A 26-year-old American on Fight Island is rumored to have had more street fights than Jorge Masvidal and Kimbo Slice combined

• One of the athletes competing at the UFC Fight Island 6 event on Saturday apparently has more street-fights than Jorge Masvidal and Kimbo Slice combined.
• Meet Jonathan Martinez, who has an introverted nature which is at odds with the brash and confident persona of other UFC athletes like Masvidal.
• Martinez said before he even drilled kicks, he threw a kick at one guy's head and dropped him, finishing the fight. Word quickly got around school that he knew what he was doing.
• Note to self: do not mess with Martinez.
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FIGHT ISLAND — A 26-year-old American on Fight Island, the UFC's ongoing combat sports festival in Abu Dhabi, has apparently had more street fights than Jorge Masvidal and Kimbo Slice combined.

When reporters asked Jonathan Martinez about the rumor that he has been all too happy to scrap at a moment's notice, he appeared bashful, looked down at his hands, and laughed nervously.

It was a contrast in reaction to the ways Masvidal and Kimbo loved to talk about their achievements in backyard brawls many years ago.

At a media day inside the UFC bubble, Martinez said the rumor is true.

"I used to fight a lot when I was in school and stuff so I just used to pick fights," he said. "Not really pick fights, but if I felt a guy thought he was tough, I'd say to my friends, 'Hey, tell him I want to fight him.'

"So they'd go up to him and say, 'Hey, this guy wants to fight you.' And I would, just because."

He said that there was never any money involved, that he was "really good out there," and that he quickly discovered the toughest-looking guys never seemed to want to fight.

"I was always fighting the bigger guys," he said, noting that there were some fights he might be getting beaten up for 20 minutes but he'd still never back down.

Martinez said one fight which stood out was when he hadn't ever really drilled kicks, but threw a kick at one guy's face. "I dropped the guy and after that everyone started knowing me at school."

It was noted by one reporter that the perception of street-fighters like Masvidal who has a brash and confident persona, is at odds with Martinez, considering his introverted nature. But Martinez said it was what led him toward mixed martial arts.

Martinez, a Texan, is a blue belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu but has won a number of his contests through strikes. He has fought five times in the UFC, including a third round knockout over Frankie Saenz in August.

Martinez fights Thomas Almeida in a featherweight match on Saturday on the main card of the UFC Fight Island 6 event in the behind-closed-doors Flash Forum venue on Yas Island.

He told the press Wednesday that we will likely see him try and force a street-fight rather than an MMA contest against Almeida.

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