Des Moines — Heavyweight Thomas Petersen (10-3) learned his lesson from Shamil Gaziev, who he threw caution to the wind against in his last fight, and came into UFC Des Moines on Saturday with a more sensible game plan.
“That was a hard lesson I had to learn, and I never want to do that again,” Petersen admitted, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press following the bout. “I’m certainly not afraid to fight, and I’ll fight anybody anywhere, but if we’re doing it organized and the other guy’s world class, and he’s doing his best game plan, I’m going to do my best game plan.”
Despite having to stick to a game plan, Petersen was still extremely upbeat following the fight — though perhaps not as elated as he would have been had he gone out and got in a brawl with Don’Tale Mayes. Instead, Petersen took the towering Mayes the distance in a patient, measured fight.
“I’ll tell you what man, there’s nothing better than just going out there and letting them fly, and enjoying it. Because this sport is a high, man,” exclaimed Petersen. “If you haven’t done it, you should do it once, because there’s no higher feeling than you’ll feel winning in this sport. It’s like gambling, when you roll the dice, it’s the same high.”
Of course, that gamble becomes a little more difficult when Petersen considers just what is on the line, which includes his family. “I’ve got three kids. I’ve got a beautiful wife, I’ve got beautiful kids, I’ve got to be responsible. If they keep letting me fight here, I’ve got to win, I’ve got to be exciting, I’ve got to perform at my best. Because I’ve got kids to take care of. It was just me, I’d go out there and throw a spinning cartwheel kick just to try it. But this sport, you need to be disciplined. The more disciplined guy usually wins.”
Moving forward, Petersen wants to find himself ranked in the UFC heavyweight division, and he had some names to call out back stage at the Wells Fargo Arena. “I want to fight that black spider, that Brazilian spider in Brazil, or Mick Parkin in London.”
The black spider in question would be Tallison Teixeira, a six foot seven specimen with a spider tattooed on his chest. Teixeira has just a single fight in the UFC, but is undefeated, and one of the brighter prospects in the weight class. England’s Parkin just had his own unbeaten record tarnished, suffering a loss to Marcin Tybura, but he had been on a four-fight win streak prior to that.
“I want to get in the rankings, I belong there, I want to work my way up,” stated Petersen, who is willing to engage Parkin in hostile territory in Britain. “The USA whupped their ass back in the day here, I figure we can do it there.”
Watch Thomas Petersen’s full UFC Des Moines media day appearance above.
