Wellington Turman Gunning for Finish of BJJ Specialist Rodolfo Vieira at UFC 270

After snapping a two-bout skid in his last Octagon appearance, Wellington Turman is focused on earning a decisive win over fellow Brazilian Rodolfo Vieira at UFC 270 this Saturday.

"Rodolfo is a great opponent, very good at jiu-jitsu. I respect all the legacy he has built on jiu-jitsu, but we are going to fight under MMA rules on Saturday,” Turman told Sherdog.com. “He improved his striking a lot lately, but I´ve been doing that for much longer and I have very good takedown defense, so I´m really confident to win this one.”

Turman, who is a training partner of UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira and former Glory Kickboxing two-division champion Alex Pereira, revealed that his goal on Saturday is to avoid going to the judges.

“Of course, my goal is keep the fight standing up, but unlike most guys in the division I’m not afraid to go to the ground with him,” said Turman, who has been living in Connecticut for the past seven months. “I´m also a BJJ black belt and Rodolfo gets confused when he is being punished, as we could see against Anthony Hernandez. Glover and ‘Poatan’ helped me a lot in [camp]. My main goal in that fight is to look for the knockout or submission. I´m ready for anything.”

One of Turman’s recent defeats was a first-round KO loss to Bruno Silva at UFC on ESPN 25. Silva will next square off against Pereira at UFC Fight Night 203 on March 12. Turman weighed in on his training partner’s chances against a former opponent.

"’Poatan’ is a monster. His striking skills are elite, and his takedown defense is excellent, too. ‘Blindado’ is dangerous. He has pretty strong hands, but ‘Poatan’ is at a higher technical level,” Turman said. “The aggressive game of ‘Blindado’ is perfect for ‘Poatan’s’ style, who is a master at controlling distance and a sniper who almost never makes a mistake.