Jon Jones and Vladimir Matyushenko Both Feeling Confident Pre-Fight

Vladimir Matyushenko, a 39-year-old veteran, will fight the young, fast-rising MMA star Jon Jones live on Versus, Aug 1, 2010 on UFC Live in the main event.

Jones is a resident of New York, where mixed martial arts competition is illegal. Good thing for him that the fight is slated to take place in San Diego, California. The 23-year-old will be going into the fight with a record of 10 wins and one loss. Ironically, the one loss was to another New York-based UFC fighter, Matt Hamill.

During the UFC media conference on July 22th, Jones told Penny Buffington of MMA2DAY, and other members of the press, how he hopes one day mixed martial arts competitions will be legalized in his home state. 

“What I do is prepare myself to be respectful at all times. I try to respect everyone and try to show to the everyday person that you run into that yes I am that UFC Fighter guy; but you don’t hear me swearing, you don’t hear me doing crazy things, you will never ever catch me in a bar fight. I try to carry myself like a martial artist and show people this is a beautiful art form; that this is something that we should take pride in. As a UFC fighter we should stand out in a crowd, almost like a monk would or a Knight would or any warrior throughout history. Warriors in history where not punks! They were honorable and respectful men and that is what I try to do and New Yorkers will get the hint that this is a beautiful thing; that it helps high schools, with kids self esteem and everything.”

Both men are feeling confident going into the fight, Jones explained: “I’m really big on confidence. I think believing in yourself is very key. I feel as if I should be the underdog in this fight and I just believe in myself that I can beat a guy with a 24-4 record. That is a very impressive record. Yeah this guy is not flashy or exciting or dynamic but with 24 wins; you know how to win a fight and I see that.  So I just believe in myself and I’m training to the point where I feel as if I deserve to win. When I’m sitting up there and I’ve experienced it, I want to know I’ve done everything right and I’ve trained hard.  I’ve stuck through it and I’ve just trained to the point where you have got no choice but to be confident.”

Matyushenko said, “With any fight you should have confidence or you shouldn’t be fighting that’s for sure but the concern is there always. It’s not nervousness, but you have to be cautious of certain things. You don’t want to do anything stupid in the fight, but there is definitely confidence there.”

Matyushenko will have much more to say during his pre-fight interview with MMA2DAY airing the day of the event. Go to PennyJoMMA.com for details.