Atlanta, GA — “The Mad Titan” Yorgan De Castro is well aware he needs a finish this Friday at PFL 5 to continue on to the playoffs.
That said, the former UFC heavyweight isn’t about to let the pressure get to him in his fight with Denis Goltsov.
“Absolutely man. I always have fun. People always say ‘oh you’re always laughing, you’re always smiling during fight week,'” De Castro (9-4) told Cageside Press in an exclusive interview this week. “I choose to be here, I want to be here.”
“The pressure is good sometimes. If you don’t feel that pressure, I think you’re in the wrong business. I do feel the pressure, I pretend sometimes I don’t feel it, but I think it’ll happen. I did everything in my power to be ready. I simulated everything in my fight camp to get it done in under five minutes, but I know I may have to fight fifteen minutes. So I’m ready to fight.”
When he goes in search of that first-round stoppage, De Castro’s family will be watching cageside. And for good reason, he explained.
“You gotta know your priorities. I do this for my family, and my family only. So they should be with me. Not just in the good, the good and the bad,” said De Castro. “I’ve lost some fights, I got knocked out once, but it’s a part of life. I want to show my daughter life is not just sunshine, rainbows and all things. Sometimes daddy wins, sometimes daddy loses. I want her to grow up as a strong human being, a strong woman. So being with me, seeing all these things is good.”
Plus, having his family with him helps him relax, said De Castro.
A few years back, De Castro was rallying the larger heavyweights — more recently, some of the big guys have been finding success. Jon Jones was far from shredded when he claimed the UFC heavyweight championship. Roy Nelson just knocked out Dillon Cleckler in Gamebred Bareknuckle. Names like Derrick Lewis, Alexander Romanov, Chris Barnett and others continue to find success.
De Castro is all for it. There’s just one problem. “PFL, I’m the only fat guy here. Everybody is 6’5, everybody has abs, everybody’s tall. I’m the short guy here. They want me to lose weight too, I’m not. I’m going to keep it strong for the short guys.”
Watch our full interview with PFL heavyweight Yorgan De Castro above.
