Exclusive: Lewis McGrillen questions toughness of Weslley Maia ahead of heated PFL Europe clash
- Seb Sternik
- 8 December 2023
Lewis McGrillen returns to action this Friday night as he takes on Weslley Maia on the undercard of PFL Europe finals in Dublin.
McGrillen will be making his third appearance on the PFL stage as the organisation continues to push their promising young bantamweight.
The Manchester-based fighter is 8-0 in his professional career and has created a lot of interest thanks to a combination of his big personality and even bigger knockouts.
Brazil’s Weslley Maia is out to stop the hype train as he looks to bag his third straight victory. The Cage Warriors man is 8-5 and won his latest outing against Shirzad Qadrian via a unanimous decision.
“He’s just a name at the end of the day,” McGrillen told Planet Sport when asked about his opponent.
“A name and a face that brings more eyes to the fight. Toughest fight? Probably. But I don’t feel like it’s a tough fight.
“I had tough fights. I fought a Brazilian last year and he was tough. Since then, he’s been on a four-fight win streak so I’ve fought great guys before.”
Going to need the big guns @danhardymma + @SugarRaySefo to seperate these two at Ceremonial Weigh Ins today 👀😯
— PFL (@PFLMMA) December 7, 2023
[ 🇮🇪 #PFLDublin l 🗓 Fri Dec 8 l📺 LIVE on @daznmma ] pic.twitter.com/iBFypAjKiX
The build up to Friday’s bout has been heated with both men clashing at the press conference and the face off.
McGrillen believes that the push by PFL has consequently put a big bullseye on his back, as fighters attempt to raise their profile by knocking off the Brit.
“That’s probably what I see Weslley Maia as,” the 23-year-old added. “He needs to prove something. The guys he beat have not been great. I feel this is a good way to get big eyes on him.
“As soon as I made my PFL debut, I looked at it straight away as if I had a bounty on my head. I’ve got a bounty on my head and I’ve got a name from it. I’m very known and people will want to take me out. That’s how it is.
“It’s like who is the biggest conqueror. Someone is going to come along and try to take you out. That’s how I see it. I always need to be on my A game. Always getting better.
“It’s the fear of the unknown at the end of the day. I like being in the danger zone because I like to turn it into a comfort zone. I like the chaos, I thrive underneath that. It’s part of the sport and it’s in my nature as a fighter. I’m going to be ready for it all when it comes in the future.”
Fans can watch PFL Europe 4 from Dublin live on DAZN on Friday, December 8.
