Tennessee mixed martial artist Jesse Grun will look to claim a title tonight in the co-main event of Valor Fights 31 as he will be meeting Ultimate Fighter 21 alum Felipe Portela for the vacant Valor Fights welterweight title.
Grun (3-1) enters this fight with wins in his last two fights and his only professional defeat came nearly one year ago against current Valor Fights middleweight champion Sid Wheeler. Since that fight, he has dropped down to the welterweight division and has scored back to back victories by submission.
While many people on the national mixed martial arts scene may not be aware of Grun at this point of his career, many people are aware of Portela due to his time on The Ultimate Fighter 21 last year. Since the conclusion of that show, Portela scored a victory in September and Grun is excited about the opportunity to fight a known fight in the industry.
“His name, it’s definitely been a honor to be pitted against the guy,” Grun told The MMA Report. “Definitely excited to be fighting a tough guy. It’s been motivating. Definitely not having any trouble getting into the gym and being motivated. I know he is going to be a tough guy. I know it’s going to be a tough fight so super excited.”
When it comes to the fight, Grun knows the type of fight that his opponent is going to bring tonight. He understands that he is facing a patient fighter and he knows a key to victory to dedicating where this fight goes.
“Felipe is one of those guys that will fight you on your head if he has to,” he explained. “He is very seasoned and very well-rounded. He is a very patient fighter. He does well with standing there, staying busy, and looking for the openings. I think one thing that I am definitely going to work for is try to dedicate the pace and try to take the fight to him. But he is just a resilient, tough guy. This is definitely going to be a war for sure.”