In honor of coach: Mana Martinez to fight at UFC on ESPN 30, days after death of Saul Soliz
Mana Martinez enters UFC on ESPN 30 with a heavy heart.
Eleven days after the death of his head coach and mentor Saul Soliz, Martinez (8-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will make his first walk to the promotion’s cage when he takes on Guido Cannetti (8-5 MMA, 2-4 UFC) on the preliminary card Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
The debut comes one week later and with a different opponent than was originally expected. Originally booked to compete at UFC on ESPN 29 this past Saturday, Martinez was met with multiple layers of unexpected adversity days out from the event.
After COVID-19 protocols deemed him ineligible for the Aug. 21 bout, Martinez lost his head coach to the virus, which claimed Soliz’s life at age 55.
Martinez, 25, considered withdrawing from the bout, he recently told MMA Junkie. However, instead, he has decided to go forth with the fight as it’s what his coach would’ve wanted. Martinez will dedicate the performance to the memory of Soliz. He enters the fight on a two-fight winning streak including a contract-earning performance on “Dana White: Lookin’ for a Fight.”
Cannetti, 41, will look to turn his luck around after a two-fight skid.
The updated UFC on ESPN 30 lineup includes:
- Edson Barboza vs. Giga Chikadze
- Bryan Battle vs. Gilbert Urbina
- Brady Hiestand vs. Ricky Turcios
- Kevin Lee vs. Daniel Rodriguez
- Michael Gillmore vs. Andre Petroski
- Gerald Meerschaert vs. Makhmud Muradov
- Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Alessio Di Chirico
- Sam Alvey vs. Wellington Turman
- Dustin Jacoby vs. Darren Stewart
- JJ Aldrich vs. Vanessa Demopoulos
- Jamall Emmers vs. Pat Sabatini
- Guido Cannetti vs. Mana Martinez