LAS VEGAS – Brendson Ribeiro is aware he’s being counted out – and he likes that.

UFC Fight Night 272 won’t be the first time Ribeiro (17-9 MMA, 2-4 UFC) has entered the underdog, and he plans to once again upset the oddsmakers.

“I’ve fought guys with hype. I’ve fought guys who were undefeated,” Ribeiro told MMA Junkie and other reporters through a Portuguese-language interpreter at a pre-fight news conference Wednesday. “Myself, I had a little hype. I was undefeated once. I’m going to show people with a win on Saturday why I’m here and why I deserve to be here. I’ll show that to people Saturday night.”

Ribeiro will face highly-touted Turkish light heavyweight Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev at Meta APEX. Yakhyaev (8-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is forecasted by many to be a future title contender, showing off a versatile attack of finishing abilities. But that doesn’t change much as far as Ribeiro is concerned.

“I’m not going to run away from him,” Ribeiro said. “I’m never going to run away from anybody here in the UFC or in other promotions. Again, I fought when people were hyped. I fought people who were undefeated. I’ve been undefeated myself. There’s a big difference. He wants to win. I need to win.”

There is pressure, Ribeiro admits. In fact, his back might be up against the wall having lost back-to-back fights and four of six. Still, Ribeiro doesn’t just want to pick up a safe win. He wants to generate buzz with a big knockout.

“I want people to be talking about me when the fight is over,” Ribeiro said. “I want people to remember. I want people to say, ‘Look at the performance he had.’ I know there will be a main event and a co-main event and everything, but I want people to remember. I want people to say, ‘Hey, listen, Brendson had a great performance.’ That’s what I came here for and that’s what I’m going to look for.”

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Brendson Ribeiro not scared despite UFC Vegas 115 opponent hype