Daniel Pineda heard all the comments that Herbert Burns would submit him early in their UFC 252 fight.
Pineda, who fought in the UFC from 2012 to 2014 was recently signed back in the promotion after a stint in the PFL. When he got the call he was back in the Las Vegas-based promotion, he was ecstatic.
“Man, I was happy. I love fighting at home, but I wanted to fight in a way bigger promotion, well the biggest promotion out there,” Pineda said to MMANews. “I was excited.”
Pineda found out he would be fighting on short notice at UFC 252 against the surging contender, Herbert Burns, he believed he was brought in to lose. “The Pit” has a name in the sport, so if the Brazilian could beat him, it would propel him into the top-15.
“Oh yeah. All the comments, they thought I was going to lose. They thought they brought me in to lose,” he explained. “They don’t know I’m a dog. I’m not just going to fall, I’m going to fight for everything.”
With Pineda being a big underdog and many expecting him to lose, The Pit says that just fuelled him confidence.
Not only was he confident he would get his hand raised, but he expected to mentally and physically break Burns, which he believes he did.
“The whole goal was to take it from him. Push forward, I was going to break him, I wanted to break him,” Pineda said. “He fought the Russian (Movid Khaybulaev) I fought in PFL, he fought him and I saw that guy push him too and kind of broke him. So, my whole goal to break him like that and I kind of did. I broke him in the first round.”
In the fight, however, Burns did catch Pineda with a knee that nearly shut his eye closed. So, he knew he had to finish the fight in the second round or he believed there was a good chance a doctor would call off the fight.
He ultimately did just that but does have a medical suspension due to the eye. Once the suspension is over, Daniel Pineda plans to get back into the gym and hopefully get another fight this year. He also doesn’t care who it is against, as he is focused on winning fights and getting bonuses.
“Honestly, whoever they put in front of me. Whoever helps me climb the ladder, I want to get another good fight. My goal is for every fight I fight is to get a bonus,” Pineda concluded. “I want to fight and put a show on just like the way I did this fight.”
