Juan Archuleta plans on breaking Kim Soo Chul.
Archuleta (26-4) takes on Chul (18-6-1) on Saturday’s Rizin 40 event at Saitama Super Arena just outside Tokyo. The main card will air in the U.S. on Showtime via tape-delay and the fights will take place in Rizin’s ring under the promotion’s ruleset.
Having gone 25 minutes on six different occasions, Archuleta is confident that he’ll have both experience and endurance on his side.
“I hope he’s fast enough to keep up with me,” Archuleta said during the Rizin 40 pre-fight press conference. “I hope he has the endurance to keep up with me because it’s gonna be a long f*cking 15 minutes for him.”
He continued, “I know where my conditioning is, I know how hard I can push my body, I know where I could take myself mentally, physically and spiritually to get a victory. I don’t think he does. I don’t think he understands why I train so hard, why I wake up day in and day out to be so diligent in my work that it shows in my performances. I’m gonna drag him with me and I’m gonna pull him down as much as I can all the way down to hell and if I have to go with him to get this victory, I will.”
Archuleta vows to put on a memorable battle against the former Road FC and ONE Championship bantamweight title holder in front of the Japanese fans who have experienced plenty of historic wars.
“I’m very excited because we have similar styles,” Archuleta said. “We’re gonna both come to the center of the ring and we’re gonna give the audience a very exciting performance. We’re both offensive, we’re both gonna look for the kill, and we’re gonna see who’s soul breaks first.”
He continued, “The image I have for the match that I’ve painted over and over in my head is a war. A literal war. This guy comes forward, he has a very aggressive offense and so do I, and that makes a very entertaining fight because we have two fighters, two warriors that want to come and do battle on a battlefield that’s known to have great battles. You’re in for an exciting treat. We’re gonna come and continue to press forward, continue to push offense until one man’s will breaks the other.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Rizin FF 40: Rizin vs. Bellator.
