UFC on Versus 5 – Eddie Wineland plans on using past shortcomings drive him on to victory

Former WEC bantamweight champion, Eddie Wineland has been giving his thoughts on going head-to-head with Joseph Benavidez this weekend on the UFC on Versus 5 card in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, explaining he plans on using the lessons learned from his last fight inside the octagon to spur him on to victory this time around.
Speaking via UFC.com, Wineland said:

“I think Benavidez and Urijah share a lot of similar traits as far as their fight game. With that being said, I think Joseph may be a touch faster, and strength wise I don’t think he is going to be as strong as Urijah, but I could be wrong. I think his wrestling is going to be on par with Urijah. His striking, he’s got really fast hands and he’s unorthodox, so it’s almost basically like fighting Urijah.”

“They’ve got their differences, but I don’t think there are a whole lot of differences. They both have that scramble style mentality. You know when you get in a scruff with them they’re very good at coming out with the top position, but so am I. I think it’s going to make a similar fight as the Urijah fight, but I’m not going to be on my back. I think from the Urijah fight I gained a lot of confidence.”

“This time it’s going to be different and you’re going to see hands flying around a lot more. I’m going to let my hands go. Last time, I think I respected his takedowns too much. He does have some of the best takedowns in the business and for that reason I respected them too much and I didn’t let my hands go as much.”

Wineland’s UFC debut didn’t go so smoothly after he lost a unanimous decision to former featherweight champion, Urijah Faber. Prior to that he’d been on an impressive run which including a slam knockout win over Ken Stone.