Mateusz Rebecki: Fight vs. teammate Duncan ‘difficult’ yet ‘funny’
UFC on ESPN 71’s Mateusz Rebecki spoke to MMA Junkie and reporters at media day for his lightweight bout vs. Chris Duncan in Las Vegas.
LAS VEGAS – Mateusz Rebecki admits it’s been a strange training camp for UFC on ESPN 71 with his opponent being an American Top Team teammate in Chris Duncan.
Rebecki and Duncan both did training camp for Saturday’s lightweight co-main event at the UFC Apex (ESPN, ESPN+) at the famed South Florida gym, spending the majority of their time living in the dorms of the facility as they prepared.
Although coaches and gym management splinted training times to avoid crossover, it was still close quarters during the downtime outside of the gym, and Rebecki (20-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) admits it was tricky not to track what Duncan (13-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) was doing and try to one-up it.
“For me, it’s difficult,” Rebecki told MMA Junkie at Wednesday’s media day. “We live together. He lived behind my wall. It’s a funny situation because nobody in the world has that situation. You have teammate and an opponent in a place where you live. It’s hard for your mind, but you can be better because you see how he trained.
“If you rest, your opponent go to training. When I see he go training and running, I want to do more. A couple minutes more running or go earlier to sleep. Do more than him. It’s motivation. Stressful of course, but I didn’t want to fight with him because he is my teammate.”
It’s an even playing field with both men having spent time together at ATT prior to this fight being offered. There’s familiarity in both corners, but Rebecki said he’s entering the octagon with extreme confidence that he will emerge with his hand raised.
“I feel I’m better than him and I feel I can beat him,” Rebecki said. “I feel really comfortable.”
