Mark Striegl will be facing Chas Skelly at UFC Vegas 48 this weekend. Ahead of the fight the Fil-Am featherweight sat down with Tap Go to discuss what he describes as a ‘make or break’ matchup,
“Every fight is a make or break fight. There’s a saying in fight sports that you are only as good as your last fight so there’s pressure on every fight,” Striegl said.
Skelly has been on the UFC roster since 2015 so Striegl has had plenty of fight footage to review. He is going into this bout expecting the unexpected,
“He’s an unpredictable wild man. He has some wins where he just goes out ant throws a crazy flying knee into a scramble and latches on a d’arce choke so I have to be ready for the unpredictable elements in his fight style.”
Feeling stronger
Having made his UFC debut as a bantamweight Striegl will be moving back up to 145lbs for this bout. He says he feels much more comfortable competing at a higher weight,
“I feel I’ve had a better training camp this time. I feel stronger at 145 than I did cutting and depleting myself to 135.”
But Striegl hinted that he had made specific preparations for the veteran,
“We have a gameplan for sure and we are focusing on that. We are ready.”
Getting better
Striegl missed all of 2021 after suffering some serious facial injuries during the loss to Said Nurmagomedov at UFC Fight Island 6. But he says he has made some serious improvements during his time away from the octagon,
“This is the life of a martial artist. We just try to get better every day and every training session.”
Striegl revealed he would be cutting around 15lbs for this fight which shows just how difficult it must have been for him to make bantamweight.
He admits to feeling some nerves in the buildup to any fight but says he is confident in his preparation for this bout,
“I do get nervous just like other fighters but that goes away when the rounds start. There’s nerves in every fight (but) I feel better for this fight just because I’ve had a better training camp. Things have been great at the MMA Lab. Everything feels great, I feel better for this fight for sure.”
Post fight plans
Having been forced to follow a strict diet in order to make weight, which Striegl did at the first attempt, there will only be one thing on his mind once the fight is over. He says he will be heading straight to the nearest burger joint,
“I think I fight relatively early so my plan is to go straight from the arena to either Five Guys or In and Out. That’s the plan.”
