Mario Bautista is continuing in a long tradition of fighters stepping into the UFC on short notice — can he make the most of the opportunity at UFC Brooklyn?
The UFC is coming to Brooklyn, New York on January 19. This is the first event officially happening on ESPN+ and as well as being the first event of the ESPN era. In a bantamweight bout, fan favorite John Lineker was scheduled to take on a rising contender in Cory Sandhagen. Unfortunately, Lineker had to pull out (after Dominick Cruz pulled out of a fight with Lineker weeks earlier) and Sandhagen had to miss out on a big opportunity. With just a week’s notice the UFC would then sign the undefeated Mario Bautista.
Mario Bautista
5’9″
Bantamweight
25-years-old
Glendale, Arizona
MMA Lab
6-0
2 KO/TKO
3 Submissions (D’Arce, Guillotine. Rear-naked Choke)
Get to know Mario Bautista:
Born on July 1st, 1993, Bautista embarked on his amateur MMA career in 2012 at 18 years old, but started wrestling at the age of 14. After wrestling all four years in high school he began training in jiu-jitsu under Jack Montgomery, and two months later he started along his path in MMA. Bautista is from a small town in Winnemucca, Nevada, but ended up moving to Arizona and has been living there for nearly six years. He is currently training with the well-known camp at The MMA Lab under head coach John Crouch and the likes of Benson Henderson, Rick Story, Sean O’Malley, Bobby Moffett, and many more. Bautista has fought for promotions such as Tachi PF, Combate Americas, and two showings in LFA going undefeated at 6-0 in all of his pro career bouts.
What to expect from Mario Bautista:
I expected Bautista to get an opportunity next Summer on the Contender Series but to my surprise, the UFC gave him his shot early. Bautista has fought lower level competition but still looks the part better than many other bantamweight prospects. Striking wise, he is aggressive and always bringing offensive output, never throwing one strike as he is always throwing one-twos. He’s not afraid to stand in the pocket and trade, though it does create openings for him to get caught — but so far his toughness has held up. Not the most technical but he’s always throwing and always the one moving forward. Arguably he is better on the mat, but his wrestling is still a work in progress when shooting from the outside. Bautista excels at striking his way into the clinch to use takedowns. The MMA Lab has a knack for their fighters being dangerous on the mat with slick jiu-jitsu and a good submission attack, and Bautista fits the mold. Of course, while 6-0, Bautista is still unpolished, but he remains a threat with his back takes and his ability to go after the neck of his opponent.
How he matches up with Cory Sandhagen:
The path to victory for Bautista would be to get the takedown and use his grappling. Sandhagen does have a good reach and is tall so it will be tough to get to the inside on him. Bautista will need to make it an ugly fight on the feet as Sandhagen is much more technical and his footwork is much better. Sandhagen will need to utilize his range and use leg kicks to keep Bautista at bay. This should be a fun fight but there’s a good chance Sandhagen wins.
UFC Brooklyn (UFC Fight Night 143) takes place January 19 at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, NY.
