It’s a battle of fellow entertaining strikers in UFC Wichita’s co-main event. But, welterweight Elizeu Zaleski feels he has a good strategy coming into his fight against Curtis Millender for Saturday night.
In an interview with Bloody Elbow, Zaleski admitted to sharing some stylistic similarities with his next opponent. However, the Brazilian also pointed out that there are always ways to exploit an athlete’s flaws — even when they have a resemblance to your own way of fighting.
“I do, for sure (think myself and Curtis have similar styles),” Zaleski explained. “I think it’s a style that sells well and I do enjoy a striking match and so does he. So both of us have gaps in our games, but I trained for that. I trained to be in my best shape ever and exploit his flaws. So there will always be something we can take advantage of.”
Currently on a six-fight winning streak – while Millender will look for his fourth straight victory – Zaleski also shares another resemblance with the welterweight from Anaheim, CA: both men are currently trying to climb their division’s rankings. However, ‘Capoeira’ feels that his tenure with the UFC makes him more deserving of a step up in competition should he win this fight.
“It’s a high level fight, anything can happen. It can be fight of the night or one of the best ones. It’s going to be a great fight. We are going through similar moments in our careers, but I’ve been in the UFC for a longer time. I don’t know if the winner will be a potential title challenger in the future, but surely he will have a step up in competition for his next bout and perhaps be in the title mix after two more fights.”
Elizeu Zaleski is expected to take on Curtis Millender at UFC Fight Night 146, in Wichita, Kansas, on March 9. The card will be headlined by a heavyweight bout between former champion Junior dos Santos and contender Derrick Lewis.
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