For his first bout of 2017, prospect Trent Meaux knew what to expect from his opponent, Ciao Machado, and was able to pick up a unanimous decision at Legacy Fighting Alliance 3 in February.
“(Machado is) really good on the ground, but I knew he like to bang and was really tough, so the plan was to work on getting in and getting out, and working my angles, and that’s what we did in the fight,” Meaux told MMAWeekly.com. “The only thing I could say that I could have really done better was finishing the fight.”
While Meaux has finished his opponent in four of six wins, he still would like to be able to get more decisive victories, and thus has decided to work his way down from bantamweight to flyweight.
“The guys at 135-pounds are so much bigger me, that if I drop down to 125-pounds I would have an easier time finishing fights,” said Meaux. “I’m 20-times faster (at 125-pounds) than I was at 135-pounds. You would think I might slow it down because I didn’t have more energy, but I guess because I’m not holding on to all this extra weight (I move faster).”
Meaux (6-2-1) will look to pick up his third win in a row when he takes on late replacement Maikel Perez (1-1) in a main card 130-pound catchweight bout at LFA 13 on Friday in Burbank, Calif.
“Nothing at all has changed, actually,” Meaux said of the change in opponent. “It’s the exact same plan: move and work my angles.
“The only difference really is that we have brought in some wrestlers (at training) and they have shot in on me a lot. From what I’ve seen of (Perez) is that he likes to clinch a lot. He might not shoot as much, but we brought in some wrestlers to work on my sprawl.”
Originally scheduled to face top prospect Boston Salmon, Meaux doesn’t overlook what the less-known Perez is bringing to the table in their bout.
“I don’t look at (Perez) as a no-name opponent,” said Meaux. “He is an Olympic wrestler. He’s going to be a tough opponent. I am not looking past him.
“I’ve been in his shoes. I’ve had a hard time getting fights because I don’t have a lot of fights. So the fights that I could get were against guys who had really good records. I think maybe they overlooked me because I didn’t have a great record, and so I’ve won some fights with really good records.”
Meaux hopes a win on June 2 can help lead to a possible rematch with a title on the line in the future.
“I definitely go fight by fight, but at the same time, I want a title shot,” Meaux said. “Everybody wants a title shot. I would love to keep getting fights with (the LFA), keep winning and get a title shot.
“They’re having a flyweight title fight in a few weeks, and I’ll be watching that fight really closely because Roberto (Sanchez) beat me in my first LFC fight, and I want to get that win back. I’m rooting for (Sanchez) to win, so after I win, I can fight him for the title and get the belt.”
