Richard Martins had a short run on the 33rd season of The Ultimate Fighter this year but remains confident that it’s just a matter of time until he’s signed to the UFC.
Martins was a member of Chael Sonnen’s welterweight team and ended up losing a decision to season winner Daniil Donchenko in his first match. Nine months after the show aired, Martins returns to action looking for a finish over Argemiro Delmandes at this Friday at LFA 221 in Brasilia, Brazil, to prove he’s “UFC material”.
“I think there’s
a good chance a spot on the Contender Series will open up after I win this fight,” Martins told MMA Fighting. “It’s hard for them to give out straight UFC contracts lately, but I believe that by winning this fight, I’ll have their attention. I know that losing the first fight on TUF doesn’t look great, but I lost to the champion — and it was a war. So I believe they’ll give me another opportunity, for sure.”
Delmandes had a rough start in the sport with eight losses in his first 17 bouts between 2011 and 2020, but has since won nine of 10 — all in the first round. Martins scored three of his four LFA wins by way of stoppage and is inspired by the knockout power of a LFA veteran to improve to 10-1 in the sport: UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.
“I’ve been following [Pereira] since GLORY, back when he wasn’t even fighting MMA yet,” Martins said. “I’ve admired him for quite a while. Our styles are different, but I really like his sense of lethality. The way he lands that short left hook, those powerful leg kicks, that’s inspiring to me.”
Since TUF matches are considered exhibition bouts and therefore excluded from professional records, Martins technically remains on an eight-fight winning streak with seven finishes. Martins said his grappling is “way better” now than when he last entered the LFA cage a year ago, but striking remains his main weapon.
“It was a really cool experience meeting those guys, Chael [Sonnen] and Daniel Cormier,” Martins said. “I learned some new things. I lost my first fight, unfortunately, but I got matched up with that Ukrainian guy who’s really tough. Nobody wants to lose, but it’s part of a fighter’s career. Still, it was a unique experience.”
“From what I’ve studied about [Delmandes] he doesn’t have grappling, so I believe he’s always going to move forward and throw more strikes,” he continued. “He also kicks the legs a lot, so I think this fight is perfect for me because I know he won’t try to take me down, we’re going to trade shots.”
