There’s not much that UFC bantamweight Mario Bautista can complain about when it comes to his 2022.
In three fights last year, Bautista picked up three victories with two finishes, giving him five wins in his last six bouts overall.
“The year went good for me,” Bautista told MMAWeekly.com. “I told myself that I wanted to be very active in 2022 and set some goals, so I got three fights with two first round finishes, so it was definitely a great year for me and one of the best years that I’ve had.”
Bautista’s activity level has not only been good for his record, but being so busy as also helped keep him in the gym, working and developing his game.
“Wins or losses, I’m always going to get better,” said Bautista. “I’m learning, taking my time with things, and covering all aspects of martial arts. This past couple years I feel I owe it to being in camp and being active, so I’m always working to improve and have definitely gotten better.”
On March 11 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Bautista (11-2) will look to pick up his fourth win in a row when he takes on Guido Cannetti (10-6) in a 135-pound preliminary bout at UFC Fight Night: Yan vs. Dvalishvili.
“We definitely want to be wary of what (Cannetti’s) good at and have our defense set for that, and then see where I can apply my strengths, find out their weaknesses and go from there,” Bautista said. “I like to be a complete fighter so I have those options. It’s definitely a little bit of both.
“I definitely want to start the year off good. If I can get in there and get him out of there, kind of clean, no injuries, and get back into camp and set myself up for more fights I think that’s best. The thing is to go in there, finish it as fast as I can, come out healthy and move on to the next one.”
When it comes to 2023 Bautista would like to see a replay of his 2022 and cap off his second undefeated year in a row.
“I’m definitely following the blueprint of last year,” said Bautista. “Last year I got a fight pretty early and got to fight two more times, so I’m definitely following the same blueprint. With MMA you never know what’s going to happen, so we’ll see after this fight, but hopefully things go good and I can continue on.”
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