Las Vegas, NV – A man of few words except ‘yes’ when it comes to accepting a fight UFC bantamweight Jonathan Martinez will look to score the biggest win of his career when he takes on Said Nurmagomedov at UFC Las Vegas on Saturday night.
Martinez (17-4) is never scared of a fight or fighter, but the cameras may be a bit much for him.
“I’m really excited. Just a little bit nervous. Just right now,” Martinez told reporters on Wednesday.
Not about Nurmagomedov though.
“Nah, just because of ya’ll,” said Martinez. The media may be a bit much for someone who just wants to put their head down, do the work, and fight.
Taking on Nurmagomedov, a fighter many may prefer to avoid until the last possible moment, is something that Martinez did not shy away from regardless of style.
“Once I got (the name) I said yes right away. I was kind of excited because I wanted a ranked opponent so when his name came up I just said yes I will take it,” he said.
A win over a ranked opponent, for Martinez, would be huge given as he’s trying to break into the rankings himself.
“Yeah (it would be the biggest win of my career) because he’s ranked and stuff,” said Martinez.
Martinez isn’t sure how the fight will go so he wasn’t going to make any predictions on that end.
“I really don’t know. Just got to see,” he said.
A bantamweight himself he’ll be paying attention to the fight, but isn’t sure who’s going to win. Martinez just shrugged when asked for a prediction.
Something Martinez is excited for is fighting in front of a crowd in Las Vegas given that this card isn’t a pay-per-view or at the APEX. He also fights earlier in the day, the main card kicks off at 3pm local time, but it doesn’t bother him.
“I’m kind of excited because of the crowd, but think I fought earlier (in the day) a couple times. I don’t think it’ll make a big difference,” said Martinez.
“We train in the morning so it’s like…it doesn’t make a difference.”
He’s also not looking past his opponent on Saturday.
“I don’t want to look that far. I got a big name this Saturday.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Jonathan Martinez above. He takes on Said Nurmagomedov at UFC Las Vegas on Saturday.
