Plymouth, MA - Ozzy Martin MMA amateur fighting out of Lakes Region Vale Tudo in , NH. will be facing off against Nick Newell's Fighting Arts Academy's Cullen Johnson Saturday January 27th at Cagetitans 63. The fight promises to be one of the more exciting bouts on the card as the two are notoriously thrilling strikers. We sat down with Martin ahead of his upcoming fight to find out about his mindset heading into this fight, his family, and the history of the nickname "Toro". Check it out.
Q: Thank you for taking the time right after your training session. Where were you training today?
A: Today, Nostos.
Q: You're at Nostos, Lakes Region Vale Tudo, you're working with Tyler King. Talk me through that. How does it all come together?
A: I was introduced to Lakes Region Vale Tudo a couple years ago, when I was in the area of Plymouth, NH. I wanted to find a striking school and I was referred to Lakes Region Vale Tudo and I met Taylor Miers, John Sullivan all those guys over there. Great guys. Smart guys. I've been training with them ever since.
After my first fight, I got hooked up with Tyler King by Richard Wiecht while I was training at North Shore Muay Thai. Shout out to North shore Muay Thai. Those guys are great too. My brother trains out of there still. I went to a training session with Tyler and Daniel Mola. Daniel has been helping me out a lot too. He's got great Jiu-Jitsu and a great mind.
After my most recent fight with Brody McDougal, since it was an epic fight. A great great fight. Just a war. Everything I wanted as a fighter. I learned so much. I learned so much about myself. So we had so much respect for each other coming out of that fight we just keep talking. It came up that we should train together. I went up to Nostos a few months ago, we got a good training session in and I loved it. Now I'm there. I've just been going there as much as I can to get some training in. They have some great fighters. Great coaching. Shout out to Deven Powell and Nostos they're helping me out a ton. Great guys over there.
Q: With your last fight ending the way it did, not a true finish, not even a decision, it was a doctor stoppage. Does that come into your mind when preparing for this next one?
A: Not at all. Honestly, to me I felt great and could have kept going. My nose was broken, blew my nose, and the eye puffed up. Just an error on my part, but physically I felt good in the beginning of the fourth round. We came out still fighting, feeling good, obviously vision was a factor with my eye swollen. Honestly though, it doesn't play into my mindset what so ever. If anything it gives me more confidence that I can go out there toe-to-toe with a great fighter like Brody. I had some big moments, good ending to the second round. It is what it is, I come to fight every time. I'm not going to get hung up on what if or what could have been. It is what it is. It's my favorite fight so far because I got everything I wanted out of that fight.
Q: Can you explain to me how you come to accept a fight working with so many camps? Do you handle that yourself or does a coach?
A: So at first I just went through my coach Taylor Miers. He originally set up my first fight for Combat Zone. I fought there, then right after I got hooked up with Tyler King. So he's been the middle man for me and Cagetitans. He got me the Daniel Keepers fight on 9 days notice. I got the job done. Everything went well and we've been training together, so Tyler's kind of been that middle man. So they bring me the fights and I don't really say no. I want to do this for the long run. I want to have a good Pro career, as well as a good Amateur career. I just see the harder fights that I take in my amateur career, the easier my pro career is going to be.
Ozzy Martin MMA
Q: On a more personal note, the brand IG account got a follow from Martin Family Ranch. There's a bunch of photos of you and your dad looking super tough. What's the story there? Were you raised on a ranch?
A: No, not really. I'm from Lima, Peru in South America. I grew up there until I was 6 or 7 years old. My dad got a job offer in the UK. He's originally from the UK. Both my parents were Pro-Kickboxers and they had been fighting ever since they were kids, as well. The martial arts runs in the family. My older brother still now competes in Muay Thai. He fights as often as he can. My middle brother, fought when he was younger, but still likes to train. We all have that aggressive side. We have that anger. We want more. We feel we deserve more. We push to get more. We challenge ourselves.
So we moved to the US. Originally we lived in Massachusetts but we wanted to get out of the city and just move to the sticks. So we're now in New Hampshire, we live in the woods. We're happy here. It's nice and relaxing. I still go out there and train as much as I can, as many places as I can to get that work. That's just how it is. My dad though, my old man, he is a really big inspiration to me. I adopted his fight nickname "Toro" and that means a lot to me. When I go in there, it's not just me. I'm representing my whole family. That really brings me strength knowing its their honor. I want to let everyone know, I'm tough as nails, I'll never quit, and you're going to have to kill me to put me out.
Q: This question is a fan question and then you can give your shout outs, but @Davidwoltag asks: "What is your favorite quote"
A: A really good quote that I like is the Muhammad Ali quote "Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion." Whenever I'm pushing myself and my body is getting drained I think to myself "suffer this little pain now". That way I know win, lose, or draw I know that I'm a champion. Amateur or pro, doesn't matter I'm going to leave it all out there. A lot of people will say "oh it's just an amateur fight. I say if you think that way as an amateur fighter, all you'll ever be is an amateur fighter.
Q: Dude that's the quote. Anyone you want to shout out before we wrap?
A: Yeah, shout out Lakes Region Vale Tudo, John, Hunter, Timmy Briggs. All my guys at BTT Lynn, MA. Zach, Luis, Jay Jay Torres. Shout out to Jay Jay he teaches me so much. My guys at UFC Gym: Tyler King, Daniel Mola, Eric. Now my guys at Nostos: Brody McDougal, Deven Powell. Hopefully we can build a good future together and continue working.
All my sponsors: Jim Trick my newest sponsor @mywhitebelt if you like Jiu Jitsu go follow that account, G 6 3 Auto life time family friends the Scavetti's, Aloha Apothecary great great business, Dylan Fredo and his older brother too, my brother Kenny "The Creep" Creeping Cycles, Chester Village Chiropractor taking care of that back. Jesse is getting it right. The Barrel Men. If you're in the Massachusetts area go check out: The Barrel Men. Great restaurant, great food, great drinks.
I've got so many people to thank on this journey I'm on. If it wasn't for all those people around me, who knows if I'd even be here right now.
Q: Awesome that you have such a big support system. Last question, have you met Pheobe yet?
A: Who? OH! The Pig?! I have not, but I hope to soon.
