I am better than him: Garrett Armfield on Brady Hiestand ahead of UFC Fight Night 242 (Exclusive)

Garrett Armfield comes focused and believes he is better than his opponents

The main event features promising bantamweights, Brady Hiestand and Garrett Armfield. Hiestand has won back-to-back gruelling fights over Fernie Garcia and Batgerel Danaa since losing by a split decision in the TUF 29 bantamweight finale. In each fight, the Sikjitsu representative showed perseverance and grit, overcoming adversity to win.

Armfield made his UFC debut at featherweight, losing a rematch to promising prospect David Onama. Back in the 135-pound weight class, the Marathon MMA representative has had consecutive strong performances, defeating Toshiomi Kazama in the opening round before outhustling Brad Katona at UFC 297 in Toronto earlier this year.

Both Hiestand and Armfield have shown a lot of potential in their brief UFC appearances, and Saturday looks like a “which one moves forward right now” showdown between these two rising stars.

We at Khel Now had a wonderful opportunity to talk with Garrett Armfield who will soon be facing Brady Hiestand. He talked about various things in his career. Below is the transcript of the exclusive interview.

How excited is Garrett Armfield to fight Brady Hiestand at UFC Fight Night?

Garrett Armfield “love” this match-up. He said, “My match-up with Brady, I love this match-up. Uh… I am prepared for the best version of him. I think he is a stand-out fighter but at the same time I know what levels I am at, my game and I know the improvements I have made for the match-up against someone like him.”

He added on how he has fought similar fighters like Brady Hiestand by adding, “I have fought his style at least 4 or 5 times at this point and I think he is not expecting someone like me, not even close.”

Garret added by saying, “It’s gonna be a great fight for me. I’ll be able to show my strength and show what I am made of and really get my mark on the division.”

When asked about his striking skills Armfield believes there is a “lot more” to see

Armfield is known for his strength and KO power, but when asked about whether his opponent should be afraid of his striking, he had a different answer. He said, “I don’t wanna say that anybody should be afraid coming into the fight. It’s a scary thing but you know there is a lot that they do not know about me because I haven’t been able to show my ground. I have lost by submission a couple of times, but those aren’t the reflection of my entire game.”

Recalling the losses Armfield said, one of the losses came earlier in his career and another loss came because of a “short-notice” fight. But he added saying that, Hiestand should be “afraid” of his “ground game as well”.

He continued by saying, “I think he should be afraid of my ground game as well. I think I do roll at a very high level, I have a fantastic coach, Trey Ogden, who has accelerated my ground game 10 folds since I moved here a year ago (Overland Park, Kansas). I am a fast learner as well, so I think that once I put him (Brady Hiestand) down, drop him. Cause I know as he gets dropped in every single fight. Like I said, ‘I’m a way better striker than anybody he has fought.'”

Armfield said something very important, “I do not get fight nerves, I feel so elusive, feels so at home when I am in the cage.” Armfield believes Hiestand should be “afraid of his whole game”.

How did Garrett Armfield get into MMA? Who is his inspiration?

Armfield explained how since he was a young boy he got into MMA by first starting to do Karate and then later turning his fire into a full-time professional thing.

Armfield said, “I have been fighting since I was a kid. It wasn’t like I decided to do this. My dad was always there for my boxing matches. He trained at the boxing gym a little bit, he stayed active, and coached a little bit as well. But, he never forced upon me. It wasn’t like I had Olympic coaches or anything. I kinda did this all on my own to get to this point. I had a lot of help on the way.”

“I started Karate when I was only 4 years old and that’s 23 years now. So, I have 23 years of experience and this is the best time to do it. This is like my calling, I know it is. I have never taken enough break from Martial Arts. I have always been involved in martial arts with no time off.”

Also Read: UFC Fight Night Alex Perez vs Tatsuro Taira: Fight Card, Date, Time, Telecast & Live Streaming Info

Garrett Armfield believes he is “better” than his opponent

When asked about what better plan he had to come up with to take out his opponent, Garrett was quite clear as he said, “I believe I am better than him everywhere. So, I think the key to this fight for me are to stay calm, control the center and mix it up. And you know keep him guessing.”

Garrett shares a heartfelt message to his fans

Garrett said, “I have had a lot of support over the past couple of months on social media and I wanna thank each and every one of my fans. I think I tried to take a different approach for everything, I really do try to connect with my fans and talk to them on X, Instagram, and all that.

So, if you are a fan of Garrett Armfield, don’t fear to reach out man, If I have the time to get back, I’ll make an effort to get back to you because you know you guys are the reason why we guys fight. You know if nobody watch, nobody would care. Right! So, Thank You”.

Watch UFC Fight Night: Alex Perez vs Tatsuro Taira on 16th June 2024 from 4:30 AM IST onwards LIVE on Sony Sports Ten 2 SD & HD.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Telegram.