Almost one year ago to the date of his upcoming Oktagon 81 fight, Jonas Magard stepped into the cage with UFC-veteran Igor Severino in a bout that would put the winner in prime position to attack the title. After a back-and-forth affair, two of the three judges found the bout in favor of Severino. With a year to think about it and having been able to watch it back, Magard’s feelings on the fight are unchanged.
“I definitely thought I won and watching it back, I still think I won,” Magard explained. “But it was a close fight, and I saw him, he was doing some damage. I definitely know I lost the third round, but the two first rounds, I definitely won.”
In addition to feeling he had already done enough, Magard notes that he wasn’t 100% going into that fight. Multiple things weighed heavy on him heading into the fight and perhaps made him a touch less effective in the later rounds.
“Going into that fight, I was also dealing with a lot of things outside. I had a bad staph infection a week before the fight. So, yeah, it definitely affected me in the third round,” he said. “I had a bad weight cut as well, the worst weight cut I’ve ever had, but I still think I won that fight.”
Now, with his former foe booked for the title shot in February, Magard has his eyes on him yet again. However, that focus doesn’t come from the shiny belt, but rather revenge.
“I don’t really care about the title. I just want to go in and hurt him. I definitely have a chip on my shoulder when it comes to this fight,” Magard said. “I know I’m better than him. I haven’t almost finished him in there in the second round. It is what it is and it’s good with some new blood, but we all know who the real champion is here.”
Although he has his mind set on revenge, he first has to deal with his opponent – Elvis Silva. The Brazilian karate-specialist is a much different look than Severino or any of Magar’s past opponents, but one that he is more than prepared for.
“I see a lot of holes in his games, and he has a lot of rhythms he’s doing and patterns. I’ve been watching his fight every day since the fight was announced, so I know what he’s going to come with,” he said. “He has such a style that it’s going to be very hard for him to change, because he’s not a guy who has changed his style. He has some very, very bad habits when it comes to MMA. I don’t know if it works for karate or kickboxing or whatever, but in MMA, he has some very, very bad habits. I’m just there to take advantage of that.”
You can catch Magard’s fight with Igor Severino as part of the Oktagon 81 main card. The fight card begins at noon EST and airs on oktagon.tv.
