Karl
Williams knows the drill.
The 6-foot-3, 260-pound heavyweight will set out in search of his
second
Professional Fighters League victory when he squares off with
Maxwell
Djantou Nana as part of the
PFL Sioux Falls undercard this Saturday at the Sanford Pentagon
in South Dakota. Williams, 36, holds a 1-3 record with the
promotion and last competed on Feb. 7, when he tapped to a
second-round arm-triangle choke from Pouya
Rahmani at PFL Dubai. It was his fourth consecutive defeat
dating back to his exit from the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.
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Williams makes no excuses for his recent run of adversity.
“The results have been the results, and every time it’s like that,
I can only control what I can control,” Williams said. “I go into
the gym, [and] I work as hard as I can [and] get with the best
training partners. I’ve been training with Francis [Ngannou] for
this camp, and he’s been back training, so I’ve gotten as many
rounds as possible with him. As far as putting stuff out there, I’m
doing everything I can. Now what I can’t control is what people do
on the other side. I got into this sport because I wanted to
compete and be the best that I can be, naturally, and go from
there. That’s what I want to do. Just work my hardest for it all,
and then the results will be the results.”
In Nana, he faces another top international prospect comparable to
Rahmani. “Leonidas” has won seven of his past eight bouts, a
technical knockout loss to Justin
Clarke in October his only misstep. Williams points to
experience as one of his clear advantages.
“I mean he’s similar to the last opponent I had, a young guy not
really tested in the sport,” he said. “I think he has a good
background in other sports, so he is an athlete, but MMA is
different. I don’t know why they keep giving me prospects, but they
keep giving them to me. I welcome it. Are they trying to give me
prospects because they think they’re an easy fight for me, or are
they trying to have the prospect build their name off of me? You
never know what that backroom conversation is, and I don’t know
what the story is behind it, but they keep giving me these
prospects.”
Williams has managed to keep doubt at bay despite his recent
downturn. In fact, by the time he climbs into the cage, well over
two years will have passed since his most recent win—a unanimous
decision over Justin Tafa
in the UFC.
Struggles aside, confidence still intact
“I don’t feel I’m in a mental skid at all,” Williams said. “For me,
mentally, I can only prepare the right way, do the right things and
then the truth will come out. Certain things will come out, and the
truth will come out about my last fight.”
Williams plans to leave the past in the past, all while retaining
the kind of confidence he needs to succeed at a high level.
“I’m going to give a good performance,” he said. “I’m going to
bring it all and go from there. You’re going to see a good
competition. The results are going to be the results. I know what
kind of results I’ve been training for. When my coaches asked me
how I felt about this fight, I told myself I wasn’t going to say a
damn thing. Because I’ll go in there and I’ll think everything is
on the up and up. Then something happened, and everything is not on
the up and up, and it’s going to go to crap. So I’ll just go out
there, and you’ll get a good performance out of me. You’re going to
get a good fight out of me. Then I’m just going to give it to God
after that.”