“That’s the thing to fighting,” said Villanueva. “Man, you really gotta show em, hey, I’m gonna stand my ground. I’m not gonna back up, I’m not gonna be intimidated. I’m here to fight, I’m here to bang. These young guys are getting tougher, stronger, faster. I’m that old dog on the block. You don’t want to be on my alley when it gets dark. (Laughs) That’s just me, real old school, and I’m gonna stand my ground. If he thinks I’m gonna shy away from a fight, you’re crazy, because I’m ‘The Hurricane’ for a reason. When he fought Shogun, I think he underestimated the old dog. Age is just a number. Look at Glover Teixeira. That’s one of my biggest heroes in this fight game. At his age, he’s dominating. So don’t ever doubt our age because we’re still working and we’re hungry, too. We’ve got a little more motivation because these younger guys think, oh, they’re too old, let’s go shut the door on ’em. Nah, not with us.”
At 38, Villanueva still has some time to catch up to the 42-year-old champion of the world, but they’re brothers in arms, with Teixeira giving some helpful advice to his fellow 205-pounder when the two were in Las Vegas.
“I had some doubts in my head and I talked to him about it,” said Villanueva of his chat with Teixeira. “He goes, ‘Hey, you and me are like fine wine; we get better with age.’ (Laughs) And that’s it. A lot of these younger guys have too many distractions and some of them don’t have a purpose to fight. So they want to fight and they want to go party all night. Me, if I win this fight, I’ll probably plan a trip to Disneyland with the kids. (Laughs) That’s what’s awesome about it, because I did everything as a young kid growing up. And now that I’m getting older and wiser, I’m not sparring as much, I’m getting more knowledgeable, so I don’t have to kill my body every day. I can just spar heavy on Saturdays and still be good about it. We’re changing some things up to keep the body right, and I’m blessed to be able to do this, and to really keep my job, I gotta go out there on April 23rd and show out. I love this matchup, I think this kid’s gonna be in for a rude awakening come fight night, and I look forward to it. Things ain’t been going my way in the UFC, so short-term memory, wipe it away and let’s go back to the drawing board and get back to work.”
It’s the Way of the Hurricane.