UFC on Versus - Sakara says Irvin may struggle at middleweight at first

Italian UFC middleweight, Alessio Sakara has given his thoughts ahead of his UFC on Versus showdown with James Irvin on March 21st in Broomfield, Colorado, saying he will hold the advantage on the night having fought at 185 pounds for some time now.

Speaking via UFC.com, Sakara said:

“Being an ATT member, I feel I'm much more of an MMA fighter than just a skilled boxer inside the Octagon. I train to be the most competitive fighter possible and it produced results as people watched my high kicks' effects. I have all types of great coaches to explore the potential that before was asleep. The strength I had as a 205 pounder is what I search for as a middleweight. I have to hit harder in my new category and I'm working on it. But now I also try to fight with intelligence, strategy and a game plan, not like a crazy slugger.”

Sakara also spoke about his last fight inside the octagon, a drab three round decision against former number one contender, Thales Leites.

“Leites was the only man that stayed inside the Octagon with Anderson Silva for 25 minutes. And that was also the most difficult stage of my UFC career, since my son was born in July in Italy. I was very happy, but imagine that you’re in another country (when your son is born), as I was in the USA. My head wasn't 100% in the fight. But I fought a strategic fight, and this is part of having a plan and fighting with intelligence.”

On his upcoming fight with former light heavyweight, James Irvin, “Legionarius” said:

“I trained very hard for this fight (against Irvin), and the knock out is always a question of doing certain things correctly. I don't want to be considered a boring fighter; I train to put on great matches and all that is going to happen naturally. I'm 3-1 since I joined ATT. The problem before was that I didn’t have them behind me, but now I'm very relaxed. I have an academy in Rome and I started working on Italian TV doing shows about MMA, as the sport is doing great, so you can imagine how busy I am. But once I had ATT to lead me, I knew how to make time for everything and I feel it makes the difference.”

“I know that cutting weight for the first time in a new division is tough, but each fighter reacts different - he can either suffer or not. But I'm going to be ready for everything. I'm here to show a magnificent trio in one fighter, an experienced Sakara who has KO power, aggressiveness, and technique, all at the same time. I’ve tried to do that since my beginning in the UFC, but in my defeats I learned where I had to improve. Now with a great squad it's easier, and even in my victories I had the same will to add the things that would help me become a better fighter. Irvin will be a test of all of this.”

Sakara has been on his best run yet inside the octagon since dropping to the middleweight division back in 2008. Can this talented boxer put it all together one more time and defeat Irvin, a fighter who has been sidelined for almost two years with injury.

By Michael Pepper. (Follow me on Twitter)