Goiti Yamauchi wants to prove he’s one of the best 170-pounders on the PFL roster by beating Andrey Koreshkov at Friday night’s event in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Koreshkov, a former Bellator welterweight champion who has beaten the likes of Douglas Lima, Benson Henderson, Lorenz Larkin, and Chidi Njokuani inside the Bellator cage, came up short in his PFL debut by losing a decision to Magomed Umalatov in April.

Yamauchi, who topped Neiman Gracie on the same card, is confident a finish Friday guarantees he’s onto the PFL welterweight playoffs. But he wants more than just points.

“A fight doesn’t always go the way we expect, but the important [thing] for me, more than the technical aspect of it, is timing,” Yamauchi told MMA Fighting. “Timing is on my side. I think Koreshkov’s time is over. He’s gotten there [at the top], but I don’t think he has the same hunger. I want a piece of the cake as well. I want to feel what he has felt, so that’s to my advantage. I believe I’ll be more prepared mentally and spiritually.”

Yamauchi has won three of four since moving up to welterweight in 2022, including a pair of finishes over Gracie and Levan Chokheli. He suffered his only defeat at the hands of Michael Page.

The 31-year old Brazilian celebrates the fact that he’s only facing Koreshkov now, feeling more complete as a mixed martial artist.

“This is the perfect fight for me,” Yamauchi said. “Koreshkov and I were always next to each other in the rankings and I always felt this fight made a lot of sense, but this is the right time to make it.

“I have many fights under my belt now at welterweight, and it’s all about timing. If it happened two or three years ago, it wouldn’t have been interesting. But all the fights I had, and the training camps I did, prepared me to win this fight. I’m very happy with this matchup, and I think it’s going to be a great opportunity.”

Yamauchi said moving up to 170 pounds made him open his eyes to a more diverse training regimen, paying attention to wrestling techniques instead of being too comfortable playing guard in the cage.

“I felt the need to add a bit more of wrestling,” Yamauchi said. “Not pure wrestling, but wrestling for MMA. The funny thing about it is that it feels like everything else has gotten better too. My striking is better, my jiu-jitsu is better, my conditioning is better. It has given me more confidence to do what I want.”