Unbeaten and looking to continue his rise up the ranks Rafael Estevam steps into the Octagon this Saturday night at UFC Vegas 115, where he meets Ethyn Ewing inside the UFC Apex.
Estevam (14-0) showed nothing but respect for his opponent. At the same time he did not shy away from stating how he feels.
“Really good guy, strong, athletic. I’m me. I put a lot of work into this,” Estevam told reporters through a translator on Wednesday.
“Feel like I’m strong and tough as well. You know what I do.”
Most fighters insist that betting odds don’t affect them, regardless of the numbers. Estevam, however, didn’t shy away from admitting that being labeled the underdog against Ewing caught his attention. The undefeated bantamweight now aims to prove those odds wrong.
“I’m aware. That stuff gets to me. The information comes to my attention. I think it’s a number and these numbers are meant to be dissected and broken (down),” he said.
“Believe me, we’re going to put on a performance to get that done.”
It’s hard to make a quick rise in a stacked bantamweight division, and Estevam isn’t delusional enough to believe he’ll get a title shot soon. As a matter of fact he’s not in a rush whatsover.”
“I understand I just came up, right? I can see myself (come up) very slowly. Not rushing into anything,” he said.
“But I can see myself like two, four, six fights and I’m going and climbing up the rankings. I understand my place and I know that I’ll have to put in some work to do it.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Rafael Estevam above. He faces Ethyn Ewing at UFC Vegas 115 on Saturday night.
