OKTAGON’s number one Bantamweight contender, Jonas 'Shark' Magard believes it is all about him ‘bringing the heat’ if he lands his rematch with the champion Felipe Lima, following his unanimous decision win over Jack Cartwright.
Magard and Cartwright met at OKTAGON 52, with Magard claiming the unanimous decision win in a dominating performance which saw 'Shark' stick well to his game plan in order to nullify any of Cartwright's big strengths.
A few weeks removed from the bout, Magard spoke to Fighters Only to reflect on the contest. He said: “It has been a few weeks since the Jack fight, I’ve seen it a couple of times and I am very satisfied with the performance, it was a very clean performance and I was just in the flow and just had my timing in the first round- there’s really nothing I can complain about."
Both men are known for having serious power in their hands so there was some surprise in the arena when Magard opted to take the contest to the floor numerous times, much to the disappointment of Cartwright’s fans but the Dane felt the boos meant he was doing something right.
“Yeah of course there were some boos and some haters but I felt it when I was going in and I knew as soon as I took him down and they started booing I knew I was just doing something right so it only affected me in a positive way; I am there to do my job, it doesn’t matter what people outside think or want me to do its about me dominating so I couldn’t really care.”
With the win, Magard all but cements his rematch with Felipe Lima, the man who took the belt from ’Shark’ at OKTAGON 45. That is the only name in his mind as he looks to claim the belt once again. He said:
“It’s definitely Lima, I earned my spot, I earned my rematch. Even without this fight I think the rematch was there so it is Lima."
Previewing the potential title fight, Magard struggles to see a path to victory for the champion and after admitting that he believes he may have cared too much about problems Lima could cause and vowed that things will be different the second time around.
"It’ll be a different fight, it’ll me a different Shark going into the fight, the rematch and hopefully as an underdog as well because that’s where I perform the best. He got me last time on my worst day and he couldn’t finish me and he’s going to get me on my best day when we fight again. It’s going to be a big problem for him, I am very, very positive for the rematch.
"I think he’s going to come out a bit harder maybe, I don’t know. It is a fight so I don’t know what to expect, I don’t really care about Lima for the rematch it’s all about me this time. The first fight I was caring a bit too much about what he was going to bring and forgot about myself a bit and this time, it is all about me. It is all about me bringing the heat.
"Keep my belt nice and shiny, because I am coming to get my belt back. Thanks for holding it, it’s not like he’s done too much with it but I’m going to get my belt back, mark my words."
