Bristol Marunde looks for his fifth straight win when he faces off with RFA welterweight champion Gilbert Smith in the main event of RFA 31 on October 9th. Mardune (16-9) spoke to MMAOddsBreaker on Episode 124 of The Parting Shot Podcast and discussed a variety of topics. Last fight: Unanimous decision victory over Mike Hill on March 20th “I was a little disappointed I didn’t get the finish. I think I didn’t quite push the pace or striking like I should have. I didn’t think he’s be in that good of shape. He was in great shape, so I had a lot of pressure. I expected him to slow down, but I couldn’t. I wouldn’t say underestimated him, but I underestimated his ability to grapple with me. I should have been more damaging with strikes. But I was concerned with getting the win and dominating the fight.” How the fight with RFA champion Gilbert Smith came together “I didn’t take the fight, I called him out. After he won the belt I knew this was a good fight for me. I knew it made sense that I should go to RFA and win that belt. This is what I need in my career and it’s time to go do something where people are going to be watching, and it’s a great platform for me. So I called Gilbert out and he accepted the fight.” Fight being in his home of Las Vegas as a reason to take the fight “I didn’t know it was going to be in Vegas until later. I think that was one of the factors [as to] why the promoters gave me this fight. It’s always nice to fight at home, I don’t have to travel and cut weight on the airplane or in the hotel room. I know where to shop, what to eat, where to cut weight. It’s an advantage for me. Just being comfortable in my own city.” Pressure to sell tickets being from Las Vegas “I think I’m going to have to push some tickets. I have a lot of interest here, so I think I’ll be good for ticket sales. Me being a promoter myself of MMA, I’m always on my fighters to sell tickets. I’ll give [RFA] a big push and do what I can to sell tickets for them. I hope the viewership is good too because people are in for a treat, it’s going to be a good fight.” Contract terms with RFA “It’s a multi-fight deal. I think the understanding is I win one or two fights and then a bigger league is probably going to want to pick me up. But I don’t want to come in there and start talking about leaving. I want to respect RFA and say I’m the champion and I’ll defend my belt against anybody. Because I’ve never turned down a fight. That’s how I’m going to approach it. I go out and stomp this guy, first, second round. I think that something good might happen and I might not see a second fight with him.” Why he signed with RFA “I wanted to fight for this promotion. It’s on TV, it’s getting a lot of attention from organizations. You get a lot of respect fighting there. They do a good job taking care of the champions and promoting the fights. I’ve fought on the smaller shows but I want to fight on the big stage and this will help me move on somewhere else.” Possibility of leaving the promotion, to sign with the UFC after this fight “There’s a clause in there “if” and “when” I finish him in spectacular fashion, I’ll probably get a call. If I win a boring decision, will they want me? I don’t think so. I’ve talked to [Joe Silva] a couple of times, I find him very professional. He gives me honest feedback which is cool.” Matchup with Gilbert Smith “I matchup very well against him. He’s a grinder, he’s a very strong wrestler. That’s what I like to do, that’s what I’m good at. It’s not striker versus grappler, it’s stronger grappler versus strong grappler. Who can be better on the stand-up. I think we’ll eliminate a lot of takedowns from each other. You’re probably going to see two ground guys striking it out, which is going to make for a good fight.” How this fight ends on October 9th “I’m in excellent shape, I’m going to grind this guy. He’s going to come out strong, I don’t even care if he wins round one. I’m going to turn the heat up and he’s going to crumble. End of the second round he’s going to be breathing heavy and wondering what I’m on, because I’ll have so much energy. I’m going to be on top TKO him at the end of the middle of the third round. I’m going to mount him and finish him on top.” You can follow Bristol on Twitter @BristolMarunde and you can also listen to the full audio version of this interview on Episode 124 of The Parting Shot Podcast.
