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Dominic Waters 'not intimidated' by short-notice bout vs. Dong Hyun Kim

SEOUL – Dominic Waters didn’t travel from the U.S. to South Korea just to do the UFC a favor out of the goodness of his heart. He made the trip to win.

Waters (9-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) meets welterweight contender Dong Hyun Kim (20-3-1 MMA, 11-3 UFC) on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 79 in a fight he accepted on short notice after original opponent, Jorge Masvidal, was bumped to the main event.

It’s the second time in as many UFC appearances that Waters has stepped up on short notice. He dropped a unanimous decision to George Sullivan at The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale in July to start his octagon career on a forgettable note.

With the UFC’s bloated modern-day roster, it’s become commonplace that accepting a short-notice fight is a barrier for entry. Waters already did that, yet he decided to roll the dice again and fill in when the promotion needed him against Kim, who’s No. 10 in the NOS Energy Drink MMA welterweight rankings.

“I’m just glad to be here now, and I know I’ve put in the hard work,” Waters told MMAjunkie. “This situation right here, the co-main event in Korea, it does not intimidate me at all.”

UFC Fight Night 79 takes place on Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul. The event streams on UFC Fight Pass.

Part of Waters’ willingness to take such a difficult fight on short notice stems from his training environment, he said. Waters has spent much of his time in recent months at Team Jackson-Winkeljohn in Albuquerque, N.M., alongside UFC lightweight contender Donald Cerrone.

Cerrone is famous for his endless desire to compete any time under any conditions. Waters said he’s picked up some of those traits by spending so much time around “Cowboy.”

“Fighters I look up to, like ‘Cowboy,’ that guy is always ready to fight 100 percent, and training with that guy, you just take his aura,” Waters said. “At the end of the day fighter’s fight; if you aren’t ready to fight, get out of the sport, man. Eight weeks? Guys love that. I’ll be ready to fight if I have eight weeks or even if I have one week.”

Although he’s confident in his preparation, it’s going to take more than confidence to get past Kim, who in his 11-year career has only suffered losses to Tyron Woodley, Demian Maia and former UFC interim champ Carlos Condit.

Waters said he’s aware of that, but he expects to surprise Kim and the rest of the world with a showing deemed worthy of a fight-night bonus.

“My career’s young and everything, but I’ve been growing as an MMA fighter watching his performances and everything,” Waters said. “This guy is really good. He always comes forward, and it’s my kind of fight. We can have a ‘Fight of the Night,’ or I can get some other $50,000, but I know I’m leaving with some money.”

Check out the full video above.

And for more on UFC Fight Night 79, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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