UFC 133 – Rafael “Sapo” Natal explains his preparation is on track despite ever changing opponents

UFC middleweight, Rafael “Sapo” Natal has assured his fans that his preparations ahead of this weekends UFC 133 clash with Paul Bradley in Philadelphia are right on track after preparing to meet three different opponents in the past couple of months.
Speaking via Tatame Magazine, Natal said:

“Despite they’ve changed my opponent so many times, that won’t affect me much because first I trained to fight a wrestler (Riki Fukuda), then I trained for a boxer (Costantinos Philippou) and, now, it’ll be a wrestler. I’m prepared for anything, on the top and on the floor. Having my opponent changed many times was actually a good thing for me, because I feel more complete now”.

“It’s not nice, but I kind of saw that coming. Philippou’s left wasn’t something I had expected to happen, but with Fukuda I did, because they’ve matched us up with four months in advance, so I didn’t even study his game. I was focusing on the takedowns, because he had pretty heavy hands, and now I’m fighting a wrestler. It’s kinda sucks, but I’m grateful to Paul Bradley for having accepted fighting me at the last minute.”

“I can’t deny we worry about getting cut off when we lose, but I’m feeling fine, with no injuries… I’ve never felt better. I’m training since April with no rest, no injuries. I’m doing great for this fight, confident… Draculino said he’d change his name in case I don’t win (laughs).”

Natal is looking to get back to winning ways himself after having his eleven fight winning streak snapped by Rich Attonito. His following fight saw him draw with Canadian striker, Jesse Bongfeldt. Bradley, a cast member on the seventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter”, heads back to the octagon with a solid 16-2 record under his belt and is currently riding a three fight winning streak.