Mario Bautista has fired back at an injury claim from Vinicius Oliveira in the aftermath of UFC Vegas 113.
Bautista and Oliveira collided inside the Meta APEX in Las Vegas this past Saturday. This was a big opportunity for Oliveira to break through in the bantamweight division. Instead, Bautista kept “Lok Dog” grounded and secured a submission victory in the second stanza.
After the bout, Oliveira informed AG.Fight that he suffered an arm injury going into the matchup, which hindered his ability to get back to his feet. During the UFC Vegas 113 post-fight press conference, Bautista wasn’t interested in hearing that the injury is solely to blame for how things transpired (via MMAFighting).
“That sucks,” Bautista said. “Leading into my Patchy [Mix] fight, I popped a rib … I still beat the [expletive] out of him. I don’t care about your excuses. It’s part of the game.”
Bautista also discussed being featured in the main event of a UFC card for the first time before going in-depth on how he defeated Oliveira.
“It’s surreal,” Bautista said. “First main event, five-rounder against a tough opponent. Just watching his highlight reel all week, you don’t want to end up on that side. For me to come out on top, it just feels amazing.
“All those transitions. Going from the takedowns, passing, getting into that crucifix, him giving up an arm, me going for the kimura, him kind of bailing out, jumping on his back, throwing on that rear-naked [choke]. Just kind of having all these sequences and flow in my game. It got me the finish.”
Bautista has gone 9-1 in his last 10 outings. The lone loss was against Umar Nurmagomedov, who is one of the top contenders in the 135-pound weight class. Bautista’s win over Oliveira was a rebound after the unanimous decision loss to Nurmagomedov.
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