Ben Saunders: ‘If It Goes the Distance I’ve Failed’

The ordering process for Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-views has changed: UFC 245 is only available on ESPN+ in the U.S.

Despite being on a three-fight losing streak, Ben Saunders does not feel any added pressure heading into his bout at UFC 245. He’s actually pretty excited for his Dec. 14 showdown inside Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena. That’s because he understands a booking recipe mixing one-part him, and one-part Matt Brown, inside an Octagon, is sure to deliver a dish chock full of chaos.

Brown and Saunders are fighters cut from a similar cloth. Both have been handed their fair share of devastating defeats in their combined 29-years of professional mixed martial arts experience. However, they have both built a reputation as competitors that do not let judges decide the outcomes of their bouts. As the pair have stopped 36 of their foes in their 43 combined wins. It’s a combination that seems perfectly built for a definitive end, and Saunders would be disappointed if that did not come to pass.

“If it does go the distance, I’ve failed,” Saunders told Sherdog. “That’s my mentality every time I go out there. I’m not trying to win on the judge’s scorecards. I’m not trying to win per round, in the hopes it all adds up in the end. Realistically, if I don’t finish you I feel there’s doubt—on a personal level—on whether or not I would actually consider that a win. I hate judges. I do like the idea of, I’m going to go out there and it’s kill or be killed. I’m into math, and I think stats speak very highly, where you don’t have to say much.”