• UFC 112

Etim not prepared to enter into title talk

Rafael Dos Anjos is all the inspiration Terry Etim needs © Getty Images

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Terry Etim can understand the reason why his name is beginning to become linked with a UFC lightweight title shot, but he does not allow himself a single second to think about it as he prepares for Rafael Dos Anjos.

Etim fights on the main card of UFC 112 after he chalked up his fourth consecutive victory by beating Shannon Gugerty in November. Gugerty is now the next opponent for Clay Guida, who would have been looking at a title bout of his own had he beaten Kenny Florian back at UFC 107.

Logically Etim is not far away from a crack at current champion BJ Penn, but the Muay Thai standout refuses to buy into the hype. When the Liverpudlian finds himself running on empty during training, he insists it is Dos Anjos - not the belt - that provides inspiration.

"I don't think about title shots at all. If you start getting ahead of yourself, you lose fights. Simple," Etim told Espn.co.uk.

"This fight against Rafael Dos Anjos is a really hard fight so that's all I can focus on. Every day when I'm in the gym, I'm training, training, training and thinking of Dos Anjos every minute of every day. When I go through hell and I want to quit, I think of him and I think of winning.

"I doubt any opponent has trained as hard as me. There's one thing that's for sure, nobody's ever been fitter than me. My coach Colin Heron puts us through it so if Dos Anjos is as fit as me, good luck to him. I seriously doubt he is though."

Etim's clash with Dos Anjos brings together two fighters who have only suffered one stoppage in a combined 33 fights between them, which came when Dos Anjos was the victim of Jeremy Stephens' thunderous uppercut at UFC 91. The Brazilian has won 11 of his last 13 fights, stopping six via submission.

Etim has never been stopped, although he came as close he would ever wish against Justin Buchholz, when Etim readily admits he blacked out before regaining his senses to pull a victory out of the hat. The Team Kaobong fighter uses that bout as an example of how special Dos Anjos will have to be to beat him.

"I always come to fight. If anybody thinks they can beat me, they better smack me hard or put me to sleep because that's the only way you're beating me. Look at the Justin Buchholz fight, he put a big dent in my face but I showed all my heart to tough it out.

"Liverpool's a big fighting city, Liverpool fighters have big hearts and I hope I can do the city proud. I've never been stopped yet touch wood.

"I'm injury-free and excited to fight. It's the first UFC in Abu Dhabi, so it's an historic event. It's also the first one outdoors, so there's a lot of importance around the event, my confidence is very high after four wins and this is a big fight."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.