By CONSTANCIO MARTINEZ, JR.
Special to the PRESS
Local MMA fighter, (2-1-1) Robert Maldonado, will be entering the octagon once again on Saturday, August 2, at Texas Fight League’s “TFL 5 Striker Series”, which will be held at the Amigoland Convention
Center in Brownsville, TX.
Maldonado will once again face off against (3-2-1) Samuel De Los Santos in a rematch after their TFL 4 bout was called a split draw. The scoring was as follows: one judge scored it 29-28 for Maldonado, a second
judge had it 29-28 for De Los Santos, while the third judge had it 28-28. Looking back on his previous fight, Maldonado felt he had done enough and was “not happy with the result,” he said. “I believe I won the
match.”
Heading into TFL 5, Maldonado has been working on a lot of bag work. He also continues to work on his cardio by engaging in long-distance running. “I’m a big runner. I like to run 5-6 miles; on a good day, I can
run nine miles. A new improvement I started adding is sprints. I’ve never been a big sprints guy, but I know it’s mandatory to be explosive in the fight,” said Maldonado. “I also implemented a lot of lifting and a lot of
stair master to keep up with the takedowns.”
Looking forward to the rematch, Maldonado expects more of the same from his opponent, “a hard-headed wrestler, one of the strongest grapplers I’ve faced, for sure. I have a feeling he’s going to come in more
aggressive for sure in this fight, but I am too.”, said Maldonado.
Maldonado, known for his all-out offensive attack, is looking to modify how he approaches the rounds. “You might see a little more of a martial artist in me. The first part, I’ll keep it up standing, and the rest I might
throw you off. Might do an all-around complete artist type of style, ” said Maldonado. “For sure, expect a banger out of me. All my fights have been dogfights; expect a fight out of me.”
The winner of the 5-round featherweight bout will win the TFL EMC “El Mas Chingon” belt.
