David Martinez is running high, almost three weeks ago his UFC debut.
After a lifelong build and sacrifices, including leaving his lucrative career as a surgeon, Martinez (12-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) realized his dream on March 29th at the UFC at ESPN 64 when he finished Seymon Oliveira on strike in front of the noisy Mexico City crowd.
Martinez still can’t hold back his smile as he looks back on it.
“I’m very excited about my performance and I’m very pleased to have won one of my bonuses,” Martinez told MMA Junkie on Tuesday through a Spanish interpreter. “…For me, it’s a dream. I’m so happy. I’m extremely proud of my performance and my work over the last few months. I was proud because I fought against my city, my people, the best league in the world, the UFC. It was exciting.”
After the first taste of the UFC cage, Martinez is craving more. He wants another fight, another opportunity to gain highlights, and another moment of uplifting as he immerses himself in the noise of the crowd.
Despite fighting in his home country, Martinez admits that the experience was a bit of a foreigner. With events held in the studio without a live audience and increasing the ranks via Combate Global, which moves to UFC through Dana White’s candidate series at UFC Apex, Martinez wasn’t used to that level of energy.
However, he used virtual reality boxing games during training camp to help him mentally adjust.
“It’s a very different mental job,” Martinez said. “I worked on this mental compartment in VR on PlayStation 5, so it’s very interesting. There’s one game boxing with other guys and there’s a lot of noise. I believe this game is the next fight when I platted.
As he distracts his attention from the past towards the future, Martinez thinks it is a simple and easy way to think of the next thing. First, he will help his sister Melissa Martinez at an event scheduled for Nashville, Tennessee on July 12th and at Fatima Klein’s UFC Battle.
He is crossing his fingers that can return to the competition on September 13th at UFC 320, the annual Noche UFC of promotions celebrating Mexico’s Independence Day.
“I want to fight in Mexico in Guadalajara in September,” Martinez said. “I’m ready now. At this moment I’m very focused on my sister (Melissa Martinez)’s next fight. My sister will be fighting on July 12th. I’m very excited to go with her. Next, I think I’ll be in Guadalajara.
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