Chase Hooper förväntar sig tuff kamp mot Jim Miller

cUFC-lättviktaren Chase Hooper kommer möta veteranen Jim Miller under UFC 314. Hooper hoppas kunna använda sin grappling i kampen och tror det blir en jämn och hård kamp de två emellan.

Chase Hooper litar på sin grappling

Ett sant ”gammal mot ung”-möte kommer ske i oktogonen under UFC 314 till helgen. Veteranen och rekordhållaren Jim ”A-10” Miller (38-18, 1 NC) kommer ta sig an den 25-årige Chase ”The Dream” Hooper (15-3-1). Inför den stundande kampen har Hooper gjort upp planer på hur han ska besegra sin rutinerade motståndare. ”The Dream” kommer förlita sig på sin grappling, säger han.

En tuff matchningchase hooper

I en intervju nyligen beskriver Chase Hooper hur han kommer ta sig an Jim Miller. Han beskriver hur han vill undvika att ha en kickboxningsmatch med 41-åringen. I stället kommer Hooper förlita sig på sina färdigheter i brottning och grappling, berättar han.

I really try not to think about specifics of the fight. I don’t picture that I will get him out in this round. If I’m able to run through him quicker than expected, that’s fine. But, I’m preparing to keep a high pace for 15 minutes. Even if I was expecting an easy fight, which I’m not, I still prepare for a hard 15 minutes.

There are a couple of lightweights that I have been keeping my eye on. It puts me right outside the top 15, top 20, top 25. I think if I win this fight and one more, we are definitely fighting for a number. I’m not in too much of a rush, but the issue is, if you keep winning, you climb the ladder.

Hopper fortsätter med att berätta hur han kom att matchas med Miller. Enligt honom var den en person inom kampsportsmedia som föreslog kampen. Hopper ska dock inte ha haft något emot att ställa sig i oktogonen mitt emot ”A-10”, bilket även UFC tycks ha sett som en bra idé, säger han.

It wasn’t even me. One of the media guys was like, what about Jim Miller? I was like, why not? I guess the UFC liked the matchup. It’s one of those things that it is cool to fight someone with that much experience and someone I watched growing up.

Jim is the right step-up from the Clay fight, left-handed, which is going to be fun, been in there with everybody and a good litmus test. It’s a good test to see how high-level my jiu-jitsu is in MMA and see what the striking looks like. I’m not expecting to strike for 15 minutes.

I’m not going in there to outkickbox Jim Miller; that isn’t what I see for the fight. I think he may want to strike more than I do. But it’s another guy that is comfortable grappling, top or bottom, and will attack for subs. I prefer an opponent that tries for the finish, which Jim does.