Gregory Rodrigues suffered a setback in his rise in the UFC middleweight division after winning his first two octagon appearances in less than five months, and takes his split-decision loss to Armen Petrosyan as a chance to grow in his career.
Rodrigues doesn’t feel like he has taken a big step back with the defeat. In fact, he’s treating it as an opportunity to build a solid foundation to start something “excellent” next. At UFC Austin, Saturday’s “Robocop”, Julian Marquez will be his opponent.
” “In my mind I didn’t win that fight,” Rodrigues stated on the latest edition of MMA Fighting podcast Trocacao Frank . No matter how it was scored by the judges, I have no doubt that I won the fight. It was a great fight for me. He’s a tough guy. I knew it would be a hard fight for both of us.
” I always believe that my grandmother will live to be 100 because she has never been in a fight. Learning is not just about winning. We have to learn to deal with our frustrations and move on. I’ve watched the fight and this man is tough, it was a close fight, but I believe the judges made a mistake.”
The lesson learned, he said, is to receive better instructions from his cornermen and never count on a 10-9 in your favor if the round was close. Robocop said that if you want to eliminate any doubts, the best way is to stop your opponent before it’s too late.
” You have to die, right? Rodrigues laughed and said, “Don’t let it [go the distance], kill you.” The lesson is to get closer to myself, understand my limitations and see where I am able. My evolution as a fighter on the feet was obvious. I need to improve my transitions and takedowns to become more strategic. The three rounds last minutes, which means I can do all the things I know in time. It’s an added bonus for everything that happens prior to it.
“I’ll always be the guy that walks forward regardless, I’ll never stall. At the same time, I have to be smart and know when I don’t need to push the pace. But I’ll always walk forward, man. There’s no question about it. I’ll always go for the finish. That’s my style and my way of fighting.
“Sometimes we let the emotions control us. A friend told me last year, ‘You’re a robot programmed to go there and win. To be more logical instead of emotional. To be more logic .”
Marquez, a Dana White‘s Contender Series signee, will enter UFC Austin coming off back-to-back submissions over Maki Pitolo and Sam Alvey. Due to matches cancelled with Jordan Wright (#2_) and Kyle Daukaus(#3_), Marquez has not competed in UFC Austin since April 2021. “Robocop” sees ringrust as an advantage.
“Marquez, who is tough, has fought my friend [Phil Hawes] for the Contender and is coming off two wins over tough UFC fighters, but he hadn’t fought for two years.” Rodrigues stated. He is under pressure but has never fought anyone like me before. I have all the tools to finish this fight on the feet and on the ground. I’ll impose my rhythm, my game, and he won’t have enough in him. “Robocop” is prepared to fight hard and win Saturday .”
