Turning the Corner: Justyn Martinez's Rise After Rough Start

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00:00No, we wasn't going well for you.

00:01Now we got these two fights in a row, two great performances.

00:04What's been the biggest difference for you, do you think,

00:06between your early fights with the BKFC

00:08and what you've done with them in the last two?

00:12Man, I went, what, about five AME MMA fights

00:16coming from a wrestling background.

00:18So I, like, me and Coach Bittler were talking last week,

00:23like, shoot, seven, eight pro fights now.

00:26And a lot of these guys,

00:28especially the first few guys I were fighting,

00:30had Chancey was ranked number three,

00:33Ridge was ranked number two.

00:35They both had, we'll say, a bit of pro experience.

00:39And then Lewis, I felt like Lewis was more on my level.

00:43And look what happened to him.

00:45Fought Tetsuki in Japan.

00:47He was their number one guy.

00:50I really just think I had to figure out this boxing thing

00:53coming from this wrestling background.

00:56And I feel like between working with Niko's dad, Lewis,

01:00and Rickles, and Bittler over here,

01:02we're finally starting to put some sh** together.

01:06Yeah, you know, it's always easier when you're in MMA,

01:08you get that wrestling background,

01:09you can't rely on just, like, take the guy down

01:11and not take the damage.

01:12It's a lot more difficult to make that jump

01:14to just swinging fists like you have done.

01:16And you're starting to, you know, turn the corner here

01:18and put on some great performances.

01:20Great win for you over Zay Garcia,

01:21the first round TKO out there in Albuquerque.

01:24But, you know, this one wasn't easier for you from the get-go.

01:27You know, when you see a, you know, minute 40 win,

01:31you're like, all right, this guy just made quick work of his opponent.

01:32Like, he had some good shots either.

01:34The left was landing early a couple of times.

01:35It kind of backed you up a second.

01:37What was going through your mind early in that fight

01:39as, you know, you were the one coming forward,

01:40but he started to get that left a little bit.

01:42What was going through your head to keep you focused

01:44and keep you locked in?

01:46No, no disrespect to Zay.

01:49Maybe it's just because I'm the little guy in the gym as it is.

01:53But Kayla said it.

01:55He hit me with that first left and it just busted my lip a little bit.

01:59And I honestly, I was like,

02:01well, we can sit here and f***ing trade all day.

02:06It's just, he wasn't cracking like that.

02:08Prince wasn't cracking like that.

02:11It's, yeah, he caught me with a left a time or two,

02:15but it just, I wasn't too worried about it, honestly.

02:18He wasn't hitting as hard as some of these other dudes do.

02:23Well, it's great when you have a chin like that,

02:24you can take a few shots to get what you need to get.

02:26You started to really turn the fight around, I thought,

02:29especially for you.

02:30In about 50 seconds in, I think it was,

02:31where you caught him in that exchange.

02:34A couple shots, you know, you landed there.

02:36You were swinging before that, didn't exactly land clean.

02:38Then you got a couple of good ones there

02:39that started cutting him open.

02:40Did you know once that you saw the blood,

02:42do you think there's some change in him

02:43once you started to land and really kind of register with him

02:46that, oh, this is going to be a fight

02:48and I might be in trouble now?

02:50Yeah, I think after that first little exchange by the ropes,

02:55one of the guys sent me a pretty cool picture of it

02:57where he's hanging out of the circle.

03:00I don't know, I feel like after I ate a left or two

03:04and we got in an exchange, yeah,

03:06you kind of saw him realize like, oh, he's not fighting Prince.

03:12We all saw what kind of guy he is.

03:16Yeah, that definitely changed his demeanor

03:19and definitely seemed to give him a second thought

03:21of throwing those big shots

03:23and leaving himself open to what you could do.

03:24And then, of course, it continued.

03:25You kept coming forward and then you got the finish.

03:28You got the big exchange that dropped him.

03:31Did you know when he went down and he started getting back up?

03:33He didn't look, obviously, on point.

03:35Sometimes the ref will let it go

03:37and let the guy try to fight out of it a little bit.

03:38But, you know, obviously the ref in that fight

03:41doing a good job kind of walking him,

03:43making sure he wasn't just trying to go on

03:46and being off balance and out of sorts

03:47and stopping the fight.

03:48When he got up, did you know that it wasn't going to continue

03:51because he wasn't, you know, on point and staring you down

03:53and kind of was off kilter a little bit?

03:57Yeah, like you said, damn good ref.

04:00And as soon as he got up, he had drunk legs

04:04and I don't think you can hear it watching it,

04:07but I'm like, he's walking like he's drunk.

04:11Come on, ref.

04:12I was definitely saying some stuff,

04:16but yeah, that ref's a damn good one.

04:18And yeah, after that first step or two,

04:22you knew he was f***ed.

04:25Well, that was a great victory for you.

04:26And as you said, two in a row now after, you know,

04:29a rough start, you got two quick knockouts.

04:31You know, what's the focus for you now?

04:33How are you feeling after the fight,

04:35you know, a little bit over two weeks after?

04:38Were there any injuries, any banged up things

04:39you got to let heal or are you right back in the gym,

04:41ready to go as soon as they pick up that phone

04:43and dial you up?

04:43We did.

04:44Disney on ice and all that fun stuff with the little one.

04:48Now, what, last night I got five and a half miles in

04:51and I'm right back to it.

04:53Ideally get on this Omaha card.

04:56Fingers crossed.

04:56Nate Shook, send it.

04:58Let's go.

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