• UFC 120

Mike Pyle ready to render John Hathaway 'irrelevant'

ESPN staff
July 21, 2010

Mike Pyle has promised to render John Hathaway 'irrelevant' when he fights the British welterweight at UFC 120.

Hathaway leapt to stardom at UFC 114 with a dominant victory over Diego Sanchez, and now he is set for his first main-card appearance at London's O2 Arena. As a top class wrestler with rapidly improving striking, there are no clear holes to attack in the Hathaway game - which has constructed a 14-0 record to date.

However, Pyle brings top level jiu-jitsu to the Octagon, winning 17 of 20 career victories via submission, and he has years of experience over Hathaway. "Quicksand" has shared the ring with the likes of Rampage Jackson and Shonie Carter, and he remains the only man to have made Jon Fitch tap, and he doesn't envisage any problems beating Hathaway.

"Reputations and hype are irrelevant to me," said Pyle. "They don't mean crap. This kid has a lot of pressure on him now; he's expected to look as good as he did against Sanchez every time - but that's not happening at UFC 120.

"I've watched Hathaway, he's a good fighter but so is everyone else in the UFC. Hathaway's not using me as a stepping-stone. I will put this kid away, 100%.

"Fighting a good opponent isn't anything new to me, fighting in Europe isn't anything new to me, travelling isn't anything new to me, fighting in front of hostile fans isn't anything new to me. I've been in with top guys for years, this is just another day in the office."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Close