The Bulldozer is back up and running once again.
Canada’s Tanner Boser (17-6-1) returns to the octagon to take on the former PFL heavyweight champion in Brazil’s Philipe Lins (14-4) in heavyweight action Saturday night at UFC Vegas 4 in Las Vegas, NV.
Boser, 28, said he doesn’t see any glaring weaknesses in Lins’ game and doesn’t expect anything to come easy when the cage door closes.
“I know he’s a jiu-jitsu black belt, but he considers himself a striker. He likes to strike, he’s reasonably technical, and he’s reasonably powerful. He’s a well-rounded guy and he knows how to win,” said Boser in an interview with MMA Empire.
“He’s a fairly highly-touted newcomer to the UFC and I think, stylistically, it’s going to be an exciting fight and a good fight. I expect it’ll be very competitive, but I think I have a skill set that will beat him.”
After emerging victorious in his UFC debut against Daniel Spitz at UFC Boston, Boser dropped a unanimous decision in his second UFC appearance to fast-rising prospect Ciryl Gane at UFC Busan in December.
Boser said while he does feel he improved overall as a fighter from that loss, he said there wasn’t one specific area of his game that stood out that he learned from in that fight.
“You learn from every fight in some ways, but some ways you can’t even quantify it and put it into words. You just get back to the gym and you’re a little better and a little sharper,” said Boser.
“I can’t think of a single thing I knowingly, cognitively took from the Ciryl Gane loss. I just got outplayed. It was a good fight and Gane’s a really good fighter.”
Boser keeps same mindset with or without crowd
Both of Boser’s prior two UFC bouts took place under normal circumstances with sold out arenas, but Saturday’s contest is set to be in a near opposite scenario with no fans in attendance at the UFC Apex.
Boser said while he never pays much attention to the crowd to begin with, there are certain subtle and technical differences to be wary of when competing in what will be a quiet setting.
“I don’t think it will bother me; it doesn’t matter to me either way. I don’t let the pressure of big crowds or big events go to my head. Those aren’t things I care about; just like no crowd, I don’t care about that. Either way, I have a job to do, which is to try and beat the s**t out of whoever I’m fighting,” said Boser.
“But technically, there are things you have to consider; you can hear their corner and they can hear your corner. In between rounds, your corner is trying to talk quiet so the other corner can’t hear. The commentators are sometimes almost giving advice because they’re saying what a fighter should do differently. If you get kicked in the nuts, you can take all five minutes and there’s no one there booing you. It’s different, but I don’t think I’m going to mind it.”
So far in his UFC career, and MMA career in general, Boser has proven to be as durable as they come, going the distance in 13 of his 24 professional fights, including both UFC appearances.
And with the well-rounded games both he and Lins possess, Boser said he’s expecting a three-round, hard-fought affair come Saturday night.
“I think we’re both skilled and tough, and I don’t think either one of us is going to put the other away,” said Boser.
“I expect to be able to be dominant the entire time, so I’m going to predict myself winning by decision.”
Boser’s Shoutouts
“I’d like to thank Jeff Montemurro at Shaved Bears MMA, Keijiro Noda at Frank Lee’s Muay Thai, and my sponsors (Paul Peddle Services, Premier Built Garages, MealKraft). Follow Boser on social media: FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM
