, and I think both are going to be an issue.”
Standing at exactly six feet tall and typically weighing in around the 240-pound mark, Bhullar will be up against a much bigger man in Adams, who stands at six-foot-five and cuts nearly 30 pounds to reach the 265-pound heavyweight limit.
Bhullar has been preparing for this, however, since Adams was confirmed as his opponent, bringing in training partners that resemble Adams’ size.
“I’ve got great sparring partners I’ve been able to work with that are in the six-foot-four to six-foot-six range to emulate him,” said Bhullar.
“They’re better strikers than him and better wrestlers than him. When you get up to that size and weight, you’ll have some power, but I’ve never been overpowered. He’ll be slow, he’ll fatigue, and it’ll work against him.”
No More Octagon Jitters for Adams
Adams, 27, enters this contest fresh off an impressive win in his UFC debut over Chris De La Rocha at UFC on Fox 31.
Having now got his debut out of the way, Adams said his confidence is higher than it’s ever been heading into Saturday night.
“I’m feeling a lot better going into my second fight with the debut out of the way because I did have a little bit of octagon jitters, with it being my first time on a stage that big against arguably the toughest opponent I’ve ever faced,” said Adams.
“It was new for me; I was a little nervous, but it’s good to have all that out of the way.”
So far in his young career, Adams has finished all of his fights via knockout or TKO, with four of those five wins coming in the first round.
With the confidence he has in his striking and power, Adams said he expects his finish streak to continue.
“I’m going to knock him out for sure,” said Adams.
“It’s not going the full 15 minutes. I think it’s going to end the same as all my other ones, with the ref pulling me off of him.”
If you follow Adams on social media, you’ve probably seen a lot of recent posts regarding Greg Hardy.
While Hardy was someone he initially had no focus on, Adams said he’s recently developed a strong dislike for Hardy, but said it’s a fight that likely won’t happen.
“The fact that he’s in the UFC pisses me off, and I genuinely do dislike him because he tries to act like he’s this big, bad, unstoppable force,” said Adams.
“We’ve offered to fight him in LFA, Contender Series, and the UFC, but his management is seeking guys out they think he can beat. I don’t care if they ever let me fight him, and I don’t think they will. But as far as I’m concerned, three or four fights in it’ll be clear that I’m better.”
Bhullar’s Shoutouts
“I want to thank the AKA family, Javier Mendez, Bob Cook, and all the fighters and coaches there. Locally, Adam Ryan, Jay Jauncey, and my crew at Checkmat Vancouver. Also a big shoutout to all my fans.” Follow Bhullar on social media: FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM
Adams’ Shoutouts
“I’d like to thank all my coaches, my teammates, the fans, my strength and conditioning coach, athletics coach, and Ryan Kasey Baker.” Follow Adams on social media: FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM
