It’s still unclear why Cub Swanson refused to say a word during his appearance at UFC Vegas 62 media day, but it appears his silence served as motivation for Jonathan Martinez to deliver a blistering performance in their co-main event fight.
The bizarre spectacle saw Swanson stoic as Daniel Argueta, his teammate answered questions. This was a strange moment. Martinez actually took Swanson’s approach as an insult.
“The only thing was it kind of felt disrespectful when he had his interview and he didn’t say nothing,” Martinez said at the UFC Vegas 62 post-fight press conference.
“I had that all week. He’s looking at me like I’m nobody. I had to go in there and make a statement.”
That was exactly what Martinez did. He punished Swanson throughout the fight with kicks and almost earned the win in the final round. With Swanson backed against the cage, Martinez started unloading shots that eventually dropped the UFC and WEC veteran to the canvas. Martinez responded with an avalanche of punches but Swanson was already dead.
When Martinez dropped Swanson in the second round with a brutal series of leg kicks, he didn’t stop punching until the referee mercifully pulled him off — and he actually felt somewhat bad that he had to go that far to get the finish.
“Honestly, I thought they were going to stop it in the first round,” Martinez said. I didn’t believe he was [going to continue].. “I was feeling bad, so I decided to take a step back. I am going to fight. I had to wait until my ref got in there .”
Now that he holds a win over a UFC Hall of Famer in Swanson, the 28-year-old bantamweight is hoping that he’ll get a step up in competition against other big names in the division.
Martinez immediately called for a chance to fight Dominick Cruz (former champion of the UFC), who was also calling Saturday’s fights.
Then at the press conference, Martinez added another ex-champion to the list of fighters he hopes will answer his call after earning a reputation as one of the most soft-spoken athletes on the entire UFC roster.
“You have Dominick Cruz and Cody [Garbrandt]. If Cody asks for it, I will fight him,” Martinez stated. He’s still waiting for the right guy. He’s probably waiting for another guy for at least four to five years. I don’t mind if he is ready.
” Hopefully, now that I beat Cub they will see something else and take me seriously .”
