A little over a decade later, Puelles’ grandfather has passed, but he’s still in the heart and mind of a young man about to get into the most important fight of his professional MMA career Saturday night in Madison Square Garden.
“For obvious reasons, this is the biggest fight in my career,” said the 26-year-old Puelles. “It’s a huge card, I’m getting this really good opportunity to be on a main card, and I’m very happy, but I’m putting in so much work that everything I get, I feel is deserved. I moved my life to the United States, and I worked so hard every day that I feel that I’ve got to fight the best, and this is a good chance to start, fighting a guy that’s ranked and that has so many wars in the UFC. Everybody knows him, so it’s a great name for me and a great fight.”
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That ranked guy is New Zealand veteran Dan Hooker, and he’s a clear step-up for Puelles, but just because it’s a step-up, that doesn’t mean that the Lima native is intimidated. Quite the contrary, as his work with the Kill Cliff FC team in South Florida and a five-fight win streak have him more confident than ever that this is where he belongs – in MSG on a pay-per-view main card fighting one of the best lightweights in the world.
“I don’t care where it is, but if they give me something nice like this, of course it’s better,” he laughs. “They gave me the UFC APEX for my last three fights, and I was happy I got good fights, I won my fights, and it’s awesome. But it’s an extra factor if they give you a fight in MSG on a huge pay-per-view card, so why not?”
Happy, grateful, but unrattled. I ask Puelles if he’s always been this serious.
