Weight cuts, fight camps, missed vacations, cuts, bruises and fractures have all paid off for the Massillon MMA fighter. Antonio Castillo Jr. After 15 years, Castillo Jr. has the opportunity to earn a fight in the UFC.
Castillo Jr. will appear on Dana White Lookin’ For a Fight on Wednesday at Combat Zone 79 in Boston. The event will begin at 19:00 and will be available to watch on the UFC Fight Pass service. Castillo Jr (14-16) is set to take on Chris Moutinho (9-6) in a 145-pound bout.
The event will end a tumultuous month for Castillo Jr. He fought less than two weeks ago and survived an early fall to take down Tobias Taylor in the third round with an anaconda choke. The turnaround was quick, but Castillo Jr. wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to fight on such a big stage.
“In my last fight, I went through a war,” Castillo Jr. said. “It was a good fight. He dumped me earlier and I split and got some damage in that fight. let it sink in.”
There were times when Castillo Jr. wondered if he would ever have that opportunity. There were many hardships along the way to this fight. Castillo Jr. had a terrific start to his professional career before a six-game losing streak from 2017 to 2019 stalled his momentum and sparked a lot of speculation.
“I’m a loyal guy,” Castillo Jr. said. “I don’t believe I got into this by accident. However, there were also difficult times. I spent many years wondering, “Am I wasting my time?” I watched the guys overtake me because I was in front or started behind me. Now I think of it as just getting the right seasoning.”
Castillo has recovered from this stretch and has won four of his last six fights. He is set to fight Moutinho, a fighter who made it to the UFC before being released after two losses.
“It will be a war,” Castillo Jr. said. “This is his first fight back since he was in the UFC. He is a tough fighter, but I think he can be beaten. There’s a lot of hype behind him and it’s good for me if I can find a way to win.”
Contact Cliff at Cliff.hickman@cantonrep.com.
On Twitter: @chickmanREP
This article originally appeared in The Repository: Antonio Castillo Jr is one step away from a possible UFC victory
Source: sports.yahoo.com
