Despite falling short of challenging the very elite at 135 pounds, Mario Bautista feels very optimistic about his future in the UFC.
Bautista, a rising contender, lost a unanimous decision to former title challenger Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 321 in October. There was no doubt who was the better fighter that night, but from Bautista’s standpoint, there was also no doubt he’s got what it takes to break through into the elite of the UFC’s bantamweight division.
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“I always knew, but I guess you don’t find out until you get to the actual cage and put yourself against one of the best in the division or have one of those types of fight,” Bautista told MMA Junkie Radio, reflecting on his loss to Nurmagomedov. “You can do it in the gym, in your workouts digging deep, and everything, but to know that I could do it in the cage against the highest level of the world and just keep digging and trying to win till the very end, I guess I got to see a little bit of that. I just didn’t feel too far off. A few adjustments in camp and who knows, maybe I still would’ve lost or whatever, but it just felt I was very close. I wasn’t super out classed. I guess that’s something I learned from that.”
Bautista’s loss to Nurmagomedov put an end to an eight-fight winning streak that saw him capture a lot of attention from the MMA world. The MMA Lab product is expected to return Feb. 7 to headline a UFC Fight Night event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Bautista takes on Brazil’s Vinicius Oliveira.
Bautista can’t wait to get back in the cage, and feels very optimistic about this bounce back spot in his career. He plans on beating Oliveira, and making another title run with this newfound confidence.
“Absolutely, I know he has a lot of momentum behind him, and he actually beat Kyler Phillips, who’s my training partner. I got to watch that fight live, actually, in Louisiana,” Bautista said. “He has a lot of momentum behind him, so steal a little bit of that shine. It’s supposed to be a main event fight, so that will be good to test the waters of a five-rounder, so yeah, I like the fight. It all kind of makes sense to me, including everything, the opponent, where I’m fighting, main event. It all sounds pretty good to me.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC’s Mario Bautista optimistic about standing at bantamweight
