Francisco Prado knows the importance of a win at UFC 318.
The Argentinian faces a two-fight losing streak and 1-3 run in the promotion ahead of Saturday’s bout against Nikolay Veretennikov at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. A third consecutive defeat could mean the end of his UFC run, something Prado is trying to avoid at all cost.
“Of course I’ve thought about it,” Prado told Hablemos MMA in Spanish, reflecting on his career standing. “It is very important for me to get the result this weekend, and that’s why I worked so hard in this camp – which I will show. I feel great, well prepared, and the result is coming.”
Prado (12-3 MMA, 1-3 UFC) likes the matchup with Veretennikov (12-6 MMA, 0-2 UFC), who’s also a striker. The 23-year-old is not afraid to call his shot and said he expects a quick finish on fight night.
“This weekend, I’m going to give it my all,” Prado said. “I know that this guy is a striker, and we’ll see if he wants to come strike. I’m going after him, and I expect to knock him out in the first round.”
Prado fought the bulk of his career at 155 pounds. However, in his last fight against Jake Matthews, Prado moved up to welterweight. Prado doesn’t expect to drop anytime soon and believes welterweight will be his home despite starting his run at 170 pounds on a loss.
“Goodbye, 155,” Prado said. “I feel great at this weight class, and I think I’ll be staying here for a long time.
“The truth is that it’s way healthier for me. What affected me the most was in my health. Going down to 155 and having done that for a long time, I don’t know, I still have like 10 years of career left. I didn’t think that would be good for me, and that’s I switched. Here at American top Team there’s all kind of training partners, all kinds of sizes and styles, so I have no problem with that. I’ve been training with welterweights and what I like is that I don’t get injured as easily. My body is well-fed and strong, and I feel great.”
