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Johannesburg - Demarte Pena is relishing the opportunity of dismantling his opponent, Abdul Hassan, when the pair meet at Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC) Africa 21, a mixed martial arts series, in Brakpan on Thursday night.
"I'm sick and tired of all his talking and acting big because I need to teach this guy a lesson. And he is going to get a lesson, a big one," Pena said on Wednesday.
"Abdul hasn't fought the level of fighters that I've fought, and he doesn't train with the level of fighters that I train with."
The fighters had been talking up a storm in the build-up to the contest, but Pena had no concerns as he prepared to retain his crown.
"Him talking big? He's just being delusional and it's not going to happen for him," Pena said.
"He's going to realise what it is to face a champion."
Undisputed Pena will put it all on the line, having already defended his title against some of the top fighters on the continent.
However, despite Pena's insistence that he would walk away with the belt, Hassan remained confident of his chances.
"I'm too fast, I'm too strong and I'm too intelligent to be beaten," Hassan said.
"I just can't see him thinking faster than me on that mat… it's impossible.
"All I do is eat, sleep and train this (martial arts)... I breathe this. This is everything to me and I want this belt around my waist."
In the other main-card bouts, Bernardo Mikixi challenges Sors Grobbelaar in the heavyweight division, while Ruan Potts meets Mahmoud Hassan in Potts' highly anticipated return to heavyweight action.
In the middleweight division, JC Lamprecht takes on Jason Culverwell, before Gareth Buirski and Francois Groenewald go head-to-head in the featherweight division.
