Christos Giagos expects to “catch” Ignacio Bahamondes at UFC Vegas 90: “It’s going to be fun”

Christos Giagos is excited to face Ignacio Bahamondes at UFC Vegas 90 on Saturday.

Giagos is coming off a submission loss to Daniel Zellhuber in September and after the defeat, he was hoping to return to fight in Anaheim at UFC 298. Although fighting at February’s pay-per-view never came to fruition, Giagos did get offered a fight against Bahamondes on Saturday at UFC Vegas 90 and jumped at the chance.

“I wanted to fight in February, but then I got the news in January that I’d be fighting in April. I’d like to have been in there sooner but it is what it is,” Giagos said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com.

Part of the reason why Giagos was excited to face Bahamondes is due to the fact he feels like he’s similar to Zellhuber. They are both long and rangy strikers, so Giagos is eager to fix the mistakes he made against Zellhuber.

“They are very similar, but Zellhuber had a longer reach and I think Zellhuber does a better job of staying long. I feel like Ignacio is a little more hittable, but I was able to hit Zellhuber pretty good,” Giagos said. “I think it will be a fun fight, Ignacio is a tough kid, it’s going to be fun.”

On the feet, Christos Giagos believes he can pressure Ignacio Bahamondes to get on the inside and land a knockout shot.

“I think I can catch him, I don’t think he has ever been knocked out. But, if not I feel like I could win a decision for sure, I want to go in there and try and finish him,” Giagos said.

If Christos Giagos can KO Ignacio Bahamondes at UFC Vegas 90, he thinks it could earn him someone near the lightweight rankings.

“If I finish him, it does a great deal for me. It puts me right back in the mix to hopefully get a shot at the top-15 soon. Hopefully, if I get this big win here, I can fight someone with more of a name and get into the mix,” Giagos said.