LAS VEGAS – Diego Ferreira is looking to show a different side of his game Saturday.
Ferreira will enter the biggest fight of his career when he takes on former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis at UFC 246.
Ferreira is currently riding a five-fight winning streak as he’s used his pressure and striking to stifle his opponents, most recently putting a halt to Mairbek Taisumov’s impressive six-fight unbeaten run.
But speaking to MMA Junkie at Thursday’s media day, the third-degree jiu-jitsu blackbelt Ferriera (16-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) said he plans on displaying his ground skills against Pettis.
“That’s what I do the most. I’m a fighter that puts a lot of pressure, moving forward, don’t care like how to get hit, just moving forward, but I still have jiu-jitsu, and I really want to work my jiu-jitsu a little bit too and get some submissions,” Ferreira said. “Because from the past few fights, I’ve just been looking to prove a little bit my strikes, and I already did it. Now it’s time to go out there and try to use my jiu-jitsu and get him in a good submission.”
Pettis has won some of his biggest fights by way of submission and possesses a very dangerous bottom game. He captured the UFC 155-pound title with a first-round armbar and notched his first title defense with a guillotine, showing his versatility on the ground.
While Ferreira is well aware that he has to be cautious, he is confident in his abilities, too.
“You have to be careful the whole time,” Ferreira said. “You cannot slip, especially on a position like the way he does, triangles and armbars, but I like all type of submissions. I’ve been working at everything. I do a lot of jiu-jitsu competitions, too. I’ve been working on a lot of good techniques, and I can’t wait to show my fans and my friends what I can do on the ground, too.”
UFC 246 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
