TAMPA, Fla. – Matt Frevola is pulling no punches as he enters his fourth UFC bout.
Frevola (7-1-1 MMA, 1-1-1 UFC), a Long Island native, faces off with The Ultimate Fighter alumnus Luis Pena (7-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) at UFC on ESPN+ 19.
The event takes place Saturday at Amalie Arena and the entire card streams on ESPN+.
“(Pena) was definitely on my radar,” Frevola told MMA Junkie on Thursday. “I wanted this fight. He’s good. He’s a great martial artist. Good striking. Good wrestling. Good jiu-jitsu. I think he’s got a lot of hype and he’s a guy I can definitely beat. It’s a fight I wanted to derail another hype train.”
According to the oddsmakers, Frevola is the underdog against betting favorite Pena. Underdog status is nothing new for the Gracie Tampa South lightweight. He’s only been a betting favorite once in his UFC tenure.
“I love being the underdog,” Frevola said. “I love when people doubt me and proving them wrong. I’m about to do it again Saturday night.”
Frevola, 29, will look to continue the momentum of his first UFC victory, over Jalin Turner at UFC 236 in April. Prior, Frevola fought to a draw against Lando Vannata and was knocked out by Marco “Polo” Reyes.
As for Frevola’s opponent, “Violent Bob Ross” Pena finished Matt Wiman via third round ground-and-pound. In seven career victories, Pena has only gone to the judges’ decision one time.
Even before UFC on ESPN+ 19, Matt Frevola wanted to derail 'hype train' Luis Pena