Welterweight Nick Martino will be looking for his first professional victory tonight at Valor Fights 35 as he will be facing Jason King on the fight card coming from the Appalachian Fairgrounds in Gray, Tennessee.
Martino (0-1) lost his professional debut against Jonathan Pearce earlier this year at APEX Fights 10 and his biggest learning lesson from that fight is the fact that he needs to be fighting at welterweight.
“I made the decision even before that fight that I was going to be moving up to 170,” Martino recently told The MMA Report. “That fight was at a catchweight of 160 and after I weighed in, I came in two ounces overweight and it was just a horrible weight cut. Just felt like garbage. Jonathan Pearce, my opponent, was a ton better than me that day. It was definitely confirmation that it was time to move up to 170. That was one of the biggest thing I took away from it.”
“At this point in the camp, I am not even thinking about the fight, I am just thinking about gotta make weight. This time, that’s not on the forefront of my mind,” Martino continued. “My weight is on point. I feel so much better. So much healthier. So much stronger. I am not stressing. I am a lot more relaxed so I am able to focus more on my technique and my game plan for the fight as opposed to freaking out if I am going to step on the scale over or not.”
Check out Martino’s complete interview with The MMA Report below.