Jacaré's rival responds to criticism for revenge marriage: 'I was the only one who accepted'

Camozzi (photo) replaced Romero in the fight with Jacaré. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC

The announcement that Chris Camozzi would be the replacement for the injured Yoel romero in the fight against Ronaldo Jacare, at UFC on FOX 15, left a lot of people disappointed. That's because the North American was easily defeated by the Brazilian in 2013, when Jacaré was making his Ultimate debut. However, Camozzi responded to the criticism and stated that the fault, in fact, lies with the other fighters who refused to face the Brazilian at such short notice for the event.

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In an interview with the North American website “MMA Fighting”, Camozzi stated that several other athletes in the middleweight division were invited to face Jacaré, but that none of them accepted. “People who complain about the fight should get in touch with those who didn’t accept it. They didn't offer the fight just to me, but I was the only one who said yes. I know they offered the fight to several others,” he said.

Despite being selected for the event at short notice, Camozzi guarantees that his focus is on getting back at Jacaré. “The moral victory for me would be to win the fight. A victory is a victory, otherwise it's just another defeat on the record. It doesn’t matter how well you did, but a loss is a loss,” he explained.

Furthermore, Camozzi states that he learned from the mistakes of his first encounter with Jacaré, when he was submitted in the first round. “I know what I did wrong. I became too anxious instead of being patient. When I tried to take his knee out of my belly, I exposed my arm too much and he took advantage and used the katagatame,” he said, adding that he has evolved as a fighter since then. “I started focusing on my weakest points, like wrestling. I'm with a new trainer to improve my strength, I'm faster, stronger, and I'm not heavy. I'm training the right way, with the right training partners. Everything is working out so far,” he added.

The fight between Chris Camozzi and Ronaldo Jacare will be the co-main attraction of UFC on FOX 15, this Saturday (18), in the city of Newark, New Jersey (USA). In the most important fight of the night, Lyoto Machida faces Luke Rockhold also in the middleweight category.