MMA: MARTIN MEETS MATTHEWS AT UFC FIGHT NIGHT 142 TONIGHT

28-year-old UFC welterweight contender Anthony Rocco Martin (14-4) battles hometown hero Jake Matthews (14-3) tonight at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre in Australia. Martin vs. Matthews is one of the featured fights on UFC Fight Night 142 and you can catch the action live on FS1 beginning at 9 PM Central time.

Martin’s resume will now include 11 UFC fights on MMA’s largest stage and the feeling is that the Minnesotan is overdue for a mega fight. He scored a career-best highlight reel knockout win on October 6th against Ryan LaFlare at UFC 229. Martin keeps his foot on the gas as he gets right back in against Matthews. A win might make it hard to deny Martin a future UFC headliner.

Minnesota Fight News caught up with Martin shortly after he arrived in Australia last Sunday to discuss the trip, his victory over LaFlare, and his fight against “The Celtic Kid” Matthews.

I watched the first face-off between you and Matthews and It wasn’t typical. You didn’t stop talking to him even when he faced the crowd. What were you saying to him?

MARTIN: I pretty much told him that he isn’t ready. That he is in over his head and there is no way he wins this fight.

You have been in Australia since Sunday. What was the trip like and how has your stay been?

MARTIN: Yeah, I came a week early to get acclimated to the time zone change. There really isn’t too much to do in Adelaide. We have played board games and cards all week outside of training two times a day and we went to the zoo which was pretty cool.

Not a lot of time has passed since your last fight. Has training camp been typical this time around or has there been any noteworthy changes?

MARTIN: I wanted to fight right away and Sean obliged. I was a little hesitant on the 30-hour trip here but it actually went 10 times better than expected. Training camp went almost too good. I always get nervous when everything goes exactly to plan. Nothing changed other then I was able to spar orthodox fighters again.

Will Brock (Larson) be there with you? What is your team looking like that will corner you on fight night?

MARTIN: Brock has been here all week with me as usual. Mike Brown and Kayla Harrison will be in my corner for this one. My striking coach Anderson had already agreed to be in Vegas for the Nov 30 card or he would have been here as well.

Let’s talk about Jake Matthews. Judging from the face-off, I would guess there might be some bad blood between the two of you. Is there a history between you guys and what set you off on him like that?

MARTIN: There isn’t any bad blood. I’m just being myself now. I like to talk “shit” when competing. It is something that keeps me relaxed and is something I have done my entire life. Nothing personal against Mathews other then he is trying to steal my dreams to make his own dreams happen. There is no way I can allow that and that is pretty much what I was telling him. Let the doubts creep in now and then fight night I’ll pound them in.

What can you tell us about Matthews skill-wise and what should we expect to see?

MARTIN: Jake is a skilled fighter that has won a few big fights himself. He seems very strong and has his own dart in and dart out style of striking. He darts in with heavy shots. He doesn’t sit in the pocket very well I don’t think. His wrestling is more of a football tackle than anything. Supposedly, he is a black belt in BJJ but you know what they say. A black belt only covers 2 inches of your ass, you gotta cover the rest.

The LaFlare win was huge and you ended the fight in spectacular fashion. What are your thoughts on that fight?

MARTIN: My last fight was a great ending to the fight. I honestly thought he would try to take me down a little more especially after I hurt him a few times. I think that KO was just the beginning of what I am truly capable of. Everyone thinks of me as a grappler but haven’t been watching closely enough because I think I have become an excellent striker. I have a little different style which sometimes it seems like I get hit a lot but 90% of the strikes are barely landing. And usually, I do that because I know if they can touch me I can hurt them. I use my length very well and I think it showed my last fight. I’m just excited to fight an orthodox fighter since my last 3 opponents were southpaws. Everyone has just seen my cross because that is the main weapon against southpaws. I expect to use my jab a lot for this fight. But back to Ryan, I think it was my biggest win and I expect to keep building on that KO.

Anything you would like to say in closing?

MARTIN: Some people may be wondering why the name change to Anthony Rocco Martin which is actually my full birth name. My sister’s initials both are RRM. My parents actually wanted that for all their kids. But when they went to name me, I was originally going to be named Rocco. My mother thought I would get into too many fights with that name so they went with Anthony and made my middle name Rocco. So as you can see what I do for a living, I think it’s only fitting that everyone starts calling me Rocco.