Devin Clark has an interesting wrinkle before his fight at UFC 288 against Kennedy Nzechukwu.
Clark picked up an upset victory over Da Eun Jung in February and will now face Nzechukwu in an exciting light heavyweight fight. Clark is well aware of how dangerous Nzechukwu can be, but he thinks Fortis’ light heavyweight looks down on him.
“He’s one of those guys who can be really dangerous and be at the top of the class. Another tough guy, I really don’t get a lot of easy fights or guys on their way to starting competitors,” Clark said on BJPENN.com’s Just Scrap radio. “On paper, it probably looks like a good fight for him that he could win somehow, in reality, it’s a bad fight for him, especially because I just fought a tall guy. It’s the same mentality as the last fight, as long as I commit and have that courage to commit, it’s going to be a really good night, maybe an end, I really see an end against this guy.”
Although Clark is fighting Nzechukwu at UFC 288, he says this isn’t his real opponent come Saturday night. Instead, he says, his opponent is Nzechukwu’s head coach, Saif Saud.
Devin Clark battled with Ryan Spahn and Alonzo Minifield who were both coached by Saud and Clark and won 1-1 against them. Meaning, he views this as an opportunity to take on Saud and eventually fight his way to a rematch against Spann.
“It’s funny you say that, it’s my thing. Kennedy is just a pawn, and my real opponent is Coach Saif, that’s the real opponent. He thinks he knows me, and I think I know how to get around him,” Clark said. “It’s the third fight against him, so this is really against the coach. He’s the one who plans the game and he’s seen me on the cage team twice. It’s a good competition and he’s a good coach, but I think I have his number and scoreline and I’m preparing for him. They’ll have a chance to get it back because I’m going to rematch Ryan Spahn after yelling at Kennedy.”
Although Clark is the weak bet, he is confident he has all the tools to finish off Kennedy Nzechukwu. Although Nzechukwu is a tall light heavyweight, “Brown Bear” spent years training with Jon Jones so he would know how to handle the size.
“I’m not quite there yet in my imaginations, I’m not quite there yet, but I’ve already done it to set up an end whether it’s feet or ground and pound or things like that,” Clark said.
If Clark gets a stoppage win over Nzechukwu at UFC 288, he thinks he should enter the rankings on Tuesday. Then, once he entered the world rankings, he planned to start calling people and start climbing the ladder.
“That should put me in the top 15, and after I’m in top 15, I’ll start talking nonsense. I’m trying to skip the line. I’ve earned the right to call those 15 guys four or five. I fought those guys, they got me that night but those guys beat me years ago,” Clark concluded.
Do you think Devin Clark will finish off Kennedy Nzechukwu at UFC 288?