Exclusive | Preston Parsons hunting a finish in Texas following surgery layoff: “I’m gonna stay right in his face.”
Following a year-long injury layoff, Preston Parsons lands in San Antonio to face Trevin Giles at UFC Fight Night: Vera vs. Sandhagen.
Although he may be coming off a victory, Parsons suffered a broken hand that required surgery and forced him out of action for nearly a year. In his youthful UFC career, Parsons has never fought in front of a live crowd, but he will have the chance to do so on March 25 against the Texan, Giles.
Speaking exclusively with LowKickMMA’s Frank Bonada, Parsons says he enjoyed his time in the UFC Apex, but assures he is ready and excited to face a motivated Giles fighting at home.
He was quick to credit Giles for his vast experience in the UFC, fighting on massive pay-per-view cards in the past, as well as dabbling in multiple weight classes as high as 205. Yet he believes this also plays as an advantage considering Giles may have a significant amount of time focusing on his weight cut.
“He’s probably stressing about the weight way more than I am.”
Parsons sometimes finds himself in situations where he may not be the bigger man in the cage, such as his only UFC loss against Daniel Rodriguez, where he says he felt the difference. But he firmly believes the result ultimately came down to his own errors he made during the fight.
“I made some tactical mistakes and he capitalized on them.”
Preston Parsons lays out his route to victory vs. Trevin Giles
After redeeming himself with the first victory of his career decided by the judges, Preston Parsons does not plan a similar route to victory this time out.
“I’m gonna do what I did in my last fight, I’m gonna stay right in his face, and I definitely plan on finishing it. Whether it be knockout, catching him with a short punch, taking him down, submitting him. Or just grinding him out until I get my hand raised. But I’m definitely gonna stay in his face the entire fight, make it a tough fight. Try to wear him out.“
Parsons features an impressive 90% finish rate amongst his winning resume, solidifying himself as a ground specialist considering every finish resulted in submission. Once he concludes his bout with Giles, Parsons says he’s ready to be an active fighter again, returning in the summer and fighting a total of three fights this year, setting a goal of fighting up to five times next year.
Preston Parsons on Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman III
The welterweight belt is on the line a week prior to Parsons’s bout, and having fought Kamaru Usman’s teammate in the past, he believes Usman will regain his gold and wishes for Usman to be his final test.
“I wanna see him win that belt back. I wanna see him retain it for as long as it takes for me to get there and take it from him.”
With a long road ahead of him, Parsons claims he doesn’t look past anyone in the welterweight division.
“I keep my eye out on all the guys in that weight class.”
He also happens to have an eye on the lightweight division, and teases a future career route that could very well involve him at 155, a division he fought every amateur bout in. This is a decision he says will be thought over once he flies to Vegas following his next bout, and consults with experts at the UFC Performance Institute.
Elevate MMA
Parsons fights out of Elevate MMA in Jacksonville, Florida, which he has been running since its 2020 introduction. He takes it upon himself to grow the gym and make a name for it with his career success.
“We’re not a known gym yet, but I plan on changing that.”
Check out the full interview right here:
