LAS VEGAS – Gaston Bolanos met the media Saturday after his win over Michael Aswell Jr. at UFC Fight Night 279.
Bolanos (9-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC) pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the night when he outworked Aswell (11-5 MMA, 1-3 UFC) on the prelims at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas. Bolanos took a trio of 29-28 scores from the judges against 4-1 favorite Aswell.
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Bolanos’ first four fights in the UFC were at bantamweight, but he was at featherweight against Aswell and thinks that accounts for plenty in his performance.
“I feel like the last four fights, I had shackles on me,” Bolanos said at his post-fight news conference. “(I was) not only dropping to 135 pounds, which was a really tough cut for me, but I didn’t actually make that cut until I made my UFC debut. I don’t know why. I signed with the UFC and thought, ‘Yup, I’m going to drop a whole 10 pounds.’ That was it.
“But 145 pounds is the division that got me to the dance. I don’t know why I did that, but now I’m finally back at 145 pounds. I think I was able to show that I’m a tough son of a b*tch and that I’m here to stay.”
Bolanos’ win over Aswell got him back on track after a submission loss to Quant Le nearly 14 months ago. He was set to return in March, but two separate bookings fell through.
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But Bolanos, who will turn 34 in September, said the long wait between fights might have helped him in other ways.
“It was a little bit of a delay. I was not planning on being out for a year, but it happens,” Bolanos said. “This year allowed me to grow so much, not only as a fighter but as a person. I’ve been able to really work on myself, not only as a martial artist, but I’ve grown a lot as a man. I love the person that I’m becoming. I love the new morals and values I have in my life, and the way my life is going is amazing. I think that’s the reason why I was able to show that new version of me at 145 pounds, because my life is going so well.”
Check out Bolanos’ post-fight interview in the video above.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Gaston Bolanos says 135 shackles are off as UFC featherweight to watch
