Ahead of his first defense of his featherweight title tonight at RFO: Big Guns 16 – The Summit, Rich Cantolina (12-7) feels like he has a lot to prove.
Originally slated for a grudge match against Brandon Odom, the Pittsburgh native will instead face Adli Edwards (6-1) in the amateur main event at the Summit County Fairgrounds in Tallmadge, Ohio.
Edwards has been one of the top prospects in Ohio since making his debut three years ago. But he’s exactly the type of fighter that Cantolina wants to face at this point in his career.
“I went to [RFO promoter] Matt [Trukovich] and I said, ‘Find me the toughest guy east of the Mississippi,'” Cantolina said when he appeared on BluegrassMMA Live earlier this week. “Because it’s time to belong that my name does belong in the list of top prospects. I feel like I’m always left out.”
Cantolina has been fighting as an amateur for more than seven years now, and this will be his seventh title fight in a row and his ninth overall. So naturally the question he hears most is about when he plans to turn pro.
“You never know, man. I know I get asked this question all the time,” Cantolina said. “I think I said at Yankee Lake like five years ago that it was my last amateur fight. But then I come back to the drawing board. I’ve seen so many guys from MMA that rush to turn pro, but when you turn professional the game changes. There’s no more fish out there; you’re fighting tough studs every time.”
Cantolina has seen many talented fighters turn pro too early and ruin their careers, and he doesn’t want to put himself in that same situation.
“I see guys rush to turn pro and they go 0-1, 0-2, 1-2,” Cantolina said. “Guys with records that were like 10-0 as amateurs and they fail as a beginning professional, and then they’re done. Your UFC career, your dream is done.”
“People ask me why I waited, and I want to make sure mindset wise, skill-set wise, when I turn pro to make a 5-0 run, a 6-0 run to make it to the big show. I’m not just going to turn pro to make 800 bucks a fight.
“This is my dream and I want to do it right. I believe this is my last fight, but I’m not going to make any promises.”