Rotorua's Tom Peato is about to fight a 2.07m South Pacific kickboxing champ - but he believes he knows what he has to do to win.
He is one of 28 fighters on the action-packed card for the Rotorua Muay Thai Gym's Fight Night being held at the Side Pocket tomorrow night. Ten of those fighters are from Rotorua including Peato and his younger brother Charlie Peato, Major Shakur, Greg Stewart and Eru Phillip representing the Rotorua Muay Thai Gym, Kelly Kinita and Leon Mark from Pacific MMA Gym and Sophie Andrew, Zeke Thompson and Cherry Te Kowhai from the Rotorua Lee Gar Gym. Also on the card are fighters from Whakatane, Tauranga and Palmerston North.
Peato will come up against Napier's big hitting hardman Jake Farmer in the main event. The two fighters will face off in a five, two-minute round for the vacant Super Heavy Weight title.
Despite admitting to having a less than active Christmas period, Peato, 24, still says he knows what he has to work on to get results and is feeling pretty confident.
Peato has been hitting the roads and doing a lot of CrossFit-style training in a bid to prepare for the bout.
"This is just another fight really, just got to make sure the fitness is there."
Peato plans to focus on what his trainer Wayne Wairoa tells him to do in the ring and, hopefully, take home another title. He already has the WPMS Super Heavyweight title after winning it in Auckland last week.
This weekend will be the first time Peato has come up against Farmer but he has been watching his style in preparation.
Farmer, who has earned the New Zealand Heavyweight and South Pacific Oceania titles, said he had a lot of respect for Peato as a fighter.
The 24-year-old said he wasn't feeling completely confident of a win and as with every fight, he had some nerves. He said anything could happen in the ring and one punch could change everything.
"He's a good fighter," he said. "You train for what you do, if you win, you win."
Peato's trainer encouraged Rotorua residents to come and support his fighters. "I just hope everything goes well ... I want people to get behind us and support the show and their local fighters," said Wairoa.
After this weekend, Peato wants to look at securing other titles before moving towards fights in Australia, Pacific, Europe and Asia.
Pre-sale tickets for Fight night cost $25 and door sales, $30. Tickets are available from Side Pocket or by contacting Wayne on (022) 162 7851.