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[quote]Post AFC 16 Interview: Spain's Manuel Garcia of Total Grappling
Submitted by: Denis Martins
Posted On 04/30/2006
Post AFC 16 Interview: Spain's Manuel Garcia of Total Grappling Spanish star Manuel Garcia captured his first win in his second trip to America on April 22nd at the AFC 16 show. Garcia first competed at AFC 12, losing to Ultimate Fight Night competitor Luigi Fioravanti of Gracie Barra-Orlando by TKO. Now, in a new weight class, Garcia won his first international victory with a split decision over ATT's Jake Hetch.
DENIS MARTINS: Did you have a tough match against beginner Jake Hetch at AFC 16? Manuel Garcia: Well, I can not say that Hetch was a novice. I did not watch any matches of his, so I tried to find information on him. I was informed that he was a novice, and then I saw that he had five boxing matches on his resume and two MMA matches. After our fight, however, I discovered that he had an undefeated 7-0 MMA resume. I did not find any information on him in databases, but the events we thought were amateur events he participated on were really professional shows. In my opinion, amateur shows involve extra protection and no striking on the ground. However, in the US events, they do not use this.
DENIS MARTINS: Was it one of the best fights of the night? Manuel Garcia: Surely it was. I think Hetch was tougher than Luigi in the AFC 12 fight was. Hetch hit me badly in round one and I suffered some damage. He has heavy hands and the pace he used in the beginning of the fight was a tough one on me. I connected a knee strike which nearly finished the fight. I sunk some submissions and during four attempts he escaped because of the vaseline on his body.
DENIS MARTINS: So, do you think you got to show all of your skills in this fight? Manuel Garcia: This was the toughest fight of my career. I think I proved to the AFC promoters that my fight against Luigi was not a real display of my skills and that I could do better (like I did versus Hetch).
DENIS MARTINS: How did you prepare yourself for your fight against Hetch? Manuel Garcia: A lot of things changed since my first AFC fight. I am trying to stay more active now, fighting around three times a year. Also, I dropped from 85kgs to 77kgs (I have been preparing for the AFC 16 event since last December). I already fought in March as a test in my new weight class and it was successful. I got confidence of fighting a better game in America than when I fought at AFC 12. My training is split between conditioning & Muay Thai in the morning, along with wrestling & MMA at night.
DENIS MARTINS: In that AFC 12 fight against Fioravanti you did not comeback to fight in round two. What happened? Manuel Garcia: I decided not to proceed because Fioravanti was hitting me hard and things would not be good for me in round two. I was fighting without any regular routine, and I felt fatigue when I got hurt. My arms were heavy and when I tried to land a punch, I felt
Submitted by: Denis Martins
Posted On 04/30/2006
Post AFC 16 Interview: Spain's Manuel Garcia of Total Grappling Spanish star Manuel Garcia captured his first win in his second trip to America on April 22nd at the AFC 16 show. Garcia first competed at AFC 12, losing to Ultimate Fight Night competitor Luigi Fioravanti of Gracie Barra-Orlando by TKO. Now, in a new weight class, Garcia won his first international victory with a split decision over ATT's Jake Hetch.
DENIS MARTINS: Did you have a tough match against beginner Jake Hetch at AFC 16? Manuel Garcia: Well, I can not say that Hetch was a novice. I did not watch any matches of his, so I tried to find information on him. I was informed that he was a novice, and then I saw that he had five boxing matches on his resume and two MMA matches. After our fight, however, I discovered that he had an undefeated 7-0 MMA resume. I did not find any information on him in databases, but the events we thought were amateur events he participated on were really professional shows. In my opinion, amateur shows involve extra protection and no striking on the ground. However, in the US events, they do not use this.
DENIS MARTINS: Was it one of the best fights of the night? Manuel Garcia: Surely it was. I think Hetch was tougher than Luigi in the AFC 12 fight was. Hetch hit me badly in round one and I suffered some damage. He has heavy hands and the pace he used in the beginning of the fight was a tough one on me. I connected a knee strike which nearly finished the fight. I sunk some submissions and during four attempts he escaped because of the vaseline on his body.
DENIS MARTINS: So, do you think you got to show all of your skills in this fight? Manuel Garcia: This was the toughest fight of my career. I think I proved to the AFC promoters that my fight against Luigi was not a real display of my skills and that I could do better (like I did versus Hetch).
DENIS MARTINS: How did you prepare yourself for your fight against Hetch? Manuel Garcia: A lot of things changed since my first AFC fight. I am trying to stay more active now, fighting around three times a year. Also, I dropped from 85kgs to 77kgs (I have been preparing for the AFC 16 event since last December). I already fought in March as a test in my new weight class and it was successful. I got confidence of fighting a better game in America than when I fought at AFC 12. My training is split between conditioning & Muay Thai in the morning, along with wrestling & MMA at night.
DENIS MARTINS: In that AFC 12 fight against Fioravanti you did not comeback to fight in round two. What happened? Manuel Garcia: I decided not to proceed because Fioravanti was hitting me hard and things would not be good for me in round two. I was fighting without any regular routine, and I felt fatigue when I got hurt. My arms were heavy and when I tried to land a punch, I felt
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