Chris Wade isn’t about to spoil whether he’ll try to capture lightning in a bottle twice at PFL 9, after shocking the world last time out with an early flying knee.
Long Beach, CA — Chris Wade made a big splash at PFL 5 when he stormed across the cage to deliver a flying knee to opponent Yuki Kawana. Shortly thereafter, Wade had a submission finish of Kawana, and a berth in the PFL playoffs. Which brings us to PFL 9 on Saturday night in Long Beach, where Wade will face Robert Watley in quaterfinal action. The semifinals will come later that same night.
Speaking to Cageside Press on Thursday, Wade was clear about how he was looking at this leg of the tournament. “From a wrestling perspective,” he answered when asked how he’d tackle two fights in one night. “In wrestling, every meaningful tournament, the way you’re going to accomplish something is through a tournament style like this. And every time you advance a round, your opponent gets tougher. And you only get like an hour break, an hour and a half break. Then you’ve got to get back out on the mat, and you’ve gotta go against somebody that’s tougher than your last opponent.”
“So I’m going to draw from all that experience I have in tournaments, and I think I’ll have the edge here.”
While that experience may given him the edge in the one-night tournament (the finals, mind you, take place in New York City in December), there’s also his experience of getting an early start. He knows that’s important in a two-round fight. Wade was coy, however, when asked if he’d try something as drastic this time out.
“I’m sure Robert [Watley] watched the last tape, and it’s in the back of his head. But he’s not going to know whether I’m going to do that, or I’m not going to do that. The only person who knows that is me.”
“They already saw my fastball, so it’s time for a curveball now,” Wade added. “He doesn’t know what’s coming, and we’ll keep it that way.”
Catch our full interview with Chris Wade ahead of PFL 9 above! The card airs live on NBC SN on Saturday, October 13 following prelims on Facebook Watch!
