A torn ligament in his ankle slowed Marco “Machete” Viedas but he’s on the right track to getting back to a full bill of health ahead of his July 12 fight.
Viedas suffered the injury just over a month ago during training, where he was working on his wrestling game. He had his ankle trapped underneath his body and felt something that didn’t feel right.
“It was quite a scare, for sure. At first I thought it was broken but after a few seconds I realized it wasn’t a break,” Viedas said.
“It sucks but at the same time I’m happy that it wasn’t a break. I’ve been taking it easy for the last month and we’re getting back to the point where I’m starting to run again so the rehab part of it has gone very well.”
Viedas will get back to his regular routine in short time and will continue to work his game plan against his next opponent, Tylor Nicholson (2 wins, 3 losses). Nicholson will have a significant reach advantage on Viedas but that doesn’t worry him or his team what so ever.
“He doesn’t look too solid with his game. He has a long reach so that’s really the only thing I’m concerned about,” Viedas said.
“I’m working on wrestling a little more this time around so I can get him down to the mat and work him that way. I’ll be looking to score some take-downs and see if I can’t get a submission.”
Machete will once again look to finish his opponent in style, either by knockout or a submission. It’s something that he strives for with each fight, not wanting to leave a fight in the hands of the judges to make a decision.
“Definitely don’t want to leave it up to them,” Viedas said with a laugh. “You just never know how they’re going to score a fight and if I can just push the pace and make sure that I’m enforcing my style of fight I want to have in the match, it should end up with me finishing him off without it having to go to the judges decision.”
There was some uncertainty as to whether or not this fight would still be under full amateur rules or if Viedas would be allowed to fight under regular amateur rules (no elbows or knees to the head).
His opponent already has five fights under full amateur rules. In taking this fight, Viedas knew there was a chance that he would get the pass, having only four fights to his name. This will be his last fight under full amateur rules.
“It was a bit of a let down but I wasn’t expecting it to go the other way,” Viedas said. “I knew that there was a chance it could have went either way. So regardless of what the ruling was going to be, it wasn’t going to change a thing in terms of my game plan and what I’m going to do once that bell rings.”
Viedas fights on July 12 at the River Rock Casino in Richmond.