Lightweight Luis Felix gets his shot at redemption Friday as he faces off against CES 155-pound champion Julian Lane in CES 30’s main event. These two previously fought over a year ago at CES 25, with Lane capturing the vacant lightweight title with a third round submission victory. Felix has since racked up two straight victories and looks to relish this second opportunity on August 14th. “I knew if I did my part, won my fights with whoever they put in front of me, I’d eventually get my shot.” Felix told MMAOddsBreaker. “Sure enough it happened, I’m pumped that they made this fight happen. Everybody around here in this area has been wanting that fight for a year now. I’m glad I got to go out there and kind of earn it. Get my two wins and do it the right way. Now it’s my time to go out there and get the belt that I felt was rightfully mine. Prove that what happened the first time was just that, a lucky punch. I’m looking to prove that I’m the better fighter here. Felix (13-8) earned two straight victories over D’Juan Owens and Reggie Merriweather and has now won five of his last six fights. While he’s earning this rematch a year later, Felix believes he’s an improved fighter. “I feel like I’m always improving to be honest with you. Over the last three years I’ve felt like I’ve improved every fight. To me at this point in my career, it’s just a matter of being healthy and being in shape. I didn’t sit there , I didn’t make any excuses the last fight with Julian, but I was supposed to fight him in June and I was hurt. Then I fought him right away in August, probably should have taken some more time. That’s no excuse though, if I’m ready, I don’t feel like I can’t be beat.” Lane (9-3-1) has only competed once since their previous encounter, earning a split decision victory over Lucas Cruz at CES 27. Felix doesn’t believe the champion has evolved since their first fight and thinks he’s spent too much time talking, instead of fighting. “He seems like the same fighter, I’m sure his confidence is high. I know what I’m going up against. I know exactly what I’m going to do. I know what happened the first time. I’m beyond excited for this fight and get my hands on this kid. He’s been very disrespectful and not someone that I have any respect for in the cage. This fight’s personal. There is a difference between selling a fight and being an asshole throughout the whole thing. After the [first fight went down] he kind of kept running his mouth about what he did in the cage that day, stuff like that. He can underestimate anything he wants. But the end of the day we know Julian didn’t want to sign this contract and didn’t want to fight me. His mouth has been doing all the talking but I can’t wait till fight week when my fists will do all the talking.” CES has been the promotion Felix has called “home” for 8 of his 21 career bouts, including five main event billings including Saturday’s championship showdown. While CES has grown immensely over the last year, Felix is just happy he’s been along for the ride. “It’s great, we went from fighting and having our Youtube [fight] videos posted a week later, to fighting in front of an entire nation [on AXS TV]. That feeling and just having those guys believe in me and give me the opportunity to showcase my skills. Go out there and enjoy what I do, has been unbelievable. I thank them for giving me the opportunity. I thank them for backing me, and giving me this platform.” The 30-year old has put in an eight week training camp ahead of his championship bout, splitting time between New England Combat and Sityodtong with famed head coach Mark DellaGrotte. Along with his matchup, some of Felixs’ teammates including featherweight Matt Bessette are also competing on this card. “It’s awesome, we all have the same goal. We’re all [coming] along the same time for training. Everybody’s in shape, everybody is ready to go. All the training we’ve been getting is with guys who are getting ready for fights. So that definitely helps to push each other. I appreciate that, having guys like that, that skillset only makes you better.” The Rhode Island native believes we’ll see a much different fight on August 14th. Healthy and with a full training camp, Felix believes fans will get to see his true skillset on display. “I’m going out there and push the pace. I plan on finishing it either way, whether it’s on my feet or on the ground. I had my opportunities in the last fight, I made a couple of mistakes where I should have ended the fight. I just plan on going out there and dominating from beginning to end. Whether it goes five rounds and I dominate every single round, or I finish him via whatever the hell it takes. It’s going down.” Despite having victories over UFC veterans Joe Proctor and Drew Fickett, Felix admits a win over Lane to capture the CES championship would be the biggest victory in his career. Mainly because he’s never had this much animosity towards an opponent. “Without a doubt [this would be the most satisfying victory] I don’t think I’ve ever gone into any fight in my career with any personal vendettas or just feeling a certain kind of way about someone. I have respect for everyone that I fight because it takes balls and it takes a certain kind of will to get in there and do what we do. I’ve never really fought anybody or disrespect anybody the way like it has against Julian. It’s been a great motivator, but like I said I have no respect for the kid. This is going to be awesome” While he isn’t looking past his opponent, the goal for him has always been the same. Create enough momentum and sign with UFC in the near future. Should he win his third straight fight, he’d be a step closer to achieving that. “The only goal for me is getting into the UFC. I know I got to put a win streak together, I had a good one going with this last [fight against] Julian. I got right back in there, I got [two straight wins]. Whatever it takes, whatever amount of wins, whatever amount of quality opponents I need to fight, I’m always looking for that to get in there. I started off a little rough in my career because I didn’t take it too serious. It was just fun and games/ Over the last three years as you’ve seen with my record it’s been serious business. I just look forward to keep getting back in there, putting on a show and getting in there to where I want to be and that’s the UFC.” You can follow Luis on Twitter @RockstarFelix. You can listen to the full audio interview below on an “Extra” edition of The Parting Shot Podcast (15 seconds in).
