UFN 20: Evan Dunham Confident in Ability to Defeat TUF 8 Winner Efrain Escudero

After two impressive UFC victories over Per Eklund and Marcus Aurelio, unbeaten lightweight prospect Evan Dunham will have the opportunity to showcase his dynamic skill-set to a larger audience as he squares off with Ultimate Fighter winner Efrain Escudero at UFC Fight Night 20.

The fight will serve as the co-main event and will air live on Spike TV, January 11th from Fairfax, Virginia.

Both Dunham and Escudero boast undefeated records with two UFC wins on their resume so far. Dunham realizes he has a very difficult task ahead of himself but believes he will be the better all-around fighter come Fight Night, and predicts a very explosive battle that could produce more fireworks than the Fourth of July.

“His overall game is very tough with an emphasis on wrestling but I feel my overall game is a little bit better,” Dunham said. “I think it’s going to be a very exciting match, both of us have good cardio and we like to go at it so I think it’s going to be a very explosive fight.”

Despite an imposing display on TUF and a remarkable finish over Cole Miller in his last bout, Escudero still has a lot to prove, according to Dunham. The 28-year-old native of Eugene, Oregon considers himself and his opponent to be in a similar position as far as their MMA careers are concerned.

“Efrain’s a tough guy, he has a lot of notoriety from winning the show but I also think he’s in a position where he needs to prove himself as well” Dunham said.

“He beat some good guys on the show, but the top tier of the UFC’s 155-pound division are very established-quality guys. I think both of us need to step it up in order to get to that position and with this fight I plan on putting the hurt on him and getting that ‘W’. Then I’ll just take whatever fight comes next and keep moving up in the ranks.”

They are both hungry, young lions that still have a ways to go before branching out into the upper echelon of their division. With the potential displayed from both athletes in their recent performances, this bout could be dubbed as a battle between the future of the sport.

UFC Lightweight champion, B.J Penn is currently slashing through the competition at 155-pounds, but five or 10 years from now it could be the likes of Dunham and Escudero who are dominating the weight class.

It’s always interesting when two unbeaten competitors clash inside the Octagon because when everything is all said and done, one fighter’s winning streak will come to a abrupt halt.

To some fighters the constant worry about maintaining a perfect record can be quite stressful. Dunham, however, is not letting his record get into his head. His main focus is just to win, and it’s that type of mind-set that has aided him to victory in nine professional bouts.

“I’ve fought before as an amateur and I’ve taken my losses and I know what it feels like to lose and I don’t like that feeling, at all,” Dunham said. “I know what it’s like to lose, I don’t like losing and I’ll do everything in my power to prevent that feeling again. The fact that it says I’m undefeated as a professional is great, I’ll take it, but that’s not my main motivation. My main motivation is just to win.”

To prepare for his clash with Escudero, Dunham has been training at the elite facility, Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, Nevada. Sparring with world class athletes such as Tyson Griffin, Gray Maynard, and Martin Kampmann has benefited Dunham tremendously in his last few fights. Dunham was born and raised in Eugene, Oregon but is ready to shake things up and move out to Vegas, full time.

“I’m just trying to grow as an individual all together, you know what I mean? Just trying to get out of my small town and get somewhere where I can grow more,” Dunham said.

“The training down here [in Vegas], is far better so I find myself being down here all the time, before every fight. Even in between fights I’ll come down here, just to sharpen up. My girlfriend’s got family down here so we’ve decided that the stars are in line and this is the place where we need to be.”

When analyzing this fight on paper, most would likely assume that Escuero will look to take the fight to the ground. An All-American wrestler out of Pima Community College, Escudero would certainly seem to be the more accomplished takedown artist. However, Dunham believes that Escudero will have a different approach early on in the fight.

“I honestly think he’s going to come out and test his hands. I think he has a little bit of confidence after that knockout over [Cole] Miller,” Dunham said. “As soon as I catch him with a good hard one, I think he’s going to be coming in hot with those takedowns. It’s just going to be a matter of putting it on him and convincing him, ‘yeah you should probably take this somewhere else’.”

Regardless of his opponent’s wrestling credentials, Dunham isn’t worried about being out-grappled. Plus training with high level wrestlers such as Maynard, Griffin, and Jay Hieron has done wonders for Dunham’s confidence heading into this fight.

“I’m very confident in my ability to stop him from getting me to the ground,” Dunham said. “If he gets me down there, I’m not really going to worry about it because I know my ground game is better than his and plus, I’d really like to see him try to keep me down. I don’t think he can. He might be able to take me down for a second but what good is getting someone down for 10 seconds if they’re right back up in your face, you know?”

Dunham is looking to make a huge statement in this fight and finish The Ultimate Fighter winner convincingly. Nevertheless, he isn’t expecting a quick finish and is prepared for a hard-fought collision.

“Everyone would be lying to you if they said that they like to go the distance in a war. I think everybody is looking to go out there and smash a guy in the first round," Dunham said.

“I would like to go out and smash [Escudero] in the first round but do I think it’s going to happen? Probably not, I think there is a great chance of me finishing him but I’m going to have to go in there and I’m going to have to figure him out and I’ll have to make the adjustments to do it and that’s what I find appealing [about this sport].”

Ever since a young age, Dunham has always been fond of contact sports. He never had a passion for baseball or basketball but always enjoyed roughing people up and getting roughed up in the process.

“I was never really good at basketball or any of that stuff but I was always good at hitting people,” Dunham said. “I think the most fun I’ve ever had were during great sparring sessions and great fights, like my last fight with Aurelio was a war and I had a great time, it was lot of fun.”

The young lightweight describes MMA and combat sports in general, as a way to dig down deep and find yourself. It’s an outlet that can allow you to figure out your true potential and this is what intrigues Dunham most about the sport.

“Moments like that are the most honest moments you can have with yourself because it can really show you who you are and what you can do, so I think it’s just the honesty behind it, you know?” Dunham said. “If you’re cheating yourself then you’ll find out real quick so that’s kind of why I always liked contact sports, especially one-on-one contact sports, because it’s only you in there, nobody else can mess it up for you.”

However, one of the biggest reasons for Dunham to push himself harder and harder in practice everyday is his longtime girlfriend, who he expressed is one of the biggest motivators in his life.

“[She and I] have been together for about seven years so we’ve been together for a long time and have been living together for well over six years,” Dunham said. “We’re very, very serious and she’s going to make the move down here with me. She’s a big motivator and is a big supporter of mine, she helps me out a lot with this so she means a lot to me, for sure.”

The expectations are high for the young man from Eugene, but Dunham is beyond motivated for this fight. He feels no pressure at all and is only focused on one thing—winning.

“All I’m thinking at this point right now is to win,” Dunham said. “That’s all I care about, that’s all I know and that’s all I do. Just win this next fight and that’s all that matters so that’s where my head’s at right now. Everything else will fall into place afterwards and I’ll worry about everything else after this fight.”