Manthan Rane will be stepping into the cage at Ultimate Beatdown 29 for one of the biggest fights of his career.
He is scheduled to fight Pepito Masangkay Jr at the event and the Ultimate Beatdown Bantamweight championship will be up for grabs. Currently the reigning YFC Bantamweight champion, Manthan has already proven his mettle in foreign soil and is also undefeated in his amateur MMA career.
The Team Relentless star will have another opportunity to showcase his talent on August 4th and prior to this huge fight, we managed to catch up with Manthan for an exclusive interview. He talked about his game plan, preparations and much more.
You can read his responses below:
Being in the main event and fighting for the title
Title Fight, Main Event and on foreign soil, it just feels surreal. I wasn’t really surprised that I was going to fight in the Main Event as it is a Title Fight. Also, the last time I fought MMA, I made my Flyweight debut in YFC while headlining the Day 1 at YFC in IHHF Asia so I’m well aware as to what people expect from the event headliner. The opportunity came by quite randomly during an evening training session earlier this month when Vicky Sir asked me if I was willing to fight for the Ultimate Beatdown Bantamweight Title and it was a no brainer for me to say Yes to an opportunity like this one.
The game plan and the pressure of his undefeated record:
No Pressure, as long as I know my game plan, which is to get an early finish and have the right people in my corner, there’s no pressure going in. An early finish with me walking out as the Ultimate Beatdown Bantamweight Champion. [Is what I’m expecting].
Fighting on the same card as his coach, Jitendra Khare:
It always feels great competing alongside him. I think it is definitely not his debut. He’s a seasoned veteran as he has been through numerous fight camps and fought every fight cageside with each one of us at Team Relentless. This time, however, he will be on the other side of the cage. I am privileged to witness it live. It’s super motivating to know his level of dedication towards the sport and competing even at 40 years of age. This constantly makes me work harder being just 21.
His road to the fight:
I just show up for training, the room brings out the best in me every single day. There are 6 guys including me fighting over a span of 4 days. Everyone is on their A game right now and pushing each other to get better. Probably the best time to be in a fight camp. The plan is to keep it simple and trust my training, focus on my striking fundamentals and explore new techniques in my grappling game.
Plans after Ultimate Beatdown:
It’s not my job to pick and choose opponents. It all depends on the organisation. And what they have in mind for me next. I’m happy to accept any challenge thrown at me. And to challenge myself to be better than my last fight.
Ultimate Beatdown 29 will be held on August 4, 2018, at Plaza Sentosa in Johor, Malaysia.