Photo Credit: @mmartinez_alex Instagram

By Shane Clausing

ALEXANDER MARTINEZ

Grande Prairie’s Martinez eager to bounce back after first PFL loss

Jun 23, 2021 | 2:44 PM

Grande Prairie’s Alexander Martinez is back home in the Swan City after his second Professional Fighting League (PFL) bout of the season.

Martinez matched up against Brazil’s Natan Schulte in Atlantic City, New Jersey on June 10, who defeated him via a split decision.

Martinez was initially scheduled to fight former UFC Lightweight champion, Anthony Pettis. However, Pettis withdrew because of an illness just hours before the two were scheduled to fight.

While losing the fight was disappointing, Martinez says he’s ready to move on and learn from the experience.

“It’s all part of the sport. You go, you perform, you do the best you can with what you got in the moment. It turned out the way it turned out, but it’s not the first time I’ve lost something in my life,” explained Martinez.

“I take this loss the same way I take any other loss, you just keep on moving forward. It’s all you can do, to be honest.”

Schulte is the two-time reigning PFL Lightweight champion. Throughout his fight with Martinez, Schulte took him to the ground after Martinez landed some stand-up shots early in the first round.

Martinez says Schulte’s experience showed why he is the two-time reigning champion.

“He’s a champion and a smart guy. There is a reason he won 2018 and 2019, he had to beat a lot of great guys and he finished a lot of great fighters.”

Martinez added he felt he put up a solid fight despite the loss.

“My ground game was very good,” said Martinez. “I was fighting against a world-class grappler. That’s like me going and fighting against Floyd Mayweather in boxing in a way. Of course, he’s going to have an advantage over me because I don’t only do grappling, I do the whole thing.

“Striking I was a lot better than him and he noticed that. He noticed (I probably could’ve finished him) after I landed some punches in the first round. I saw his face changing and after that he really started playing his game, and that’s taking people to the ground,” explained Martinez.

“I defended well, I did very good and of course I could’ve done some other stuff, but at the same time, it’s a fight. I would say if we fought a five-round fight, I would’ve beat him or finished him at some point.”

Currently, in the regular season, PFL fights are scheduled for three rounds and five minutes. If Martinez makes it to the final of the PFL playoffs, he will be able to fight a full five rounds.

Martinez mentioned he was disappointed he didn’t get to fight Pettis, however, he says he’s ready to fight anyone PFL throws at his way.

“I would like to fight all of these guys. Even before (I was signed to PFL) it doesn’t matter who they put me in front of, it was going to be a top world-class level fighter. These are the best fighters and they’ve been around for a while, these guys are tough and are the best in the world. Most of these guys belong in the top ten or five in the UFC.”

“I’m just excited for what’s next. Whether I make it to the playoffs or not.”

Martinez adds there are some things he’d like to work on for his next fight.

“Something I realized in the last two fights is that I focus too much on what other people are doing. It really just comes down to focusing on myself,” said Martinez.

“I really do believe I can beat any of these guys and now it just comes down to stop thinking about what the other guys are doing and just stick to myself. That’s what it really comes down to.”

Martinez’s next fight will be announced on June 25 on the PFL social media accounts.

He wants to thank everyone in Grande Prairie and his family for their support while he was training for the fight in the United States and throughout his career.