LAS VEGAS – Jonathan Martinez hopes his fellow bantamweights will start to take him “serious” after he definitively finished Cub Swanson in the UFC Fight Night 212 co-main event.
Martinez (17-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) felt he’s been operating “in the shadows” at 135 pounds in recent years, but thinks he changed the narrative on Saturday when he finished an MMA legend in Swanson (28-13 MMA, 13-9 UFC) with leg kicks inside the second round at the UFC Apex.
He came into fight night with a bit of a chip on his shoulder toward his opponent, too, after Swanson didn’t speak a word at media day.
“I felt it was kind of disrespectful when he did his interview and didn’t say nothing,” Martinez told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the UFC Fight Night 212 post-fight news conference. “(I thought) he was looking at me like I’m nobody. So, I had to go in there and make a statement.”
Martinez most certainly delivered on that promise. He dropped Swanson with a knee in the first round, then in the second started piling on the leg kicks until his opponent went down and the fight was waved off.
The soft-spoken Martinez usually isn’t very emotional, but said that all changed when his hand was raised.
“All this week, I wasn’t really thinking who I was fighting, then at the end, I was like, ‘Damn, I just beat Cub Swanson,'” Martinez said. “So, I’m really excited.”
After the fight, Martinez followed up a memorable win by calling out former UFC champion Dominick Cruz, who was seated cageside in the commentary booth. Cruz took the callout in a respectful manner – though did not explicitly accept – but it’s certainly a fight Martinez wants.
If he can’t get it, though, he said another former champ in Cody Garbrandt is on his radar.
“We got all these guys up there,” Martinez said. “We got Dominick Cruz, we got Cody. If Cody wants it, I’ll fight him. If he’s waiting for the other guy (Rani Yahya) he’s pretty much going to be waiting for four or five years. I’m ready if he’s ready.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 212.
