UFC Fight Night 112 winner Tony Martin: 'I think I can be the best fighter in the world'

OKLAHOMA CITY – Tony Martin made no secret of his general dislike for Johnny Case ahead of their UFC Fight Night 112 scrap.

But he also believed Case (22-6 MMA, 4-2 UFC) would be the right opponent to help highlight his own evolving skill set. As his unanimous decision win following an exciting, close fight showed, Martin (12-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) was on to something. For many – including Martin himself – Sunday’s battle was his best one yet.

And after 15 minutes of exchanged blows, nods and more than a few words, it seems like the two have reached somewhat of a truce.

“When you have a problem, you just get in there and you figure it out,” Martin said after the lightweight bout at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Okla., which streamed on UFC Fight Pass. “You hash it out, and then you just earn your respect.

“I don’t have to like the guy; he doesn’t have to like me afterward. But at the end of the day, you do respect each other as fighters. He did show up, so I’ve got to respect that.”

For Martin, who says he’s used to “talking a little crap” to lighten the mood in training, having that kind of heat with Case helped him feel more comfortable inside the cage, even though some of those words, he revealed, were him calling Case a cheater after some eye pokes.

“But I was just amped up,” Martin said. “In the beginning of the fight, he hit me with a jab and said something like, ‘Alright, let’s fight now.’ I just faked a takedown. I said ‘alright,’ I started talking once I started landing. Like, ‘Let’s go, I’m here. You act like I was just going to try to take you down the whole fight, but I’m here. Let’s scrap.’

“And I think I broke him mentally. I think that he started fading. And I think that’s when I kept getting stronger. I think he didn’t expect me to strike with him the whole fight. He just expected to defend takedowns, and that was a bad game plan.”

But talking wasn’t Martin’s main tool – yet, it was the surprisingly crisp stand-up game he’s long been perfecting with the likes of boxing coach Eddie Alvarez. On his end, Martin understands why most weren’t expecting that level of striking coming from him.

Which is why Martin, who’s happy to go up against high-level strikers at the gym, took it upon himself to show it.

“I think my striking was extremely underrated coming into this fight,” Martin said. “And I haven’t shown it in any fight, so it’s not any disrespect to anyone else. But I had something to prove. I went out there, and I proved it. Now, people better start respecting my striking.”

Martin has faced some of the top competitors in the lightweight division before. In fact, he was rudely welcomed into the octagon by two of them, dropping back-to-back losses to Rashid Magomedov and Beneil Dariush before Fabricio Camoes became his first UFC victim.

But now, riding a three-fight streak and feeling like he’s finally come into his own as a fighter, Martin would like a new crack at the top 15.

“I was just this little kid coming in here, just an athlete,” Martin said. “And my skills weren’t anywhere near where they are right now. I’m at a whole other level. And really, just anyone. I just want to get in there and prove to the world. No disrespect to them, but that’s how you climb the ladder. You’ve got to start knocking down people.

“I’m just trying to be the best I can be. And I think I can be the best fighter in the world. I’ve just got to keep improving every fight, put the work in and train hard. Good things happen to good people that do things right.”

To hear more from Martin, check out the video above.

And for complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 112, check out the UFC Events section of the site.