John Castaneda confident he’ll submit Kyung Ho Kang at UFC 295: “I’m expecting a pretty decisive win”

John Castaneda is excited to walk to the Octagon in Madison Square Garden for UFC 295.

Castaneda is coming off a decision win over Muin Gafurov back in June and after the win, he knew he wanted to fight one more time this year. He ended up getting the chance to face Kyung Ho Kang on Nov. 18, but after agreeing to the fight, it ended up getting moved to Nov. 11 at UFC 295.

“It was supposed to be November 18, and I’m not sure what happened on the 11th, but the opportunity presented itself and I said yes right away,” Castaneda said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “It took a couple of days for my opponent to say yes and we made it happen… Fighting at MSG is a dream come true for me.”

Although Kang does have 11 fights in the UFC and has an 8-3 record, John Castaneda says he wasn’t too familiar with him. But, after studying Kang, Castaneda thinks this is a good style matchup for him as he doesn’t think the guys Kang has beaten are all that impressive.

“Honestly, not a lot and it is surprising because he has been around for a long time. He has 11 fights in the UFC, 8-3, he’s pretty good. Very well-rounded martial artist, it’s a good matchup stylistically, he’s a longer, rangy striker and has good offensive jiu-jitsu,” Castaneda said. “But, his fight against Rani Yahya really showed me a lot in terms of the defensive side of his jiu-jitsu and wrestling… The caliber of guys he has beaten isn’t really there. His wins are against guys who have been cut or on the decline. It’s a great run in the UFC, but he hasn’t beaten many quality guys.”

Part of the reason why John Castaneda likes this fight against Kyung Ho Kang at UFC 295, is because he thinks he can easily outwrestle his opponent and find a submission win.

“I expect him to try and play it out on the feet, I don’t think he wants to wrestle with me,” Castaneda said. “His grappling is decent, and his jiu-jitsu is decent but I don’t think his wrestling is all that good… I know I can hurt him on the feet, I know that I’m quicker than him. He’s a very traditional, upright boxer and leaves his chin up. I’m expecting a pretty decisive win, a lot of point scoring on my end until I get the finish, I think I can submit him.”

Should John Castaneda get the win over Kyung Ho Kang at UFC 295, he’s hopeful he can get a bigger-name opponent next time out.

“It keeps me in the right trajectory, but it keeps my job. That is the most important part. Getting to the UFC is tough but keeping your job is tougher. Just keep climbing that ladder and get bigger names,” Castaneda concluded.