Jonathan Martinez thought combating Jose Aldo could be the identical as some other opponent. Then the pair acquired into the octagon at UFC 301, and the whole lot was totally different.
Martinez (19-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) was tasked with welcoming UFC Corridor of Famer Aldo (32-8 MMA, 14-7 UFC) again from retirement within the co-headliner of the Could occasion in Rio de Janeiro. It didn’t go his approach, as a result of “Scarface” turned in a classic efficiency to win a unanimous determination.
The consequence snapped Martinez’s six-fight successful streak, and in comparison with a few of his different current showings, it appeared he simply couldn’t get his offensive stepping into an efficient method. In line with Martinez, a lot of that needed to with being in awe of the legend he was sharing the octagon with.
“It was actual robust,” Martinez informed MMA Junkie throughout a current interview at UFC X. “I educated laborious for that struggle. The factor was I let the title and the face in entrance of me, after I went on the market within the cage I seen, ‘I’m combating Jose Aldo.’ That’s after I began to go, ‘Wow.’ Everybody who noticed me struggle is aware of that wasn’t me in there. That’s not the way in which I am going in there. I used to be just about simply strolling, not doing what I used to be presupposed to do and that price me within the struggle.”
Martinez, 30, is aware of he fumbled a giant alternative to reinforce his resume in opposition to Aldo, nonetheless, he’s not deterred. He desires to proper the ship in opposition to one other legend of the game, and has his eyes on a showdown with former UFC and WEC titleholder Dominick Cruz, ideally at Noche UFC, which fits down Sept. 14 at Sphere in Las Vegas.
A part of the motivation for the callout, Martinez mentioned, is his recollection of issues Cruz (24-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) has mentioned whereas commentating his fights through the years.
“I need to be on that (Sphere) card in September,” Martinez mentioned. “I need to be on that card, and I’ve been listening to Dominick Cruz desires to struggle on that date, too. Hopefully they offer me him. I simply hear him each time I struggle he’s at all times saying, ‘I don’t know why they don’t verify Jonathan’s kicks.’ Put him in entrance of me and let him do this and see what occurs.”
Martinez mentioned his request to struggle Cruz isn’t to proper any form of fallacious from the Aldo struggle. He doesn’t view “The Dominator” in the identical glamorous mild as he did Aldo, so for him, it might be a special mindset when he steps within the cage.
“I used to be by no means a fan,” Martinez mentioned. “He was simply there to me.”
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