Las Vegas, NV – After losing out on a fight at UFC Perth lightweight Jalin Turner has landed on UFC 285 against Mateusz Gamrot on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
“It definitely feels a lot bigger to me (than the Dan Hooker fight). He’s ranked above me so inevitably it’s more important,” Turner told reporters including Cageside Press on Wednesday.
The fight on the main card of a big PPV with two title fights on it is a big platform for Turner.
“The plan is just get this one over with first, get that hand raised, get that sixth consecutive finish, and we’ll see what the company wants me to do after that,” he said.
Gamrot presents a lot of different challenged for Turner including the grappling aspect of the game. Turner is happy for the opportunity to answer the doubters.
“The last question that people want me to answer is how’s Jalin’s grappling? How’s this, how’s that, so a victory over Mateusz would definitely solidify a lot of those doubts in people’s minds about my grappling accolades and my take down defense,” said Turner.
“I’m ready for the challenge.”
Turner comes into UFC 285 looking to add to his five-fight win streak. After a couple road bumps earlier in his UFC stint he has clearly changed something in his training or mindset that has resulted in a lot of success.
“A lot has clicked in the octagon and outside of the octagon. I got with my coach Ozzy (Dugulubgov) he helped my grappling a lot. Me and Anthony we’ve been undefeated having him in my corner. I just got better versed in the coaching aspect. I’ve got better coaches around me, and my mindset just changed,” Turner told Cageside Press.
“Look at it as like the clock’s ticking so I take everything importantly and I take everything into accountability and I’m just loving all my training. I’ve always been kind of a talented guy so I kind of rely on my talent. Now I just started to work a little bit harder so it’s paying off.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Jalin Turner above. Turner takes on Mateusz Gamrot on the main card of UFC 285 on Saturday night.
