Marina: It's more important than being in the spotlight and training hard and winning all the time

Marina defeated Torres by unanimous decision in September

Marina Rodriguez, perhaps one of the most underrated top ten players in the UFC's official rankings, is the 32-year-old Brazilian women's grassweight winner who still has an unbeaten career record, and in her opinion, whether she can get media attention is a matter of inconsequential.

　　"We're not here to get the media's attention, whether we can appear in front of the media, whether we can be on the cover of the magazine really doesn't matter." For us, the most important thing is to always train hard and then play at the best in the game. What we care about is training, improving, and then winning the game. ”

　　That attitude is also what gives Marina an important showdown, which will take on Cynthia Calvillo in the UFC on ESPN 7 joint home match in Washington this weekend. Marina was signed by Bai Dana in the first season of brazil's "Tuesday Challenger" and entered the UFC, although she drew with Randa Markos in her debut, but then defeated Jessica Aguilar and Tecia Torres with unanimous decisions, and the official ranking also entered the top ten of the women's grassweight.

　　"I'm sure everyone thinks I'm a rising star, but I'm still a new person. People already know that my strength is above the average and I am doing my best to show myself in every game. Hopefully, in the near future, people will see me as a player with a special talent. ”

　　"The only thing I've changed compared to last year when I was in the challenger selection is that I have a stronger willingness to achieve my goals. Coaches and I both know that opportunities will come one day, and the challenges I face in a fighting organization at the level of the UFC will be completely different from everything I've ever done before. Looking back, everything we did became the motivation for me to move forward every day. We have never been satisfied with the status quo, but have been looking for greater progress. ”

　　"We know that our grass-level impact is coming, but we're not in a hurry to do it now. We're still training hard to improve ourselves, and slowly, people will see my evolution, and at that point, the results and recognition will come automatically. ”

　　This temporary appearance against Calvillo may be the best time for Marina to enter the championship challenge competition. She just beat the higher-ranked Torres 3 months ago. As for playing again at this time, Marina said that in fact, this is not a sudden event.

　　"Actually we had planned to play again in December and we are already training for that and waiting for the opportunity to come. When we signed with the UFC, the goal was to play as many games as possible, not to have fun. We have been training and waiting for the UFC to provide new opponents. ”

　　"It's necessary to have a proper training program and be 100% prepared, we don't use our free time to rest or go on vacation, but always be prepared for the challenges that may come."

　　This weekend's showdown with Calvillo is clearly one such match. Calvello, from California, is also a high-profile rookie who has a 5-1 record in an octagon cage, after beating Poliana Botelho and Cortney Casey in a row. Although she currently ranks one place lower than Marina, Marina is well aware that this will be a very dangerous opponent.

　　"Calvello is tough to deal with and resilient. For her game strategy, I think it will be the same as many of the players I have played against before, which is to try to hold me and fall down. So we trained on fall prevention, which even became one of my best techniques. ”

　　"We all know that the level of competition at the UFC is not the same as that of other fighting organizations, but the most important lesson we have learned from so many years of competition is that no player is invincible, and this is the dogma we believe in when we compete at such a high level."