Matheus Camilo understands why folks might see his UFC Fight Night 280 stoppage as controversial, but thinks deeper consideration determines it was the right move.
“I understand, too,” Camilo recently told MMA Junkie. “But let me tell you one thing: when he fell, he was in a fetal position. We are fighters. We know if we be like that position, they going to stop the fight for sure.”
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Referee Rich Mitchell stopped Camilo’s fight vs. Nazim Sadykhov 91 seconds into the round. Camilo (11-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) dropped Sadykhov and pounded away. But many viewers, and Sadykhov, thought he wasn’t given proper time to recover, as he was blocking the blows.
“This is the rule,” Camilo said. “If you want the fight to continue, you need to be active, trying hugging me or do something. I think it was not early stoppage. If he gave me 20 more seconds, what do you think is going to happen? Imagine the first round, 1:30 in the fight. I’m full of energy and this happened. If he gave me 20 more seconds or 30 or one minute, it doesn’t matter. What do you think is going to happen? You think I’m going to stop punching him? No, brother.”
With that fight in the rearview mirror, Camilo looks toward the future. The victory June 27 was his second in a row, as he came off a win vs. Viacheslav Borshchev at Madison Square Garden. He hopes to once again be booked for the promotion’s annual New York card – perhaps against one of Sadykhov’s training partners.
“I was thinking of fighting in November, but if they call me earlier, I’ll be ready for sure. I want to fight November, maybe in New York, or the same time in Las Vegas at T-Mobile. It’s a dream for me to fight out there. But maybe New York vs. Matt Frevola, Nazim’s friend, or whatever UFC picks for me. It doesn’t matter. I’m going to work hard to beat him.”
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Frevola (11-6-1 MMA, 5-6-1 UFC) is a do-or-die, all-action veteran of the UFC lightweight division. He hasn’t competed since an October loss to Kyle Nelson – his third defeat in as many fights. He does not currently have a fight on the books.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Matheus Camilo explains why UFC Baku stoppage wasn’t early, calls out Matt Frevola
