Fernando Padilla, UFC Tampa ceremonial weigh-ins on the Amalie Area, Dec. 13, 2024 Credit score: Jay Anderson/Cageside Press
Some discover the combat recreation, some have the combat recreation discover them. For Fernando Padilla, preventing has been round him since he may actually bear in mind. Regardless of being one thing he knew he wasn’t presupposed to be doing, it all the time simply felt proper to him.
“I always had fights, since I was really young, in the streets and in school,” Padilla stated. “Fighting was always there for me.”
Nonetheless, for Padilla, it was by no means about self-preservation and definitely not about selecting on others. As a substitute, even at a younger age, it was all the time in regards to the thrill of competitors for him. He cherished it a lot, that even and not using a sport to chase after it, he nonetheless chased it.
“I always had that edge of competition. If a kid pushed me, I pushed them back. If they punch me, I punch you back,” he defined. “At little kid parties, I was always the kid in the bouncey house kicking someone else or wrestling with someone else.”
Whereas training his karate whereas children have been consuming cake and ice cream received the job achieved for awhile, he wanted extra. As a teen he walked onto the mats of tenth Planet Chihuahua in Mexico and he may really feel every part change for him.
“When I stepped on to MMA mats back in Chihuahua at Fight Club Chihuahua/10th Planet Chihuahua, I remember it was completely a different sensation,” he stated. “Being able to do jiu jitsu, hit the bags, strike – it surrounded me with everything that I liked and I just fell in love with the sport.”
Padilla will get that subsequent probability to scratch that itch this Saturday at UFC Tampa. He’ll tackle fellow featherweight Sean Woodson on the prelims. That portion of the cardboard begins at 7pm EST on ESPN+.
You’ll be able to hear the complete audio model of this interview on the newest version of TTP. The interview begins beneath at 2:15.
