(Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune) Mixed Martial Arts fighter Rad Martinez of West Jordan embarks on the biggest fight of his career Thursday at the Maverik Center in the Bellator MMA Featherweight Tournament Finals.

MMA: Utah’s Rad Martinez preps for his biggest fight

MMA » West Jordan fighter headlines Bellator MMA card at Maverik Center.

By Aaron Falk

| The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published Feb 20 2013 11:37 am • Last Updated Feb 20 2013 11:39 pm

The most important fight of Rad Martinez’s life will be Thursday when he headlines a Bellator MMA event at the Maverik Center.

When Martinez takes on Shahbulat Shamhalaev in front of a hometown crowd — and a national TV audience — a $100,000 payday and a guaranteed title shot will be on the line.

"Everybody’s next fight is their biggest fight," Martinez said. "But this one is no doubt the biggest fight of my career."

Martinez, whose wrestling career at Clarion University ended with a fifth-place NCAA finish, expects a tough bout between two fighters with very different styles.

"He’s a kickboxing world champion, and his strikes are fantastic," he said. "My background is wrestling. I don’t think it’s any secret that he wants to stand and beat me up and try to knock me out, and I want to drag him to the ground and beat him up and try to knock him out. I feel like my strengths will be his weaknesses."

And Martinez expects a hometown crowd to fuel him.

"Having it in Utah is huge," he said. "There are going to be so many supporters out there that are going to be rooting me on. That’s going to help to push me forward. If I start to feel tired, they’re going to motivate me to go forward."

The $100,000 prize would help pay for Martinez’s August wedding. It would also help cover the costs of caring for his father, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car crash roughly two decades ago.

"It would go a long way toward securing my family’s future," he said.

afalk@sltrib.com

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

About Reader Comments

---

Reader comments on sltrib.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Salt Lake Tribune. We will delete comments containing obscenities, personal attacks and inappropriate or offensive remarks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. If you see an objectionable comment, please alert us by clicking the arrow on the upper right side of the comment and selecting "Flag comment as inappropriate". If you've recently registered with Disqus or aren't seeing your comments immediately, you may need to verify your email address. To do so, visit disqus.com/account.
See more about comments here.