Marko Martinjak is, in the eyes of many, the best pound-for-pound fighter in the gloveless fighting world, and he’s looking to write the next triumphant chapter in his story this weekend. Martinjak will defend his bridgeweight title, and the man who recently relinquished his supercruiserweight crown will aim to stop Ike Villanueva in the headliner of BKB 51 on Saturday, February 21.
The BKB bridgeweight champion has signed a contract extension with BKB and has been fighting under the old BKB regime for 10 years. Since BKB 1, Martinjak has fought for the company, and this was under the company’s previous tenure. A time before the takeover of the former BYB, which is now BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing.
Martinjak is a multi-weight champion under the old BKB regime, but also a current BKB title holder and will be fighting someone who is vying to become a multi-division BKB champion in his own right. Former BKB heavyweight champion Ike Villanueva is the fighter in question, and when giving some of his thoughts on the machinations of the match, Martinjak said [via Bare Knuckle Bowker],
‘I knew it since Jarome [Hatch] fought Ike [Villanueva]. When they announced that fight, I knew the winner would fight me because Ike was first and Jarome was second in the rankings. So I wasn’t very surprised when Ike defeated Hatch. For me, that wasn’t the fight of the night that night. It was a very boring fight. Ike made it very boring. He leaned on Jarome and couldn’t finish the one-handed man. Because I talked to Jarome after the fight. He told me he broke his hand in the first round.”
“So when you say he’s a high caliber fighter, I don’t know if you’re trained enough to say that because in the three fights with me and Jarome I knocked him down eight times. Yes, in the first fight I got knocked out, but I knocked him down twice. In the second fight I beat him and in the third fight I tore him apart. In each fight Jarome was 20 pounds heavier than me.”
“So when we fought 180 pounds, I was 89, he was 99. So when we fought 193 pounds, he was about 100 pounds. So for me, Ike is just another step to greatness. So I don’t think he’s at my level. I don’t think anyone in my category is at my level and I’ll prove that again and everyone will see that next Saturday.”
When asked if he was using Hatch as a frame of comparison, in relation to how both BKB 51 headliners performed against him, to articulate why he’s not impressed with ex-UFC vet Villanueva, Martinjak said: [via Bare Knuckle Bowker],
“Yeah, listen, you’re only as good as your last fight. So if you’re: Okay, he’s got two wins in a row. I’ve got seven wins in a row with six first-round KOs. If you go into professional boxing and extreme boxing, I’ve got eleven fights now, eleven wins, and ten of them were in the first round. So I’m not afraid of him. because I am very strong.
“I had surgery on the metacarpal in my finger four months ago and I can tell you that two weeks after the operation I went to my gym. Everyone thought I was crazy, but I knew I had a title to defend. I want to fight in London. This is the fifth time I have fought at O2. I have had four fights, four wins, and now it will be my fifth fight, and it will be my fifth win.”
Marko Martinjak wants to be remembered a century from now for his bare-knuckle boxing skills
Chat throughout the BKB Bare Knuckle Bowkerthe Croatian fighter frequently used the formulation about ‘taking steps towards greatness’.
When asked what that ultimately looks like for him in terms of a certain set of goals or a certain series of events that would look like fully realizing his potential, Marko Martinjak joked: [via Bare Knuckle Bowker],
“What we do in life echoes in eternity. So when I’m dead in a hundred years, they’ll remember in history that Marko Martinjak was the multiple-weight world champion. So that’s the purpose of what I do. No, my name will be remembered.”
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