Niagara Top Team’s Matt DiMarcantonio reveals how his flying knee at BTC 8 came to be.
Niagara Falls, ON — Featherweight Matt DiMarcantonio had a busy night Saturday at BTC 8 in Niagara Falls.
Ahead of his own fight against Tyler Wilson at the Scotiabank Convention Centre, DiMarcantonio (12-8), who coaches at Niagara Top Top, cornered two of his fighters — Teshay Gouthro and Jasmine Jasudavicius. Then, he wrapped up his hands and hopped in himself.
Through all three fights, you may have heard some familiar names called out from the Niagara Top Team corner. Nurmagomedov. Vitor.
As in Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Vitor Belfort. Speaking to Cageside Press post-fight, DiMarcantonio explained that “one thing is in our fights, we watch a lot of UFC. We’re obsessed with the sport. We hang out, we watch fights, we see like, Khabib really likes that first grab on the ground to really keep people down and control them. So in the gym we just call it the Khabib, or the Nurmagomedov.”
There’s a whole little system based on UFC legends. “Vitor, he has that famous front kick to the face. Well Vitor, we all know what Vitor means. The Holloway, the 1-2, 1-2 he hit on Aldo, if we hear one of the guys say ‘Holloway,’ we all know what that is. We’ve got a whole system like that, of fun stuff.”
The flying knee DiMarcantonio threw early in the fight has its own name as well. “I was actually talking about that all camp, I was like ‘should I try the Masvidal?’ That’s what we called it, ‘The Masvidal.’ ‘Should I try the Masvidal?'”
Gambred, it seems, has made his impact on MMA culture. “Everyone was kind of like joking about it the whole camp,” DiMarcantonio continued. “I’m like ‘aww I’m going to chicken out, I’m going to chicken out.’ Just before we were walking out, one of my coaches, he said ‘don’t be a p*ssy. You’re a p*ssy, you won’t try the Masvidal. You won’t try it.’ He’s smiling, I’m like ‘yeah, probably won’t try it, probably won’t try it in the cage.'”
His coach continued to egg him on immediately before the fight. “I’m like ‘either I’m going to land it, or I’m going to get smacked for it.'” It worked out in the end.
“I took a risk, and it landed. I didn’t realize it landed so good,” he admitted. “He was cut right open, Ty Wilson’s tough.” The fight ultimately ended in a unanimous decision for Matt.
One of DiMarcantonio’s prior opponents is making his UFC debut next weekend at UFC on ESPN 7 in Washington, D.C. Billy Quarantillo will be stepping into the octagon for the first time officially, after stints on The Ultimate Fighter and Dana White’s Contender Series.
“He’s good. Quarantillo’s good,” Matt DiMarcantonio said of his former opponent. Of course, that’s a fight he’d love to get back. “When I fought him, I just made some bad decisions. We went all three rounds, I’d love to fight him again.”
Watch our full BTC 8 post-fight interview with Matt DiMarcantonio above!
