Tommy McMillen doesn't see Marwan Rahiki lasting with him at Noche UFC.
McMillen (11-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) takes on fellow rising featherweight Rahiki (9-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) on Saturday's UFC Fight Night 288 (Paramount+) main card at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Ariz. McMillen got his wish of competing at Noche UFC but initially targeted a Mexican. Instead, he gets a Moroccan, which means the Arizona crowd will now be on his side.
"I mean, they all bleed the same," McMillen told MMA Junkie. "At the end of the day, it's a fight. I only kind of called out a Mexican just because I thought that I might only get on the card if I fight a Mexican. Because I don't pay attention to fights, so I don't really watch too many cards.
"I thought every fight had to
have a Mexican in it, and I'm not Mexican, so I was just assuming to get on, I've got to fight a Mexican, but I don't really care who I fight. In this fight, I am the Mexican. I don't think anybody else has the Mexican fighting spirit that I have. When I get in the cage, I walk people down, and I throw bombs, and I entertain the fans, and that's about as Mexican as it gets."
The UFC doesn't always opt to match up two undefeated prospects together, and McMillen is looking to prove he's the contender in the equation – and the A-side.
"I think I get compared to a lot of people because I'm the kid with the platform," McMillen said. "They're going to talk about me. This kid's got a third of the following that I have. I'm the one providing the big platform for us to fight on, and at the end of the day, I guess if what you're saying is true, if they're calling him one of these top prospects at '45 and he's undefeated, this is the exact kind of fight I want. Because there can only be one, and I am the one.
"I am the best upcoming undefeated prospect at 145 pounds, and if this kid's name – I don't pay attention to sh*t much, so I don't know if his name's getting thrown in the mix. But if it is, it doesn't belong in the same sentence as mine, and I'm going to go out there Saturday night and show that."
Rahiki has shown heart and knockout power since being introduced to the UFC. He questioned McMillen's power, but "Tommy Gunz" says he's the more durable fighter.
"He's chinny, and he's a one-trick pony," McMillen said of Rahiki. "Unfortunately for him, he just does not have the toolset to hang in there with me. You know, he's very, very one dimensional, and he thinks he's going to knock me out, and good luck, motherf*cker. Try to knock me out and tell me how that goes."
While McMillen is known to outlast his opponents and is coming off breaking the three-round significant strikes record against Alberto Montes, he sees a different outcome against Rahiki.
"I know I'm going to get it done quickly in there," McMillen said. "He doesn't have the skillset to hang with me for 15 minutes."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Tommy McMillen: 'I am the Mexican' in Noche UFC fight
