Jason Brilz Going Right at Vinny Magalhaes for the Belt: 'I'm Not Throwing Pitter-Patter Punches'
Since his release from the UFC three years ago, light-heavyweight Jason Brilz has won four fights in a row, with his most recent victory coming in his Titan FC debut this past may over Raphael Davis.
Looking back on the fight, Brilz feels he did well, even if he wasn’t able to close Davis out.
“Raphael is a tough, tough dude,” Brilz told MMAWeekly.com. “I always try to finish, but that’s not always in the cards.
“He was a Division-I wrestler, and I thought I wrestled well against him. I felt my striking wasn’t too bad because I landed some good shots on him. My jiu-jitsu was decent.”
For Brilz, just having the fight after numerous delays was the biggest part of the whole thing.
“The big thing was the postponement of the fight a couple times,” he said. “I ended up having a 12-week training camp or something like that. It was ungodly long and really wore on me. I was just ready to be done training and was ready to start the summer and spend some time with the kids.”
Brilz is also is happy to have an opportunity to once again fight on a nationwide stage.
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“I really enjoy the limelight and fighting in front of people like that and knowing there’s a big audience out there watching,” he said. “I feel like if I put the work in, I should be able to showcase it.
“How many people in a lifetime get a chance to do something like this? Fighting live on TV or PPVs or something like that; so I just savor it and really enjoy it.”
Brilz’s (22-5-1) win over Davis has placed him in the position to be crowned Titan’s first champion of their new era when he takes on fellow former UFC 205-pound fighter Vinny Magalhaes (11-7, 1NC) on Sept. 26 in Cedar Park, Texas.
“It’s not about the money or fame or anything – even though I like both of them and they’re a bonus – but when I go into the gym, I’m not thinking about all that,” said Brilz. “I go into the gym thinking I want to get better and I want to be able to do this in a fight. Fighting for me is about pushing my body, what I can learn and do in a fight.
“It’s nice there’s a title on the line, but it’s no more pressure than if it was another guy I was fighting. I’m training just the same for all of them.”
When it comes to the match-up itself, Brilz’s strategy never changes.
“I’ll go right at him and will throw a lot of punches at him and see what happens,” said Brilz of Magalhaes. “If the takedown is there, I’ll take him down.
“I understand he’s a world class jiu-jitsu player, but at the same time, I’m not throwing pitter-patter punches at him.”
