If you scan up and down the UFC roster, you’ll only find a handful of them in their 40s. The majority of them are in the heavier weight classes – guys like Andrei Arlovski and Glover Teixeira, who serve as reminders of an earlier era. But if you scan further down in weight you’ll come across a 42-year old bantamweight in UFC Vegas 61’s Guido Cannetti.
After turning pro in the winter of 2007, Cannetti has put together a long career full of ups and downs. Despite the rocky patches over the years, Cannetti feels like now, in his 40s, he’s starting to really put it all together.
“I came out strong. I believe I had the potential to be champion, but unfortunately things didn’t go my way early in my career,” he said through a translator. “But as time went on, I feel like I started getting the hang of it.”
Some of the reason he thinks things went awry early on was that he had issues with his preparation. Now that he’s squared that away, he thinks the best times are ahead of him.
“When I first stared, I really believed that I was over-training. I also believe my diet was not correct. I believe I wasn’t taking in enough,” Cannetti admitted. “After making some adjustments with a new trainer, with my new diet, I feel better than ever at 42.”
With all of that having been dealt with, and coming off a big win over Kris Moutinho, Cannetti is brimming with confidence. He heads into this weekend feeling like he can take out anyone – but especially having a key advantage over his next opponent.
“There’s a big difference between me and Randy [Costa],” he proclaims. “I don’t mind getting hit, while he does.”
In a fight that is promising fireworks, Cannetti feels that’ll be the big difference. You can see his bout with Randy Costa on the prelims of UFC Vegas 61 on ESPN+ this Saturday.
You can hear the entire audio of this interview at 22:37.
