ORLANDO, Fla. – Alan Jouban makes no attempt to hide his respect for UFC on FOX 28 opponent Ben Saunders, but “Brahma” also has clear intentions for their fight.

“My goal is to put Ben away in this fight and then have a beer with him after,” Jouban told MMAjunkie.

Jouban (15-6 MMA, 6-4 UFC) and Saunders (21-8-2 MMA, 9-5 UFC) meet on the FOX-broadcast preliminary card of Saturday’s UFC on FOX 28 event at Amway Center in Orlando, Fla. Early prelims stream live on UFC Fight Pass before the rest of night airs on FOX.

The two 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu athletes have trained together before, and both consider the other a friend. Still, once they each signed on the bottom line, both have openly admitted it looks there will be fireworks when they step in the cage.

“This is a fight that stylistically, we’re two southpaws, we both press forward,” Jouban said. “We’re both kind of muay Thai stylists with a jiu-jitsu background, as well, but I think this is a good fight that fans are going to want to see.”

But Jouban isn’t looking just for a good fight. With a pair of disappointing setbacks in 2017, Jouban is hoping to rebound in a big way in 2018, aiming to fight four or five times and work his way to his first UFC main event.

He knows to accomplish those goals, simply winning isn’t enough: It needs to be something special.

“I want nothing more than to get back into the win column, but I want to do it in a big way,” Jouban said. “I want the win, first and foremost, but I feel like a win here with a finish, with something that’s a highlight reel – with something that’s a performance bonus-type win puts me right in position.

“You know, everybody has bumps in the road. You’ve seen it with every champion. You’ve seen it with every big name. Everybody has bumps in the road, and that’s all I see this (losing streak) as: It’s a bump in the road. It’s no Alan on a decline.”

Prior to the setbacks, Jouban had notched consecutive wins over Mike Perry, Belal Muhammad and Brendan O’Reilly. Now he’s ready to start building another streak and work his way into the rankings, again. He knows downing Saunders won’t be enough to accomplish that, but it would be a great start, and Jouban believes the exclamation mark he plans to provide could rush the process along.

“I think Ben may not have the number next to his name or anything like that, but Ben is a name in the UFC … He’s a veteran. He’s been in the UFC. He went to Bellator and had a number of fights there. He’s back in the UFC. He’s the kind of guy that’s fought everyone and beat a lot of tough guys and a well-known name, so I think his name carries a lot.

“People know that Ben is an experienced veteran and a tough guy, but I think I need to put a bow on this with a dramatic finish. I think putting Ben away, doing something that is just highlight-reel-worthy afterward does put me in that conversation, but it needs to end in that way.”

To hear more from Jouban, check out the video above.

For more on UFC on FOX 28, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.