Billy Goff (9-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is seeking to go 2-0 within the Octagon when he meets Trey Waters (8-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) for his sophomore UFC look at UFC St. Louis on Saturday, Could 11.
Goff completed Shimon Smotritsky on the Contender Sequence and rode that momentum right into a TKO win over Yusaku Kinoshita in his UFC debut final August.
Waters, in the meantime, inked a UFC deal after his LFA win over Jalin Fuller after which defeated Josh Quinlan through unanimous choice in his Octagon debut.
Goff acknowledged Waters’ benefits in top and attain: He’s 6 ft 5 inches with a 77-inch attain in comparison with Goff, who’s 5 ft 10 inches with a 72.5-inch attain.
“He’s a tall, lanky man,” Goff mentioned of Waters. “He’s boxer who shortly transitions to jiu-jitsu, so I can’t simply stroll in and grapple or something. He’s at all times within the battle. He’s had a few late-fight finishes to return again. He’s by no means absolutely out of it. I imagine I’m higher, and I imagine I’ve the abilities to get previous the drawback in top and attain. I’m capturing for the first-round end, however I’m at all times ready for quarter-hour of hell.”
Waters had comparable benefits in his win over Quinlan. Goff mentioned his takeaway from Waters vs. Quinlan is that Waters doesn’t battle as quick as he does.
“He fights on the similar tempo as most of his fights,” Goff mentioned. “He tries to sluggish all the pieces down. I don’t assume he’s going to have the cardio to battle on the tempo I battle at. He’s going to have a tough time slowing it down, as a result of I’m not going to let off the fuel.”
Goff mentioned his plan is to make Waters work and let his cardio take over if want be.
“It’s straightforward to do all of the belongings you need to do whenever you’re good and recent. However whenever you begin sucking wind, it will get more durable to defend issues or react as shortly.”
In a match-up between two welterweight prospects, the winner may set up himself as a person to observe at 170. Goff mentioned the stakes of the bout are the identical as when he fought Kinoshita.
“This is rather like the final battle and each different battle I’ve had,” he mentioned. “I attempt to deal with each battle like a very powerful battle I’ll have. At any level, it’s make or break. You by no means know when a very powerful time to indicate up is.”
Goff’s targets for 2024 are to go 3-0. He isn’t anticipating to interrupt into the highest 15 this 12 months and mentioned he isn’t in an enormous rush to take action, both.
“I’m simply making an attempt to catch some good momentum and get following, so once I do make my run to the highest 15 and for a title, I’m getting paid quite a bit,” he mentioned.
Goff mentioned he’s capturing for the first-round end over Waters.
“I undoubtedly see it going my manner. Nevertheless, I’m at all times ready for quarter-hour of getting my sh– kicked in.”
UFC St. Louis is about to go down from the Enterprise Heart in St. Louis, Missouri.
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