'TUF: Latin America 3' winner Martin Bravo believes mental skills serve him best on UFC road ahead

Now that Martin Bravo is a “TUF” winner, things probably won’t get any easier for him as he starts his official run in the UFC.

But then again, he’s already been through some bumps in the road and passed those tests, and passed another when he won Season 3 of “The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America” on Saturday. So maybe if he has tough challenges ahead at the next level of his career, it’ll seem like old hat.

On Saturday, Bravo (11-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) finished Claudio Puelles (7-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) with a second-round TKO to win “TUF: Latin America 3” at UFC Fight Night 98 at Mexico City Arena in Mexico in a bout that aired live on FS1.

“I had a meniscus surgery, and I had to recover from that,” Bravo said through a translator after his victoroy. “I trained with people who are usually bigger than me so that really helped and I was ready for the fight.”

Plus, he was ready for a fight in his home country of Mexico. Including his “TUF” run, he hadn’t fought in his home country since June 2015.

“To me, this is a dream come true,” he said. “I was visualizing this – being able to hold this trophy here in my hands. It was unbelievable – the fact (I) had all the people rooting for (me) felt really good. I usually fight in some other countries, so I’m used to having the public against me. It was just great feeling the crowd on my side.”

Bravo trained under UFC Hall of Famer and original “Ultimate Fighter” winner Forrest Griffin on the show. Griffin, along with fellow Hall of Famer and opposing coach Chuck Liddell, were at the fight in Mexico City.

So naturally, Griffin was high on Bravo’s priority list to celebrate with after his win.

“I jumped out of the cage because I really wanted to dedicate this win to all my training mates, all my teammates and also to my coaches,” he said. “That’s why I went out there and hugged them right away.”

Bravo clearly has the physical skills necessary to excel at the MMA game. He’s unbeaten, and he’s a “TUF” winner. But his teammates on the show seemed to praise his mental abilities as much as his physical ones, and that, Bravo believes, is where he can make a difference for himself now that his UFC career is off to a great start.

“There were very good and tough fighters to be on that team – I’m very fortunate to be on that team,” Bravo said. “Sometimes I’m not the best at working at the gym, but my mentality is very important. A lot of this is mental, and I’m very good at the mental aspect of being a fighter.”

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 98, check out the UFC Events section of the site.