MMAPredictions

CBS EliteXC Saturday Night Fights is only a matter of days away now. While Kimbo Slice’s fight with James Thompson and Gina Carano’s against Kaitlin Young will likely take center stage on May 31st, Phil Baroni and Joey Villasenor have been doing their part to keep their share of the card entertaining as well.

The match up between Baroni and Villasenor contributes to the overall tenor of the card, which is not expected to showcase much ground fighting. Both are sluggers: almost two-thirds of Baroni’s wins come by TKO, and Villasenor’s win column has not seen a submission victory since 2005.

Here are some of the barbs exchanged between the two on a recent conference call leading up to this Saturday:

Question: Joey, do you think you have the advantage in overall technique?

Villasenor: I think my overall game is improving daily. I have power with movement. It’s about executing. Overall, we all know that Baroni has stand‑up power, but I’m going to try to expose him with my movement. So, it’s just all about executing.

Baroni: Basically to sum it up, Villasenor is going to run. He basically just said that he (will) bring his track shoes and chase me. He’s going to run. It doesn’t matter because in the cage you can run, but you can’t hide. I’m going to find you, I’m going to hit and everyone’s going to think about you.

Villasenor: You’re going to make me pay for your last two losses, right, Phil?

Baroni: Uh‑huh.

Question: Can you comment on the fact that Baroni said he is going to ice you?

Villasenor: (Laughing) That’s a good one. He’s going to ice me. I don’t care what Baroni says. We know him. He said he’s going to do this and that all the time. But he’s got to come through. I didn’t say I’m going to do this or that. I’m going go out there and perform my best and we’ll see what happens in the end.

Baroni: You are going to get knocked out, kid. Your best isn’t going to be big enough. The bottom line is this is my coming home party, and you’re the victim.

Villasenor: Your coming out party, Phil? You’ve been out for a while. You’ve been exposed for a while. I’ll just have to show everybody on national television and expose you, expose you at home, expose you in front of everybody. I’m excited to get the opportunity.

I respect you, man. I respect the power you’ve got. But it’s coming. It’s coming. You know it’s coming. I don’t need to talk trash. You know what’s coming. That’s all there is to it.

Baroni: I ain’t talking trash. I’m stating the facts, dude. I’m going to smash you and you’ll get hurt real bad. Be ready. Try your best. Your best is not going to be good enough, and we’ll send you back to Nashville.

Villasenor: You’re getting me even more excited for this. I’m pumped. This is just what I needed. I needed somebody to talk trash to me. This is the first time in 30 fights that I’ve had somebody treat me this way. Hey, thanks for the motivation.

Baroni: You’re welcome, buddy.

Make sure you get your picks in here on MMAPredictions! I probably do not have to tell you to keep an eye on CBS this Saturday, May 31 (9-11 p.m. ET/PT)!

- Caleb

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