Kevin Wirth Plans to Keep Richard Palencia Uncomfortable in LFA 44 Bout
While he wanted to make a good first impression in his LFA debut this past February, flyweight Kevin Wirth couldn’t have anticipated the level of attention he would get with his third round KO of Isaiah Gutierrez.
In landing what could be described as a Shawn Michaels sweet chin music finishing kick, Wirth became –albeit briefly – an internet sensation.
“It was awesome seeing myself on ESPN and all kinds of MMA highlight reels and stuff like that,” Wirth told MMAWeekly.com. “But yeah, I feel like I got attention starting the next day, then for a week, and then it went away. It’s nice and everything, but I’ve got to keep fighting.”
The finish aside, Wirth feels like his performance against Gutierrez could have been a bit more polished overall.
“I feel I could have pushed a little more and taken some risks, but I feel good,” said Wirth. “I got the coolest looking knockout of my career, so you can’t be mad about that.
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“Even if I win, I look at it like it’s not good enough. I’m never satisfied with my last performance. Every time I fight I get a little more comfortable. I’m able to bring more of the martial arts that I’m able to do in the gym with me into the cage.”
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Wirth (5-0) will look to keep his momentum going when he takes on Richard Palencia (5-0) in a main card 130-pound bout at LFA 44 on Friday in Phoenix.
“Where he really shines is if you plant your feet in front of him, and he plants his feet, and you both kind of swing at each other,” Wirth said of Palencia. “That’s where he seems to have a lot of power, and gets his takedowns and stuff like that.
“What I have to do is cut angles, move my feet, use my kicks to set the range, and not make him comfortable in that medium-to-short range distance he seems to be good at.”
Now into his 30’s, Wirth wants to work his way up the ranks as far as he can as quickly as he can, starting with a solid win on June 29.
“I want to spend the next couple years in this game seeing how high I can climb,” said Wirth. “I want to fight good guys. I don’t really care who is positioned ahead of me, but I want to take that person’s spot and keep climbing the ranks.”
