Las Vegas — Bantamweight Mario Bautista headlines his first UFC card this Saturday, taking on Vinicius Oliveira in the headliner of UFC Vegas 113.
The fight isn’t without a bit of drama, as Oliveira said just days ago that, a week out from the fight, he was 30lbs heavy. A large weight cut looms. Bautista himself said during Wednesday’s media day that he preferred to keep his weight down coming into Fight Week.
“No, I like to be pretty disciplined and on top of that, that way I don’t have any issues come Fight Week,” Bautista (16-3) said, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press. “Hopefully he makes the weight, and if he doesn’t, we’ll walk away with a little bit more money. Either way.”
Oliveira has only lost by finish, and that’s an area Bautista might be able to exploit. “I’ll definitely look for the finish, yes. I think he’s lost three times by knockout; he’s a live by the sword, die by the sword kind of guy. Definitely looking for that.”
Bautista arriving at this moment has been a long time coming. The 32-year old has taken the long road in the UFC, perhaps in part due to his soft-spoken nature. He’s not a trash talker, not one causing a scene, but he doesn’t feel that has hurt him exactly.
“I wouldn’t say so. I got that Umar [Nurmagomedov] fight, I got this main event spot coming off a loss too. Could it have helped out? Probably,” he told Cageside Press. “It works for Vinicius, his style and the way he carries himself, he has this spot at four fights. But the positive thing for me is, I gained a bunch of experience doing it the hard way, having all these fights. So no, I don’t think so.”
Nurmagomedov was Bautista’s most recent opponent, and a decision loss to the Dagestani saw an eight-fight win streak snapped. The #9-ranked bantamweight admits that he took it hard at first.
“It’s definitely tough. Those first few weeks, I felt like I just crapped the bed. I was upset. And then everyone would say I did a great job, I went out there, I fought hard, actually fought him.” That, in comparison to Umar’s most recent fight, where Deiveson Figueiredo didn’t seem to want to engage with Nurmagomedov. “I went out there and gave it my best. What it made me realize is, I belong at the very top. Everyone thinks that Umar can be a champion and probably will be a champion, and I gave him pretty tough fight.”
Bautista does hope the pair crosses paths again some day. “And hopefully he has the belt at that point.”
Up next for the UFC bantamweight title is almost certainly an immediate rematch between Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili. The UFC doesn’t always book immediate rematches, but Bautista feels the Georgian ex-champ deserves the opportunity.
“I think Merab definitely deserves it. He was a great champion, he fought whenever the company asked him to, he fought four times in the calendar year. All tough fights. So yeah, I think he deserves it.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 113 media day appearance by Mario Bautista above.
