He has sat patiently and watched other fighters in his camp train and fight, train and fight. He has helped prepare his teammates at Jackson’s Submission Fighting in Albuquerque, New Mexico for wars that have come and gone.

Now it is Joey Villasenor (Pictures)’s turn.

The middleweight squares off against “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (Pictures) (11-4-0) Saturday live on pay-per-view from Las Vegas on the under card of PRIDE’s “Real Deal” card at the Thomas & Mack Center.

“We’ve been training hard,” said Villasenor (22-4-0). “We had a great camp. We’ve already had two of our athletes fight and me next Saturday. We all just can’t wait till fight day.”

Villasenor has not fought in PRIDE since losing a controversial split decision to Ryo Chonan (Pictures) in June of this year. However, the “Dream Smasher” got back on the right track in July, needing just four minutes to walk away with a TKO victory over John Cronk (Pictures) in a nice tune-up fight.

Saturday will be the first time PRIDE has promoted on American soil, and the event is dubbed “Real Deal” for good reason. With the likes of Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures), Mark Coleman (Pictures), Kevin Randleman (Pictures), Mauricio Rua (Pictures), Dan Henderson (Pictures), Vitor Belfort (Pictures), Josh Barnett (Pictures) and other MMA superstars gracing the card, Villasenor is honored to fight amongst them.

“It’s not only important to me and my team,” Villasenor suggested, “but it’s important to all of MMA.”

This will be an opportunity for Villasenor to show America what he brings to the table. “I wanna show them that I deserve to be among the top ranked middleweights,” he said. “I bring aggressiveness. I love to finish fights. So I can show the American fans the one solider left behind on the Jackson’s Crew, the one left unseen.”

Unlike Villasenor’s last fight, this will not be a tune-up by any means. Across the ring from him will stand Lawler, who trains at one of the most respected camps in MMA: Miletich Fighting Systems, which has produced such notable fighters as UFC heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia (Pictures) and arguably the greatest welterweight in the sport, Matt Hughes (Pictures).

Villasenor knows all about MFS, but said his camp is on the rise. “They’re very respected and, hey, we’re trying to earn ours too, you know.” When you look at it from a Jackson vs. Miletich perspective, as the “Dream Smasher” does, it adds fuel to the fire.

“Lawler is a tough guy,” he said. “I’m not going to take nothing away from him. I’m just excited it’s someone as exciting as Robbie Lawler (Pictures). The only thing I do hope to take from him is a win.”

This fight could go anywhere. Both are known for their stand-up ability but both also train at camps that emphasize excellent ground skills.

“I anticipate igniting a high pace,” Villasenor said. “We would definitely love to see it hit the mat to see where his abilities are. Everyone knows that ours are pretty world class. If not we’ll just stand and bang you know. We both know we can both display power. It’s all about who can land that power.”