Athletes
John Castaneda Lets His Work Speak For Itself
"Sexi Mexi" Looks To Make It Three In A Row Saturday Night In Las Vegas
It’s not February, but John Castaneda is back for a 140-pound catchweight fight this weekend against Daniel Santos.
Annnnddddd…the Minnesotan could go for another bout before 2022 closes.
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“I'm glad to squeeze in another one this year,” he said. “If it was up to me, I'd squeeze in this one and then squeeze in one more before the end of the year. It's a lot of time, it's three months, essentially, from October 1st until the end of the year, so I'd like to sneak one more in before 2022's over.”
If you’re wondering about the February thing, it’s a little joke about the fact that Castaneda fought in February of 2021 and 2022, marking his only fights of those years. And in 2018, 2019 and 2020, he also made the walk just a single time each year. That hasn’t been by design, as previous years saw him fight five times in 2017, three in 2016, four in 2015 and you get the picture. This isn’t a fighter content with showing up every once in a while. But injuries and life got in the way, stalling his career progress.
“It's definitely been hurtful to the career for sure, but reflecting back on the past is something that we can't really avoid,” Castaneda said. “It stunted my growth in the sport but, at the end of the day, I think I was doing it to myself. A big part of the reason why I wasn't able to compete more than once a year was because of injuries and basically personal life stuff. I went through a divorce for a while there, unhealthy relationships, but at this point in time in my career, I'm focused. I'm training smarter, not harder, and I think that's keeping me healthy year-round. I'm getting a little bit older, and I'd say I'm in my prime right now.”
That’s a nice thing to say at an age when Castaneda is, at 30, young enough to compete on a level playing field with the rising stars of the sport like the 27-year-old Santos, yet old enough to have world-class experience against the elite of his division and to know the lay of the land in the big show.
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“When I was in my early and mid-20s, I was like, 'Damn, I feel like I'm a good fighter, but I can't wait until I'm in my prime,’” he said. “And not only physically, but mentally I'm in a different spot than I was in my mid-20s, and I feel like mentally, I can conquer the world. I've overcome a lot through my life, not only with MMA, but a lot of personal stuff, and it's only made me more mentally tough. This game is half-mental, if not more. It's mental warfare. People lose a fight before they even step foot in that cage, and so I think that I made a lot of improvements physically and to my MMA game, but also mentally, so I think that combination makes me dangerous.”
If Castaneda is more dangerous than he has been, that spells trouble for the rest of a stacked bantamweight division, because after a competitive, short-notice decision loss to Nathaniel Wood in 2020, he’s finished his next two fights, knocking out former WEC champion Eddie Wineland in the first round and submitting up and comer Miles Johns in the third frame. Now he’ll get Brazil’s Santos, who is making his second UFC start after a loss to Julio Arce in April.
“I think this speaks volumes for the potential that they see in this kid,” said Castaneda of the matchup. “I also think that, stylistically, it makes for a banger. The matchmakers for the UFC definitely know what they're doing. This guy is a pressure fighter; his last fight against Julio Arce, he pressured for 15 minutes straight, he's very wild and exciting, has an unorthodox striking style, and obviously coming off my last win against Miles Johns, they also saw that I'm a pressure fighter - 15 minutes straight of coming forward - so if I was a matchmaker, I'd be like, 'Absolutely, who cares who's won what; let's put these guys together, these two pressure fighters, and it's gonna make for a banger.'”
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Hearing Castaneda talk about the fight with Santos, and you get the impression that while a quick win is always nice, a 15-minute war might be even better. But what Castaneda makes no bones about is that he plans on winning, hopefully finishing his foe, and then he’s ready for a Top 15 bantamweight the next time out.
John Castaneda Submits Johns In The 3rd | UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs Strickland
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John Castaneda Submits Johns In The 3rd | UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs Strickland
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“I absolutely think that I'm a contender in this division,” he said. “This is the most stacked division in the UFC and I think I can hang and bang with a lot of these guys in the Top 15. I'm a contender, for sure, and I just gotta prove it. But to prove it, I gotta stay active and stay relevant, and that's exactly what we plan on doing.
“You're only as good as your last fight and the numbers speak for themselves,” Castaneda concludes. “And I think after three fights in a row, three wins in a row and hopefully three finishes in a row, I think those numbers will speak for themselves. You have to put some respect on my name, and you have to talk about putting me in the picture when it comes to a potential Top 15 guy or anybody in the mix.”
UFC Fight Night: Dern vs Yan took place live from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 1, 2022. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
