Athletes
Mario Bautista Tunes Out The Noise
Bantamweight Looks To Ride Win Streak Into The Division Rankings After Saturday
If you haven’t noticed by now, Mario Bautista isn’t too interested in the pomp and circumstance that comes along with life as a prizefighter. So if there was an option to fight in an empty warehouse and still get paid to do this, he’s in.
“Oh yeah, I would definitely do this in an empty warehouse for the money, for sure,” he laughs.
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But as he prepares for his fifth fight in the UFC APEX this weekend against Ricky Simon, he does admit that he embraced the energy of a packed arena when he defeated Da’Mon Blackshear in Boston’s TD Garden last August.
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“I don't need all that extra stuff, but it adds to it and it's fun,” he said. “It was nice to experience that again. So I got a little taste of it, but, at the same time, it didn't feel like anything different once you get focused on the fight, because it's all the same there. “It was pretty cool, though, especially the media leading up to it. That was a fun part.”
Mario Bautista's Athlete Profile
Competing on the UFC 292 card was supposed to be the coming out party for the Arizonan. On a four-fight winning streak and on the verge of breaking into the Top 15, Gutierrez was expected to crash into those bantamweight rankings if he defeated former world champion Cody Garbrandt. But when an injury forced Garbrandt from the bout, Gutierrez was matched up with Blackshear, and he was clearly – and understandably – disappointed with that turn of events.
“I was pretty bummed out for that whole day, and the coaches had to kind of drag me out of thinking about it,” Gutierrez said. “And then you're not really focused on what you're supposed to do because, at the same time, do I continue practicing? I'm going to practice, but it's hard to practice and get ready for a fight. You don't even know what's going to happen. And at that time there was no replacement yet. It was kind of up in the air. So yeah, I was pretty bummed out. I was upset mainly for the fact it was an eight-week camp and then the last week something like that happened. But I experienced it and was still ready to go afterwards. That was the plus I took from it.”
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Bautista’s unanimous decision win wasn’t his best, but after a late change of opponent and one with a different style to boot, he got the job done, and now with five consecutive wins under his belt, he’s got another chance to get a number next to his name when he faces the No. 13-ranked Simon.
Mario Bautista Submits Brian Kelleher In First Round | UFC Fight Night: Tsarukyan vs Gamrot
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Mario Bautista Submits Brian Kelleher In First Round | UFC Fight Night: Tsarukyan vs Gamrot
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“This is the one,” he said. “And in my head, I’m telling myself that this is going to be the fight. Do I belong up there or don't I? It's good motivation to push myself the best I can and really go out there and perform.”
RELATED: Mario Bautista on UFC Unfiltered
Whether it’s in front of 20 people or 20,000.
“I'm not there for the cameras,” Bautista said. “I barely do any prep in case I do get in front of a camera. I'm not thinking, oh, I'm going to say this and that, or I'm going to dress up like this. At the end of the day, if you think about it, none of that really matters. It's just your teammates and your family that matter. All the rest is just extra noise.”
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