Stuart Austin on Bruno Henrique Cappelozza Matchup: ‘It’s the Most Exciting Fight in the PFL’

Stuart Austin isn’t asking for easy matchups in this year’s Professional Fighters League Regular Season. The former BAMMA and Elite MMA Championship titleholder will face Bruno Henrique Cappelozza at the upcoming PFL 2 event. Austin (15-7, 0-1 PFL) has bad intentions for the man who captured the heavyweight championship last year, but understands that a tough matchup lies ahead of him. While his promotional debut ended with a 31-second knockout at the hands of Renan Ferreira last year, “He-Man” believes that his willingness to face strong opponents sets him apart from most up-and-coming fighters nowadays. Austin has never shied away from difficulty, and he is willing to test himself once more this year as he asks to face last year’s runner-up, Ante Delija.

“I would like to face Ante as well,” he said. “In my head, if I can beat Bruno, and if I can beat Ante, I’d beat last year’s No. 1 and No. 2. That puts me in a great position, you know? They’re also really, really tough fights. I was so excited they told me I was getting Bruno. As soon as I recovered from the last fight, I actually spoke to my manager. I said, ‘I think I’d match up really well with both fighters in the final. I’d love to fight Bruno.’ I don’t think that affected the matchmaking at all, to be honest, but getting Bruno was the most exciting thing for me. Why wouldn’t you wanna fight the best guy? I know there is a different mindset with a lot of the young athletes in the sport now, a lot of them are, ‘Oh, how can I get a win? How can I do this?' I'm [more] like, I see the bullseye on somebody’s back, and that guy’s the champ. If I’m going to beat him, that sets me up to be the guy. I’ll have the bullseye on my back. People are going to call my name after that. It's the most exciting fight out there. To me, Bruno is the hardest fight in the PFL. It's the most exciting fight in the PFL."

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro
(00:44) His flight to the U.S.
(01:14) Whether he is allowed to leave the hotel and visit the city before his fight
(02:13) His camp at Titan Fighter
(03:54) Training with Simeon Powell and some other up-and-coming fighters in the gym
(06:33) His thoughts on Cappellozza’s fighting style
(08:05) His corner for the fight
(08:39) Losing to Ferreira last year
(10:38) Whether he’s going to push for a rematch with Ferreira
(12:12) Hoping to face Delija in the second fight
(14:36) Commenting on the level of the European heavyweights
(16:56) His walkout song
(17:46) Outro Tudor Leonte started writing about mixed martial arts in 2013 for Italian media outlets. His journey with Sherdog began in 2018 and now he covers One Championship and countless European shows. You can follow him on Twitter @MrTudorLeonte.