Medina aims for title fight

MILDURA Martial Art’s Jessie “Funky Cold” Medina will put it all on the line when he takes on Diego Pereira in an Eternal MMA featherweight bout this weekend on the Gold Coast.

A submission specialist and 15-year veteran of the sport, Medina is looking to come away with a win and put himself in contention for an Eternal MMA title fight.

If Medina is successful against Pereira, he would be next in line to fight for the Eternal MMA belt.

Medina will also be fighting for another belt in a separate MMA promotion in early July.

In his last outing, Medina was able to put away experienced opponent Rodolfo “The Nightmare” Marques with ground and pound in the third round, which he said gave him confidence going into the fight.

Medina said he believed his pace and experience would make the difference against his greener opponent.

“He’s had about 16 fights and I’ve had about 27, he’s good everywhere but he is not exceptional in any one area and I feel my experience and the ability to push the pace will be the difference in this fight,” he said.

“All the guys at training have pushed me to be comfortable wherever the fight goes.”

“One of the key factors to winning will definitely be my cardio.”

Medina said he felt his opponent may be making the mistake of underestimating his skills on the feet due to many of his wins coming by way of submission.

“Diego is a black belt in jujitsu so I feel like we nullify each others game a little bit but I feel like I still have the advantage on the ground,” he said.

“I haven’t actually showcased my skills in the stand up side of things yet so I think it will be a good opportunity to show case those skills because I feel like he is sleeping on me a bit.”

Medina said he had putting the work in at the gym and was feeling “really strong and comfortable”.

Viewers can catch the fight on Eternal MMA at 6pm Saturday.