Palaszewski on Griffin: It’s Going to Be a Rough Fight

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Bart Palaszewski has struggled some against wrestlers, but when the UFC offered him a matchup against Tyson Griffin, he took it immediately.

“I’ve been sitting for so long, I don’t care who it is,” Palaszewski explained during a “Savage Dog Show” interview on the Sherdog Radio Network. “I’m going to get in there and get my hands up, put my chin down and get after it. I don’t care. I just want to fight.”

Palaszewski meets Griffin in a featherweight bout Oct. 29 at UFC 137. He had been scheduled to make his UFC debut at UFC 130 but had to pull out due to a severe inner-ear infection and a mild concussion.

The nine-year veteran attributed the concussion to too much sparring. He’ll be preparing differently for Griffin and the move from 155 pounds to 145.

“I don’t think I’m going to be doing as much live sparring as I was doing,” Palaszewski said. “I was doing three days a week of six [five-minute] rounds with big boys. Not trying to -- they were hitting me in the head a lot. So I’m going to have to taper off. I’ve got a lot of fights and I’ve still got a lot of fights ahead of me. I don’t want to be a bit punchy five years from now. I’ve got to train smart now instead of hard, I guess.”

Palaszewski took a full month off from training and went a total of 10 weeks without sparring. In hindsight, he thinks he overdid it in his last camp and has learned his lesson.

“We’re just going to do one day a week of hard sparring,” Palaszewski said. “Put in six or 10 rounds, and that’s that. I don’t think three days a week or whatever people are doing is necessary. Do one day and just do it right, do it hard, and that’s it for the day. I think that’s the way to do it. I don’t know if it’s the right thing or the wrong thing. I’m going to give it a shot, see if it works and go from there.”

In Griffin he’ll be facing a game opponent. After an impressive run at lightweight in the UFC, Griffin struggled and lost three straight but then bounced back at featherweight by outpointing Manny Gamburyan.

“His slate’s kind of cleared in that sense,” Palaszewski said. “He’s coming off a win against a guy that was on top of the [145] weight class. I think it’s going to be a good fight. It’s going to be a rough fight. He’s a good wrestler and I always have problems with the wrestlers, but I’ve been working a little bit. I want to test my wrestling skills. You never know, I might be shooting doubles and taking him down.”

Palaszewski also pointed out Griffin’s willingness to trade on the feet. He’ll keep that in mind, as a striking battle still seems to capture his interest despite the improvements he’s made to his wrestling.

“I just like to brawl,” Palaszewski said. “I’m sure we’ll slug it out, and if he gets hit and tries to take me down, I’m going to stuff it and we’re going to keep slugging.”

Listen to the full interview (beginning at 1:32:07).