Alex Martinez on “Ex-champion” Who’s “Great for the Resume” at PFL 3
Alex Martinez tests skills with Raush Manfio at PFL 3: 2023 Regular Season on April 14th.
Martinez appeared once again on Bowks Talking Bouts to discuss the growth as well as adapting that comes from entering his third PFL season, readying to face a former lightweight champion in the promotion, and a whole lot more.
Alex Martinez
The progression of PFL as an organization as Martinez has also concurrently grown as a fighter
“I think PFL is doing their thing. They’re definitely going out of their way to try to grow their self-promotion. Like you said, talking about Jake Paul and stuff like that. But for me personally, in my career, I haven’t seen that kind of trickle over into my career yet. I haven’t really seen much of the exposure from them. Especially beating last year’s main event guy and one of their favorites, I still haven’t felt that much love. But I think, man, I also know that I have to make my way through this. I’m still growing as a fighter. So I have to go there and cement myself as a fighter.”
“They are growing really fast. I just have to make sure I go and do my job. So then all of that attention can go into my career. So that’s more of a me thing than PFL doing it for me. PFL’s not going to do anything for me unless I do it for myself. That’s really what it comes down to right? I’m not here to say hey, why don’t you guys do this and why don’t you guys do that for me? What it really comes down to is like I have to do something for myself. Everybody should do that. Even in the UFC, you see guys in the UFC all the time.”
PFL 3
Martinez continued, “There are fighters who get backed up by the promotion big time. But at the same time, that’s something that the fighters themselves make happen for themselves, right? So that’s something that I need to be working on a little more for myself. I do believe PFL is growing really fast. I think it’s the fastest-growing MMA promotion in North America, for sure. Think soon it will take over in the world.”
“Right now they also have a little bit of seeds going on in Europe and then they’re trying to expand into South America. Who knows? Eventually, probably in Asia as well. So yeah, man, I think they have all of the potential to become one of the best promotions in the world, for sure. But that still takes time, right.”
Alex Martinez vs Raush Manfio
Martinez’s thoughts on how much beating an ex-champion could bolster his resume
“Every single fight counts, you know. If you go out there thinking that a fight will put a damper on your career or won’t make you a superstar, in this sport you can become the best in the world in a day almost. Not really but you know what I’m saying? It only takes one or two wins and you’re on top of the world. It only takes one loss and you’re on the bottom of the barrel. So that’s the beautiful thing about MMA, one win can change your whole life.”
“Like in Boxing, for example, you can go undefeated, twenty and 0. Nobody knows who you are, you haven’t done much. You lose one and you’re out of the radar. Then you have to win a couple more in order to get back into that. But in MMA, all it takes is just to beat that right name at the right time and you’re on top of the world. So of course Raush Manfio is the name that I’m aiming at right now. He’s an ex-champion, he’s gonna be great for the resume.”
Martinez continued, “Yeah, man, every single fight counts. Every single fight matters. Every win will definitely grow your resume…. To better my life for my family and myself. I’m really excited, man. Like I said, the sky’s the limit, right?”
