Photo courtesy of Martin's Instagram account.
Brett “Big Dog” Martin appreciative of opportunity to fight in LFA’s heavyweight tournament, represent U.S.
For the past few months, many people have been speculating as to who would get an opportunity to fight on Dana White’s Contender Series. One name commonly guessed was Brett “Big Dog” Martin. After building an impressive record of 7-1, Martin was waiting for the call. But that call never came. Instead, he was given the opportunity to fight in Legacy Fighting Alliance’s (LFA) four-man heavyweight tournament which will crown their new champion. An opportunity he is truly excited for.
“It was pretty exciting, everybody knows that LFA is one of the biggest stepping stones to the UFC. In my opinion it’s just as good as a contender series fight, it’s just another opportunity to put yourself on the elite level with some of the best guys and I’m not one to pick fights so this is my type of style to get into the UFC.”
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To get this opportunity, Martin got help from Lights Out Championship promoter Matt Frendo. Frendo has worked with Martin and his management team since his days with KOP. Frendo describes the situation that led to Martin getting the opportunity with LFA.
“So Brett is coming off of two massive wins, one being Josh Parisian, and then Jessé Hernandez. After he beat Hernandez I knew he was ready for a bigger stage, and through a mutual contact, I reached out to Mark Bieri about the possibility of getting Brett on an upcoming card. Brett is with a fairly new management company, Cageside Management, and I wanted to help Brett/Cageside get this fight and make that connection with LFA. Mark was in need of a heavyweight for his June 28 event, and Brett immediately stepped up and said yes to the fight. However, the original opponent offered for him declined the fight with Brett, and in result of that, LFA rewarded Brett with the main event against a top international prospect as a part of their heavyweight tournament for the championship! Such a huge opportunity for Brett, and can be a lesson for everybody about always staying ready and being willing to fight anyone, anytime! Also, Kudos to LFA for dropping the original opponent that was offered after he declined the fight, and kept Brett on as a result!”
As Frendo mentioned, Martin is coming off of two major wins against TUF veteran Josh Parisian and Jesse Hernandez who he fought in his last fight. Martin, the Lights Out Championship heavyweight championship defeated Hernandez in a non-title bout as Hernandez came in overweight. The Big Dog won by unanimous decision. Frendo also said he won’t strip Martin of his Lights Out Championship title for the moment.
“Brett is still the Lights Out Heavyweight Champion, yes. We currently don’t have any top contenders in line for a shot, but throughout the next two shows or so, that could change,” said Frendo. “So, I have to see how things play out with Brett’s LFA fights and some of the upcoming Lights Out heavyweight match-ups. Brett signed a multi-fight deal with LFA so there are a lot of moving parts in this scenario, but nothing currently pressing enough to strip Brett or have any interim/title fights in his absence.”
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That absence will start on June 28 when the Big Dog will face Brazil’s Renan Ferreira in Wisconsin. This will be the second semi-final match in LFA’s Heavyweight tournament. Daniel James defeated Patrick Martin in the other semi-final matchup to earn a spot in the finals. Ferreira is a big-time opponent, and big is definitely a good word to describe him as the Brazilian is 6’10. He also has an impressive record of 5-1 with three official finishes listed on his record. While many will pick Ferreira because of his size and record, Martin doesn’t care, he just wants to prove them wrong when the cage door shuts.
“I feel like a lot of people are going to pick him to win because he is 6’10, he’s big visually and all cut up. I’ve always fought off that what if factor since I was a little kid back in my wrestling days. So I don’t have a problem with what people are going to think or what they want. I really want something so when the cage door shuts the fight starts. Like I’ve said before, all I ever say to my opponents, if they bring they’re A game and if I bring mine, but if you don’t I’m going to make you pay for it.”
This fight will also be Martin’s first fight outside of Michigan and he is excited about that, but he also knows he is fighting someone from outside of the United States so he is excited to represent both his home state and country.”
“I’m not fighting another person from America; I’m fighting somebody from Brazil. Really this isn’t for Michigan this is for the United States. This is my first chance to represent my country not just my state.”
And as always, Martin plans on using the same game plan for all of his fights, using his wrestling and athleticism to win the fight.
“It’s always the same, I go in there…definitely more of the same with this one cause you’re not going to want to sit back and play games with someone with that kind of length and athleticism. Same game plan as always, moving forward, looking for opportunities on the feet or on the ground.”
Martin also plans on giving the fans, the UFC and LFA what they want from heavyweights…a finish.
“Obviously get the finish, that’s what they want, that’s what heavyweights are brought in for. Definitely a finish in some kind of fashion, whether a knockout or sweet submission. I’m here to show what heavyweights can do.”
