Steve Garcia plans to expose Jose Mariscal’s weaknesses in LFA 80 main event

Following a loss to Aalon Cruz in June of 2018, featherweight Steve Garcia Jr. has gotten himself back on track with three straight wins.

Not only did Garcia pick up wins, he feels like he had some of the best performances of his career, with two first round finishes over the course of the winning streak.

“These last three match-ups have been good for me,” Garcia told MMAWeekly.com. “I think total combined they had 39 wins (between them), so I was really happy about that. I’ve been trying to impress the right people, and I can see they’re looking my way now, so I’m happy about it.

“I would say they went pretty well. I was in control the majority of every fight. I didn’t take too much damage in any of those fights. I would say it was definitely some of the more promising fights I’ve had so far.”

For Garcia it’s been the adjustments he’s made in training of late that he feels has helped put him on his winning streak.

“We actually changed up some of my style to fit my build a little bit better,” said Garcia. “I really feel like it’s been paying off.

“Me and Coach Wink (Mike Winkeljohn) and Greg (Jackson) have put some really good game plans together. We’ve focused on implementing one of two things to out game each time we’ve worked out, and I really feel like they’ve developed over the course of 2019.”

On Friday in Albuquerque, N.M., Garcia (10-3) will look to extend his winning streak to four in a row when he takes on Jose Mariscal (10-4) in the 145-pound main event of LFA 80.

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“He seems like he has a really aggressive style,” Garcia said of Mariscal. “To be honest I think that’s going to be the factor that’s going to hurt him the most; trying to be overly aggressive and running into shots; that could potentially really change the fight to my favor.

“I feel like he tries to rush things and use his toughness and grit to substitute the maybe less technical aspects of his game. He doesn’t have a medium gauge, he’s either all or nothing, so we’re definitely aware of that and we’ll just have to pick apart the weaknesses of his game while I utilize the strengths of my game.”

Having been involved in the fight game for over a decade, Garcia feels like 2020 year he makes his push to the top level of the sport.

“I expect it to be next,” said Garcia. “I think that 12 years in the making that it’s about time to start seeing it pay off.

“I’m not saying I have to have the next fight be on the biggest stage in the world; I’m not necessarily that type of person; but I expect highly of myself and I expect to put on the best performances as possible, and I’m hoping through all that it will get me to the next level.”