Las Vegas, NV – UFC welterweight Andre Fialho has been away from the octagon for about six months, but he returns at UFC Vegas 73 on Saturday night against welterweight newcomer Joaquin Buckley.
“I think (it’s been) a good thing (the time away. I had a lot of things to work on. I’ve been relying on my boxing a lot. I needed a reset. I had a lot of things going on in my life too that I needed to get away from,” Fialho told reporters on Wednesday.
“I think it was good.”
The time away and working on certain parts of his game are what Fialho hopes will result in a win this Saturday night.
“I got overconfident and I thought my hands were enough, but as the level gets higher and people study me just expecting my hands it’s easier for them to defend. I guess I had some of those (newer) weapons already, but just been working on it more and more,” he said.
Fialho (16-6) takes on Buckley on Saturday night in what many see as a drag out brawl if the right mindsets are taken. Fialho isn’t in a hurry to get into a brawl with Buckley however.
“I think it’s a great fight. He’s very dangerous, very explosive, great athlete, but I think he’s not very smart. Doesn’t have a great (fight) IQ. I’ve been working on my patience a lot. I want to patient this fight and I want to use my IQ because I believe I’m a very smart fighter,” said Fialho.
“I haven’t been able to show it in the cage.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Andre Fialho above. He takes on Joaquin Buckley at UFC Vegas 73 on Saturday night.
