UFC Fight Night 264: Chris Padilla full post-fight interview
UFC Fight Night 264 winner Chris Padilla talks to MMA Junkie and other reporters post-fight after his second-round TKO of Ismael Bonfim in Las Vegas.
LAS VEGAS – Chris Padilla didn’t hesitate to move forward with his UFC Fight Night 264 bout against Ismael Bonfim despite an egregious weight miss.
Bonfim (20-6 MMA, 2-3 UFC) came in five pounds over the lightweight limit for Saturday’s matchup against Padilla (17-6 MMA, 4-0 UFC), who won by second-round TKO at the UFC Apex. He was fined 25 percent of his purse, but there have been many instances where fighters have declined to move forward when it’s such a significant discrepancy in weight.
Padilla, 30, isn’t one of those cases, however, and he said the thought of not proceeded didn’t cross his mind.
“We don’t duck no fades,” Padilla told MMA Junkie and other reporter post-fight. “We don’t care if he’s bigger than me, smaller than me. We’re from South Central. If you’re from South Central you know the fade can go down anywhere. Liquor store, bathroom – anything. We don’t duck fades, so it don’t matter. Six pounds, 10 pounds – if the commission said yes, I’m always ready to go.”
Padilla’s decision paid off in a big way. He survived the first-round storm of the heavier Bonfim and then countered with solid offensive pressure of his own. His Brazilian foe started to fatigue in the second round as the damage piled up, then Padilla showed his killer instinct and forced the stoppage to make it four consecutive wins to begin his octagon career.
“I knew I was going to put pressure on him and I knew he was either going to battle me in there or he was going to fade off,” Padilla said. “I saw I fire burning on both ends. He was burning it and I was burning it on the other side and I knew it wasn’t going to last long.”
