Charles submits Darren Elkins on UFC debut. Photo: Josh Hedges.
After the result from his June 27 fight against Nik Lentz was overturned, Charles do Bronx took no rest. On August 14 the brown belt will be right back in the mix at UFC on Versus 5, facing Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, who is riding a four-fight win streak. Interviewed by GRACIEMAG.com, Bronx doesn’t let the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission that annulled his seventh triumph off the hook.
You admit you threw an illegal knee but the fight wasn’t stopped and you tapped out Nik Lentz. On the occasion you took the “fight of the night” prize. What are your thoughts about them changing the result to a no contest?
Shoot, what happened is that they gave me the win. The right thing to do was to have the ref stop the fight, at most penalize me a point, and let the fight start again. But no, the fight continued. I know it’s not the UFC’s fault, but it is the Athletic Commission’s; I think they were too hard on me. Jon Jones threw an illegal elbow, the judge stopped the fight, the athlete didn’t return to fight but they gave Jon Jones the win. Jon Jones threw an illegal knee on Shogun, everybody saw it, but they gave the win to Jon Jones. So I don’t understand why they went an overturned the result on my fight. But that’s alright, I’m happy with what’s going on in my life, on to the next one. It’s all in the past and now I’m focused on Cerrone.
Once again you’re going to fight in the UFC with almost no breaks between bouts. Is that good or bad?
I’m fine, focused. When I joined the UFC I said I wanted to fight the best, and that’s exactly what I’m doing. Cerrone is one of the top guys in the division and that’s precisely what I want. I’m ready and happy for every fight I get, especially against the toughest guys in the division. I’m going to work double time in preparing for this next fight compared to the last one and I’m glad for the opportunity.
What are your thoughts on Cerrone?
He’s taller than me, which could make it easier to shoot in on his legs for takedowns. I also don’t think he’s that good standing, so we’ll see, I have to feel how the fight goes when I’m in there. He has a good ground game, with 12 submissions in 15 wins. It’ll be a tough fight and I’m dying to get in there. He wants to beat me; I want to be him; so it’ll go off.
How’s your training going?
I’m still training here in Brazil with the kids at Bronx’s Gold Team. Between the 25th and 30th I’ll head to the United States to train with Macaco. I’ll be ready once again.
