Bantamweight Rico DiSciullo looks to keep his unblemished record in tact this Friday when he meets Jake Constant in a 140-pound catchweight bout at CES 30. The 28-year old grew up playing all types of sports including hockey, baseball and has been involved in some type of martial arts throughout his life. But it wasn’t until after he finished high school that he began to train MMA seriously. “I was literally going for a run one day, saw a bunch of people sparring and stuff. I was just like ‘oh man.’” DiSciullo told MMAOddsBreaker. “I just finished high school lacrosse, I didn’t really have much else going on. I played sports my whole life, so that’s pretty much how I got into [MMA].” It also helped that one of his childhood friends growing up is current UFC featherweight fighter Charles Rosa. Both were drawn to the physicality of sports. “Me and him have been beating each other up since were probably 11 years old. Every day after school we’d go to his house, a bunch of our buddies would go there have this thing called locker boxing, with like hockey helmets and gloves and stuff. We’d beat each other up on trampolines. He’s been a influence on each other and just our friends in general. We’ve always been a little rowdy and rugged. Beating each other up, seeing who the man of the week was.” Interestingly enough Rosa already defeated Constant last year at CES 25, with the victory earning the ATT product at UFC contract. Despite this, DiScuillo isn’t concerned about his opponents past fights and is just worried about himself. “Charles is a different type of fighter than me, he’s a different style. We’re kind of opposites which is great because when we get together in training we can pick each other’s brains. I was actually ringside for that fight [with Constant]. I just kind of do my own thing, I don’t take too much from other people. I fight my own game, I’m not really going to try to follow up their game plan. I just go in there and try capitalize on what I’m good at and make sure I put on a good show doing it.” DiSciullo (4-0 NC) looks for his fifth win in a row, while Constant has lost three of his last four bouts. Despite his opponent’s rough patch, the Sityodtong believes his opponent will be dangerous as ever. “Sometimes [a losing streak] can motivate people. I know when I lost as an amateur, it did nothing but made me crazy in a good way. It made me focus more on the things I was lacking in. Especially if someone’s got nothing to lose, that’s a risky fight. I think it’s going to be a really exciting fight. He’s pretty rugged, he likes to throw his hands. He’s got a lot of experience, I feel we’re going to throw some leather. There are going to be some really intense exchanges, it’s going to make for a really good fight.” With that said, DiScuillo is confident he’ll come out with the victory on Saturday night. He’s expecting nothing short of a ‘Fight of the Night” candidate. “It’s either going to be an early knockout, say middle of the first round or who knows it could be a battle. I’m ready for whatever. My prediction is an early knockout.” Ahead of this match up, DiSciullo is training like he usually does at the famed Sityodtong gym with Mark DellaGrotte. He’ll be the first to admit, bantamweight has been the right fit for him after competing in previous bouts at 145 pounds. “I’m really good about my diet. I’ve learned a lot as an amateur cutting weight wrong. I kind of learned through making mistakes. I’m on the right path now with my diet. My cut will be smooth and I’ll be in great shape for the fight. I’m definitely going to stick to bantamweight [after this fight]. Guys are 145 pounds are pretty big. I’m a long bantamweight it’s the right weight for me. Because my diet is always good, so I’m lean. I don’t struggle really bad [with my weight cut] I’m not going to force the higher weight.” While DiSciullo isn’t looking past his opponent, earning a 5-0 record after Saturday’s fight would undoubtedly garner some interest from some of the bigger promotions. The UFC is the ultimate goal, but as DiSciullo explains, it’s all about which promotion will treat him the best. “I’m looking to pretty much to go wherever will take care of me. Obviously UFC, everybody knows it’s the biggest promotion in the world. Bellator is great too, I love fighting for Bellator. CES is another awesome promotion. Right now I’m just kind of looking for who will take care of me. I just want to fight pretty much. As long as I don’t feel like I’m not getting the raw end of a deal, I’m ready to go wherever. [The Reebok deal] it’s something to think about, I do make some sponsorship money, obviously nothing outrageous. It definitely helps out. Especially right now when I’m not making big bucks, anything helps. Especially when I take time off work to train and everything you go through just for a fight. I don’t know, it doesn’t necessarily make me shy away because I don’t know 100% how they’re doing the whole payout with Reebok and the UFC. I just know they take away from any other sponsors. It’s definitely something to think about and consider.” You can follow Rico on Twitter @RicoDiSciullo and you can listen to the full audio version of this interview on an “Extra” edition of The Parting Shot Podcast (16 mins in)
