At the UFC Vegas 62 preliminary bouts, renowned MMA trainer and UFC vet James Krause did not hold back while cornering Mana Martinez. As Martinez and Brandon Davis engaged in a fierce three round contest, Krause gave Martinez an uncontrolled motivational talk on television.
Martinez was scolded by Krause for “f***ing around” despite severely injuring his opponent. The Glory MMA head coach urged his athlete to heed his instructions as there were just five minutes left until the final buzzer. Martinez heard Krause say:
“Do you understand what I’m saying? You’re f***ing around too much. This is your fight to win. You’ve hurt him like 3 times now and you’re f***ing around. Let’s go. Stay sharp here.”
“You, look at me m*****f***er. Don’t you f***ing walk out of here tonight unless you f***ing win this fight. Do you understand me? I don’t care, it’s five f***ing minutes.”
“When I tell you to press him, you f***ing press him. Do you understand me? Don’t you let him walk out of here with this goddamn fight. Do you hear me? Do you understand? Let’s f***ing go!”
The greatest moment of the bout definitely had Martinez dropping Davis with a spinning back punch in the last seconds of round two. Apart from that, both competitors battled hard over three rounds, with Martinez coming out on top through split decision.
In August 2021, Mana Martinez defeated Guido Cannetti by a split decision in his UFC debut. Martinez’s triumph was particularly poignant since it came only 11 days after his longtime trainer Saul Soliz died unexpectedly from COVID-19 complications.
However, Martinez wasn’t left without a coach as a renowned instructor, and UFC vet James Krause gave him a call. Martinez joined the Glory MMA team in Missouri, leaving the comfort of his native city of Houston behind.
Martinez’s three-bout winning run came to an end in his first under James Krause’s cornering. It was a unanimous decision defeat to Ronny Lawrence at UFC 271.