UFC on FOX 18's Tony Martin: 'I should be 4-0 in UFC right now,' not 1-3

Tony Martin should have a comfortable place in the UFC lightweight division, he said. Instead, he’s likely fighting to keep his job on Saturday at UFC on FOX 18.

Martin (9-3 MMA, 1-3 UFC) makes his fifth octagon appearance when he takes on Felipe Olivieri (14-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) on the UFC Fight Pass-streamed portion of UFC on FOX 18’s preliminary card. The remainder of the prelims air on FOX Sports 1 prior to the FOX-televised main card at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Thus far Martin has lost three of his four UFC fights. He said that record is deceiving and not indicative of his ability, but at this point, he can’t afford to stay stuck in the past. He said he needs a win to guarantee at least one more UFC fight.

“So far up I haven’t performed quite as well as I would like to, and I could have definitely won all those previous fights,” Martin told MMAjunkie. “I don’t think I’ve been completely outclassed or anything. Looking back I should be 4-0 in UFC right now instead of 1-3. It’s tough to see that, but I know I belong in the UFC, and now I just need to go out there and put together some wins so I make sure I stick around and can make an impact in the UFC.”

Martin signed with the UFC in early 2014 as an undefeated fighter and made his debut against Rashid Magomedov at UFC 169. He lost a unanimous decision, but Magomedov has since proved he’s no slouch with a four-fight winning streak in the talent-loaded UFC lightweight division. That fight was followed by Martin’s second-round submission loss to Beneil Dariush at UFC Fight Night 49. Dariush is currently on a five-fight UFC winning streak that kicked off with the win over Martin.

In desperate need of his first UFC win, Martin accepted a short-notice fight with Fabricio Camoes at UFC 179 in October 2014. He entered enemy territory in Brazil and beat Camoes via first-round submission to finally get in the UFC win column. He attempted to repeat that feat by taking another short-notice matchup in Brazil against Leonardo Santos at UFC Fight Night 62 this past March, but that backfired, and he was submitted in the second frame.

With three losses in four fights, Martin said his main priority is to avoid any more short-notice bouts. There’s pressure to win his next fight, he said. It’s why he waited 11 months to get back in the octagon.

“We wanted to make sure that no longer how long we had to wait, we were going to wait until we had a full camp,” Martin said. “We had a few calls about fights, but it wouldn’t have been smart from where I’m at. I’m lucky to be in the UFC still at 1-3, so it shows they think I have the skill set to be there. Now I’ve got to go out there and put together some wins. They called 14 weeks out, and I said, ‘That’s perfect.’ It all worked out.”

Martin was undefeated when he made his UFC debut, but now he’s experienced a handful of setbacks, and his blemish-free record is a thing of the past. Although he’s confident he could be 12-0 if not for a few missteps, he said he’s not ignoring his mistakes. At 26, he said he still has a bright future in the sport, and he’s happy the losses came at a time where’s still able to learn and grow.

“You see these guys who aren’t even really peaking until their late 30s,” he said. “I know I’m still very young and it’s a bit of a rollercoaster ride. There’s going to be ups, and there’s going to be downs, but hopefully right now I’m on the way up. The last two fights were short notice fights, and it’s tough to fully assess those fights. Now I’ve finally had a real camp this fight, and I’ll be able to sense right now how I feel and what changes I had to make.

“I’ve made tremendous strides in my stand-up game, and even in my ground game, there’s been a couple things I’ve been doing better on the ground. My striking had come a long ways. I’m hoping everything comes together on fight night.”

Although Martin has faced some tough competition in the UFC to this point, his next opponent doesn’t have the track record that some of his previous foes did. Olivieri makes his UFC debut at the event with 13 stoppages in 14 wins, but Martin said he doesn’t know much about his opponent.

“He hasn’t been the most active fighter, and that’s due to injury,” he said. “There’s not a lot of film on him, and the film there is came from a few years ago. I don’t know how much to take away from those films. I’m just going to expect the best fighter from standing to the ground. I don’t have to worry so much about what he’s going to do, and that’s going to benefit me because I won’t overthink it. I’m prepared for a great fighter.”

With a 1-4 record, Martin said he knows another defeat would likely spell the end of his UFC run. He said he has no desire to be on the outside looking in, though. He already fought to earn his place in the UFC, and he said he’d much rather keep that spot than be cut and repeat the process.

“It’s definitely a fight I have to win to stick in the UFC; that’s reality,” Martin said. “I’m not going to dwell on that. I didn’t train harder because of that. I train hard no matter what and because I want to win this fight. I’m not going to train harder because I might get cut from the UFC because that could happen every fight. It doesn’t weigh on me because it’s just my reality.

“I understand if I lose, I’m going to be cut by the UFC. But I don’t plan on getting cut by the UFC, and I don’t plan on losing this fight. I’ve put in the time and hours to get this win. This will be my best performance, and I plan on putting many more wins together in the UFC.”

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