Matt Wagy did not have the kind of year he wanted to have in 2014 as he went 1-2 and his last fight of the year was a submission defeat to William Sizemore at Titan FC 31 on Halloween night.
He was scheduled to face Benito Lopez at World Series of Fighting 16 in December, but the fight was scratched and they will now meet at WFC 13 next Saturday night in Sacramento, California.
Their fight at WFC 13 will take place at the same venue that hosted World Series of Fighting 16 and Wagy (3-3) stated on The MMA Report Live that Lopez is the one who pulled out of their fight in December.
“I guess supposedly he had some sort of issue,” Wagy said. “He got sick or something a few weeks out. I don’t know. Maybe he needed more time to get ready for the fight or something like that. He backed out of the fight — same exact location actually. Same matchmaker just a lot less money, which kind of bugs me. Other than that, everything is pretty much exactly the same.”
The scheduled fight in December was a big stage for Wagy as most people consider the World Series of Fighting as the number three mixed martial arts promotion in the United States. The fight being canceled was frustrating for Wagy and a big reason for that was having multiple Team Alpha Male teammates on that card.
“It was frustrating but at the same time, I know that I am going to be there,” Wagy explained. “It’s not a huge thing for me. I know that I am going to make that stage eventually. It was a little frustrating. I was excited on there with my teammates as I had a bunch of teammates fighting on that show. There is a lot of teammates fighting on this show as well and it’s going to be fun regardless. I am looking forward to the fight.”
Wagy is hoping to have a much better year in 2015 than he had in 2014 and he feels like this will be a great year for him. He believes he has turned a corner in his career as he has stopped viewing mixed martial arts as a sport, but as a fight.
“I have beaten myself in these fights. It’s been my mentality going into fights. Like I have said in interviews in the past, it’s been me going in there and treating it like a sport and not a fight. I have turned a corner this year. I got pissed off because my very first fight with CFA, I got angry at the guy. I broke his ribs and I broke his orbital I think. I really hurt the guy. When I am angry, I want want to hurt somebody, I am pretty dangerous. It’s just going in there with the right mentality and I am looking forward to this fight. It’s going to be a lot different.”
He is confident that he will walk out of the WFC cage on February 28 with a victory and he believes he will walk away with a stoppage victory.
“I think I am going to finish him and it does not matter — I do not think it will go to the decision. I think I will be able to finish him. It really depends on how the fight goes. What he does, what I decide to do but I have no set way of how it’s going to go down. I think a finish for sure.”