After the questionable loss to Michihiro Omigawa in the Sengoku featherweight GP semifinal, which brought his undefeated record to bitter end, Marlon Sandro returned to his winning ways in the Japanese organization this Saturday, November 7. Against Yuji Hoshino, the Nova Uniao representative won by knockout 2:33 minutes into his fight. In a chat with PortaldasLutas.com, Marlon spoke of how his training went and said he will be back in December, perhaps even for a title fight.
What was it like to win again after suffering your first setback?
Thank God I managed to end the fight by knockout, I trained like mad. Now the orders are to get the knockout or submission. You know how it is to leave it in the hands of the judges. I managed to get back on my feet and I hope to always get the knockout.
Another important bout in your team will be between Jose Aldo and Mike Brown, for the WEC belt. Now are you going to rest or help your teammate?
We always help each other. Despite my having been away for a week, I helped him and, this week, I’m going to the gym to lend a hand. I can’t stop, because on December 31 I fight in Japan again. I’m going to rest some, but I’m going there to help. Junior will win this fight and it won’t go the distance. He has what it takes to end the fight early. The guy’s not a champion for nothing, but I have a lot of faith in Jose Aldo and the fight won’t go the distance.
So you already have a fight scheduled for the end of the year?
It’s almost 100% done. They told me that, if I win, I’ll be back on the 31st. It would be for the title or to line me up to challenge for the title. But my managers want it to be for the title.
And what about a rematch with Omigawa? Do you think about that?
I think some day we’ll face each other again. I’m pressuring not for a rematch, but for a title fight. I should have that opportunity for what they did to me in the GP semifinal. They gave Omigawa the win and I couldn’t fight in the final. I asked them to give me a shot at the title, against whoever.
You come from a Jiu-Jitsu background, and got a beautiful knockout. Did you do anything special for this last fight?
I never stop training Jiu-Jitsu, I do a lot of ground fighting. But, this time, I polished up by boxing with Giovanni Diniz and muay thai with Johnny Eduardo. I analyzed my last fight and saw a lot of my strikes were off target. So I sought to improve on that, but I don’t leave out the possibility of taking it to the ground. These days in MMA you have to be well rounded and, as the fight starts standing, you have to be prepared to stand and trade. Nowadays I’m as comfortable standing as I am on the ground. And you also have to have good wrestling to not fall and to get the takedown, so I practice a lot of wrestling with the Brazilian national wrestling team.
