Brave Legion's Mike Pierce will be fighting this Sunday on the undercard of the UFC on Versus event from Broomfield, Colorado against UFC newcomer Julio Paulino. NW Fightscene's Spaniard spoke with Pierce about Paulino and more...

NW Fightscene: Mike you're fighting on March 21st. Your opponent got switched and now you're fighting Julio Paulino. What are your thoughts on him?
Mike Pierce: I know he's fought a lot in Alaska. This will be his first time in the UFC. He likes to go out and bang, and he's a pretty good scrambler. That's really about all I know. I saw the fight that he had against my teammate, Rick Story. But I don't know... I'm not sure he's going to be able to keep up with what I'm bringing to the fight.

NWFS: Did you get a lot of info from Rick Story since he's fought Paulino?
Pierce: Yeah, of course. I even watched the DVD of their fight, so there's not really going to be any surprises. And I watched his last fight against Rob Yundt, so no surprises.

NWFS: Do you think he's going to be ready to step up?
Pierce: My personal opinion, I don't think so but I'm expecting him to be. I'm not going in there half heartedly or underestimating him by any means. I just I don't know if he's had enough time to prepare for this fight.

NWFS: How has your training camp gone?
Pierce: Well, my training camps done. I'm flying out here in a little bit. And I'm ready. I had a good training camp and had a long time to train today so things are going great.

NWFS: So who were some of your training partners in getting ready?
Pierce: We had Brad Blackburn. Rick Story. Another one of our teammates just added is a 155 pounder named Able Trujillo. He's a 4 time All-American from Iowa out of the NAIA division. I think Dennis [Hallman] came down once or twice, I don't remember.

NWFS: They say you learn more from a loss than a win. Walking away from that great fight with Jon Fitch, what did you learn?
Pierce: I think that's one of the biggest things I learned from the last fight is getting out there and pulling the trigger earlier and just not giving up those control positions. I wish I would have fought a little harder to get out sooner but I didn't want to take any unnecessary risks and get caught in something. 

NWFS: So going into this fight is that your game plan?
Pierce: Oh absolutely. I'm just going to try and go in there and overwhelm the guy and break him down. 

NWFS: How do you think this fight will end?
Pierce: Either knockout or TKO. That's what I want.

NWFS: What have you been up to besides training? I mean when you have a UFC fight is that all you do is three months of training, or do you actually have a life as you get ready?
Pierce: Yeah, that's primarily what I've been doing lately just because it doesn't leave a lot of time for other things. One of the hobbies I recently got into was scuba diving. I got certified for that after my last fight. And its something I want to get back into and pick up. I need to get my dry suit certification cause its just kind of unbearable otherwise just going in the wet suit in the Northwest. Its not nearly as fun. 

NWFS: Yeah I was going to say its cold up there.
Pierce: Yeah you know its not easy. But you have to wear a lot of layers so it makes it a little bit easier but it still sucks. 

NWFS: Anyone you'd like to thank? 
Pierce: Yeah I'd like to thank my camp, Brave Legion. Pat White, Rick Story, Able Trujillo, Lee Jenkins, Rudy Garza. And my sponsor for this fight, Tapout. 

Mike Pierce fights Julio Paulino on the undercard of UFC on Versus from the 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, Colorado this coming Sunday, Mar 21st. More info is available at UFC.com. For more on Pierce, visit Bravelegion.com.