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Monday, Nov 04, 2013

UFN 31: Edwards Not Counting on Experience, But Believes Medeiros Will Have a Hard Time Blindsiding Him

Yves Edwards kicking Tony Ferguson (photo via UFC.com/ ZUFFA)

By Kelsey Mowatt

When Yves Edwards steps into the Octagon Wednesday at “Fight for the Troops III”, he’ll face a man in Yancy Medeiros who has competed in just ten pro MMA bouts to his 63. Depending on how much stock you put into experience, one might be tempted to conclude that Edwards should be a heavy favourite heading in as a result. On the other hand, if you share the opinion of Seth Baczynski, experience only goes so far in today’s MMA.

Recently, Baczynski relayed to Full Contact Fighter that although he’s fought in nearly 30 bouts, and has been fighting professionally since 2005, you have to take every opponent “very seriously”. No matter how many fights they’ve had or whether they’ve fought extensively on the big stage. When the “Thugjitsu Master” was asked recently on Full Contact Fighter Radio how much experience factors into fighting, Edwards relayed:

“I don’t know how much it factors into MMA, for me it doesn’t factor in at all,” said the 37 year-old Edwards (42-20-1), who took his first pro bout way back in 1997. “It really doesn’t matter you know? When you have two guys sign a contract and say ‘yeah, we’ll go out there and punch each other in the face’, at that point, all that stuff goes out the window.”

“When you get in there and a guy’s been competing, the guy’s wrestled in high school, he’s been competing for a while, he’s probably done jiu-jitsu tournaments, you know competition’s competition,” Edwards noted about Medeiros (9-1). “When you know how to compete, and persevere through the tough times in any kind of competition, it translates. Especially for guys that make it to the level of the UFC.”

Edwards (photo via UFC.com)

So, in other words, although Medeiros didn’t make his pro MMA debut until 10 years after Edwards did, the latter is expecting a tough test Wednesday night.

“I’m expecting this guy to know how to fight and how to compete,” Edwards furthered. “When he gets into trouble, know how to protect himself and work to get out of it, and then look to make his big splash. So I’m not looking at the amount of fights that I have as an advantage over him.”

While Edwards isn’t banking on his vast experience to be a deciding factor in the bout, the American Top Team fighter concedes it does count for something.

“Yeah, I think at some point it does play a small part,” said Edwards, who is coming off split decision losses to Isaac Vallie-Flagg and Daron Cruickshank, after knocking out Jeremy Stephens last December. “For one thing…it’s going to be very hard for him to put something in front of me that I’ve never seen before. You know, between all the fights, and all the rounds in the gym and all the years, it’s going to be hard for him to bring something to the table that I haven’t seen.”

“But at the same time, if he can bring something to the table that’s still confusing, it doesn’t matter how many times you’ve seen it, it would be good for him,” Edwards noted. “But, as far as experience goes, that’s the only factor that matters. It’s just that I’m not going to be blindsided by something I haven’t seen.”

“Fight for the Troops III” will be hosted by Kentucky’s Fort Campbell and will be broadcast in the U.S. on FOX Sports 1.

Stay tuned to FCF for more with Edwards, where he discusses his recent losses and what he expects from Medeiros.

posted by FCF Staff @ 8:00 am
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