“If I want to solidify my status as the number one contender, I have to finish this guy off,” the Brazilian told Submission Radio. “It doesn’t matter how many rounds I need, I’ll take it down. There’s no way he can last 25 minutes against me. This is the main point of the fact that the fight is designed for five rounds – I need to finish it.
“I asked for five rounds with Chimaev, I asked for five rounds with Masvidal, and I asked for five rounds with Neil Magny, but they didn’t give me that. This time, Belal himself asked for five rounds. When he did, I immediately agreed.”
Recall that the Brazilian-American confrontation will be the second most important event of the UFC 288 tournament, which will be held May 6 in Newark.