LAS VEGAS - Dean (The Boogeyman) Lister may have more than Yushin (Thunder) Okami to worry about Saturday night at UFC 92. UFC president Dana White will be watching with interest cageside.

White wants to see Lister live a little on the wild side.

"He needs to let his hands go. He needs to go in there and actually try to finish a fight," White said. "Dean's a talented guy, he's been fighting in mixed martial arts for a long time.

"He needs to go in there and show it and let it go."

Lister (11-5) is a world-class grappler who is 4-1 in the UFC. He is coming off an impressive submission win over Jeremy Horn in June but some of his previous outings have lacked the flash that White looks for.

Still, the 32-year-old middleweight from San Diego believes his fighting career is on track.

"Absolutely," Lister said. "Right now I'm trying to focus on what I'm doing right, trying to focus on my performance and how I fight. Of course I have the future on my mind, but I'm not trying to worry about that. I'm just worried about Okami. I'm glad about how things have been going and how they're going right now."

The Lister-Okami fight is on the undercard of Forrest Griffin's light-heavyweight title defence against Rashad Evans. UFC 92 (available on pay per view) also features a heavyweight bout between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir and a light-heavyweight grudge match between Quinton (Rampage) Jackson and Wanderlei (The Axe Murderer) Silva.

Okami (23-4) has been a handful for his opponents. The six-foot-two Japanese fighter is 6-1 in the UFC, losing only to former champion Rich Franklin.

The 27-year-old was next in line to challenge current title-holder Anderson Silva but a broken hand forced him to the sidelines. As a result, he has not fought since March when he knocked out Evan Tanner at UFC 82.

Okami is big and powerful, and likes to take opponents down on the ground and control them. He has long arms and a good reach. But he has not shown a flair for finishing. Almost half his fights have gone the distance, including four of his seven in the UFC.

"He's top-level," Lister said. "He has a frustrating style in that it's a neutralizing style. If you're a striker, he can take you down and ground and pound you. And if you're a good wrestler, it's hard to take him down and ground and pound him.

"I'm not trying to face run-of-the-mill opponents and just be a gatekeeper," he added. "I definitely want to challenge myself and climb the ranks. And this is one of the guys to do that."

Okami, meanwhile, needs the win to re-establish his position in the 185-pound pecking order.

"It's one of those hard things when you're in a spot to get an opportunity and something happens and you don't get it. You kind of fall out of line," White said. "It's tough. But Yushin Okami deserves it ... he's a talented guy."

The six-foot-one Lister is a decorated jiu-jitsu fighter who has never been stopped or submitted in MMA. Nine of his 11 wins have come via submission.

He showed his slick skills against Horn, ending the fight via guillotine choke at 3:52 of the first round and avenging a 2003 split decision loss in which Horn cut him badly.

The win was Lister's second since a January 2007 loss to Nate Marquardt. Knocked off his game plan by an early overhand right and knee to the head, Lister lost a unanimous decision.

It was a fight where little went right. Lister acknowledges his preparation and weight-cutting weren't right. Things were also complicated in his personal life.

"So live and learn," he said philosophically.

The son of a U.S. marine, Lister grew up in Venezuela and Panama. Smaller than most at the time, looking different and not speaking Spanish, he garnered attention. So he learned how to defend himself.

He graduated from San Diego State with a degree in sociology and an emphasis on social problems.

Today he runs his own gym, Throwdown Elite Training Center in San Diego, and enjoys travelling -- he speaks Portuguese, Spanish and French.

He mixed travel and training in August, when he went to Croatia to help renowned heavyweight Mirko (Cro Cop) Filipovic prepare for a September fight with Alastair Overeem. It marked the second time he had flown to Croatia to help Cro Cop.

Heading into Saturday night, Lister says his training has been smarter and more strategic this time. He is surrounded by the right people.

He has his eye on the prize.

"I'm not too much worried about the top of the ladder, I'm worried about the next step to get there. That's the long-term goal, but right now I'm not really worried about that at all."