Chris Cariaso, ‘England is Five Years Behind’

UFC bantamweight Chris “Kamikaze” Cariaso (11-3) is calm, clear, cool, and collected heading into his first trip to England.

A native of San Francisco, Cariaso made the switch to the Tristar Gym in Montreal to get the high quality sparring he needed in preparation for his UFC 138 bout against Birmingham, England’s own Vaughan Lee (11-6-1).

Cariaso and Lee will kick off the UFC 138 undercard on Facebook.

Heading into this Saturday’s bout, the 30-year-old plans on giving Lee a rude welcoming to the Octagon and plans to expose his striking to get the job done.

“I’ve watched a little bit of tape on him,” Cariaso told MMAWeekly Radio.

“He looks strong and he looks like he’s got a strong game when it comes to submissions and stuff. I just don’t think he’s going to be ready for my style of stand-up. Once it goes down to the ground, too, I definitely think I can dominate him. He’s kind of a bouncy guy, he’s not really a calm fighter, and I think I’m ready for him.”

Traditionally, British MMA fighters have struggled with the wrestling aspect of the sport and “Kamikaze” feels no different. He believes that, while there is great striking training over in the U.K., the grappling and overall training is behind the times.

“I feel like England is five-years behind the U.S. and in North America really in jiu-jitsu and wrestling. I think that they’re all really good strikers, well-rounded strikers, but their grappling skills are pretty basic. I think that he’s definitely going to have his hands full with me.”

Follow Andrew Gladstone at @gladstone1 on Twitter.

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