Jalin Turner expects Mateusz Gamrot to try and wrestle him “a lot more now than he ever has” at UFC 285: “I see myself finishing him”

Jalin Turner thought he was going to have to fight an unranked opponent at UFC 285.

Turner was supposed to take on Dan Hooker but about a month out, the Kiwi was forced to withdraw from the scrap due to a broken hand. After Hooker was forced out, Turner thought he was going to have to fight someone unranked and was surprised when seventh-ranked Mateusz Gamrot stepped up on short notice.

“Yeah, I didn’t think anybody in the top (15) was going to step up,” Turner said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “I told myself if somebody did step up I was going to rise to the occasion and Gamrot stepped up. I tried to get Drew (Dober) in there, I tried to get (Renato) Moicano in there, they needed more time apparently. When I heard Gamrot say yeah, I was like let’s do it… I wouldn’t want to fight me on three weeks’ notice so I didn’t expect anybody else to.”

Although Turner was surprised Gamrot stepped up on short notice, he figures it is because the Pole is confident he will get easy takedowns at UFC 285. However, Turner is confident he has improved his grappling and is eager to surprise a lot of people on Saturday night.

“He’s going to wrestle a lot more now than he ever has, I know for a fact,” Turner said. “I definitely analyzed that he thinks that is his number one key to winning the fight, as history has shown. But, I have worked on my grappling in and out and I’m not worried about it, not worried or stressing it, and I just can’t wait to show I can hang with elite grapplers and outstrike him.”

With Jalin Turner being confident in his grappling, he expects to keep it standing and forces Mateusz Gamrot to strike with him. If the two do end up in a striking match at UFC 285, Turner is confident he will get a stoppage win.

“The way he beat Jeremy Stephens, he went out there took him down, and got the first-round submission,” Turner said. “I’m pretty sure he’s anticipating the same outcome against me, but he’s in for a rude awakening… Whether it’s a first, second, or third, I see myself finishing him.”

Should Turner get the stoppage win, he knows it would be the biggest win of his career and hopes he can get a top-five opponent next.

“I take his spot and I fight somebody else in the top five,” Turner concluded.

Do you think Jalin Turner will finish Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 285?