Mateo Vogel challenges for the Unified MMA featherweight title against John Nguyen at Unified MMA 55 on January 19th. The bout broadcasts on UFC Fight Pass and transpires at Rebel in Toronto, Ontario.
Vogel spoke with MMA Canada before the hugely significant clash at 145 pounds.
Mateo Vogel
‘Carrapato’ is fighting with arguably the biggest show in Canada nowadays. He is doing so in Toronto the day before Ultimate Fighting Championship takes over the city. When asked for his thoughts on this, Vogel said,
“Oh, man. To be fighting on UFC weekend, I’m [ __ ] pumped. Like yeah, there’s the thing, it’s starting the year off with a fight. Starting it off right you know. It gives you a goal right off the get-go like something to focus on you know what I mean. We’re training year-round regardless but yeah I’m super pumped to have a fight at the beginning of the year and to be fighting on UFC weekend alongside all the great Canadian fighters fighting the next night as well as on Unified too, right. You got like; it’s the most stacked Unified card I’ve seen in a while.”
Vogel looks to rebound from a controversial decision loss on Contender Series to Timothy Cuamba on points that had Dana White and a lot of MMA fans on social media confused by the decision verdict.
With Dana White in the venue ahead of UFC 297 the day after and filming Lookin’ For A Fight at Rebel, Vogel is looking at this as a rare second chance to impress in front of the UFC figurehead.
The 27-year-old felt frustrated by the perception that Cuamba was actively looking to not engage. But he has no concerns Nguyen will do this. Vogel stated,
“He’ll fight with some balls for sure. He’s not going to do the same thing. Regardless of what John does, like I’ve told you guys in the past, I’m very focused on myself and my own execution, right. So it was a big learning experience in (as far as) that was the first time that somebody just ran from me the whole time and you know that’s on me. I have to make adjustments in my game and work on cutting people off. Work on taking the fight to somebody who wants to run away. So there’s been big gains in my game and I’m really excited to show that off and really show the full Mateo on January 19th.”
Mateo Vogel vs John Nguyen
He is very emboldened to collect an important title on the Canadian scene having held that BFL belt. In regards to how this fight could serve his legacy with the Canadian promotions, Vogel quipped,
“It absolutely does and in my opinion for me to hold simultaneously. For me to be the BFL champion and to hold the Unified belt, I truly believe that that’s the telltale sign that I’m the best guy in Canada. Like I think that’s proof right there. If I could hold both of those belts, nothing quite says I belong at the next level like that.”
Mateo Vogel is working with Charles Jourdain ahead of this card and has gotten in work with the UFC featherweight for a decent bit now. Jourdain fights at UFC 297 the next day and the experience was described as “being in that incubator of success”. From the incubator to the pressure cooker, Vogel will vie for John Nguyen’s featherweight belt at Rebel in Toronto, broadcasted on UFC Fight Pass.
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