"Not to take anything away from Howard, but if I was going to pick anybody to fight in the UFC, it would be him. I know my ground game is a little more advanced than his. His striking is OK, I'm definitely not afraid to stand with him... I'm definitely excited, but I'm not too surprised because I think I deserve to be here. I saw a lot of fighters in the UFC I knew I was a lot better than. So now I'm here. I've put my life into this. I'm extremely confident and I can't wait to fight. There's a lot of people who don't know who I am, but I feel after the fight they will know who I am."

Undefeated welterweight prospect Daniel Roberts gives his thoughts on reaching the UFC and his upcoming opponent, John Howard. The bout will take place on the un-aired preliminary portion of the 'UFC on Versus 1' fight card on March 21 in Broomfield, Colorado.

Roberts much desired fight with Howard came about in mid-february after Anthony Johnson pulled out of the bout against Howard due to a knee injury. When the UFC came calling, Roberts did not hesitate to sign with the promotion, and stepped in to face Howard. 

The 29-year-old submission fighter from Tulsa will be looking to get the fight to the ground where he believes he has a distinct advantage over Howard, who is a powerful grappler and has recently shown his power in his hands as well. However, Roberts has stated that he is not afraid to stand with Howard either.

Roberts, who now resides in San Francisco to be in close proximity to training partners such as the Diaz brothers, Gilbert Melendez and Jake Shields, most recently defeated Anthony Macias at a 5150 Combat League/XFL co-promoted event in January. He enters the Octagon with an undefeated 9-0 MMA record, with seven of his wins coming by submission.