Cristiano Marcello (till höger) tillsammans med Daniel Acacio och Bruno Carvalho under Superior Challenge 7. Foto: Patrick Jenkinson
I natt kommer UFC 153: Silva vs Bonnar att inledas med matchen mellan svenske Reza ”Mad Dog” Madadi och Cristiano Marcello.
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Historien mellan Madadi och Marcello började redan på Superior Challenge 7 i april förra året efter att Madadi säkrat lättviktstiteln efter en jämn match mot Rich Clementi. Marcello fick komma till mikrofonen och utmanade den nykrönte mästaren om hans titel, något som inte alls uppskattades av Madadi.
MMAnytts reporter Marcus Kowal har intervjuat Marcello som har följande perspektiv på vad som hände den vårdagen i Stockholm.
– I don’t have good luck when I challenge people in the ring, every time something happens. It wasn’t my idea, it was the promoters Idea. So you have to be professional, can you imagine if that would happen in the UFC? A contender challenges the champion who goes crazy just because he challenges him? You have to be professional. So the promoter said to me, that I should challenge him after the fight if he wins, so I stepped in the cage, I was very respectful and also thanked him, and you can see it in the video., säger Marcello till MMAnytt.
– I thanked Reza for the opportunity and suddenly he took the microphone from me and said: ‘Hey, you are not at my level, don’t try, don’t try!’.
– Then I responded: ‘Ok, I’m not at your level, you can choose I submit you either in arm-bar or triangle that’s what is going to happen in October.’ But the thing is I said it before in other interviews, ‘Reza was right when he said I was not in his level’. I’m better than him; I’m going to prove that! You know you have to be respectful, ‘I’m not at his level’? He has never fought outside Sweden!
– After the incident I said Reza is a chicken, he was running away from me. Now he is in the UFC, he doesn’t have any excuse. Yet I don’t have nothing against him, everything will be handled inside the cage, just between me and him. It doesn’t matter if Reza likes to scream in the opponents face, bully his opponents. I will respect my opponents, I’m professional, he screams and tries to scare, but like I said before he has never fought outside Sweden before. We are going to fight in Brazil, not Sweden, in front of 17 000 people, it’s a different culture. I want see if he is the same man he is in Sweden.
Gällande nattens match hoppas Marcello att Madadi kommer att ta ner det på mattan så att han får arbeta från ryggläge men han säger sig vara redo för matchen oavsett var den utspelar sig.
– I hope Reza tries to put me down, but I’m going to be prepared for any situation. I have trained hard with my striking, with the top guys in Brazil. And my BJJ; I started with that when I was 11 years old. I have fought guys with better grappling skills than him.
Under intervjun läser Kowal upp en tittarfråga och undrar vad Marcello har att säga om vissa kommentarer som Madadi gjort gällande honom.
– He can say whatever he wants! You proved you have a mouth, let’s see now in the cage. Reza has to show that, every time he says something, he will do this, he will do that, Show it instead. I will be in there with him for 15 minutes; he will have those 15 minutes to do something., avslutas intervjun med.
Lyssna på hela intervjun, som finns tillgänglig i senaste avsnittet av Podoplata, där Cristiano Marcello även berättar om den kända konfrontationen han hade med Charles ”Krazy Horse” Bennett bakom kulisserna på PRIDE.
