Justin Linn is going to face Aaron Pico in his next bout, but he does not seems to feel nervous about his debut in Bellator against the young prospect.
Justin “The Mortal Sinn” Linn (7-3) is expected to face Aaron Pico (0-1) in his debut in Bellator MMA. The two athletes will meet at 145 lb on 23th September. For this bout, Pico has dropped a weight class, leaving the lightweights behind and the bad memories this weight class has caused him.
Welcoming Pico in the featherweight division is Justin Linn, who has accepted to answer a few questions of our ahead of Bellator 183.
Hello sir, how went your training camp?
My training camp went pretty well, I came down to Fresno, California to train with my cousin Darren Halo, for the past couple of weeks. I just had a lot of hard sparring with him, he is also a mma fighter, so it was really convenient to have him. I just did a lot of hard sparring, a lot of bag works and jiu jitsu. I like to running late at night, I’ve been doing this a lot lately and now I just trying to cut my weight down.
Who are your sparring partners?
Garrett Marks, he is my main training partner and an up-and-coming fighter. Me and him have been training together since he was 13 years old.
Feeling nervous about your debut in Bellator?
There is a little bit of nerves always, but I faced top contenders before. I faced 4 UFC fighters in the past. Being on tv it’s a lot more nerves than fighting off camera. The times when I fought the UFC fighters it was off camera, local shows. Now that I get to showcase my skills on live television, it’s a lot of nerve more, but I have no problem getting in there and get the job done.
When did you take on mma?
I started training around 16 years old, I used to boxe a lot in my appartament complex. From there I moved to gym, Extreme Couture. I trained there in Las Vegas for 2 or 3 years and then a guy called Shawn Tomkins who had come from Canada kind took me under his wing and we moved to a different gym called Tapout Training Center. That’s the guy who put me under his wing and help me get as far as I am today.
Do you think that Aaron Pico has too much hype behind him?
No, he doesn’t have the martial arts experience but he is a very good wrestler and a very good striker. He likes to force people to stand and strike. I don’t think people are underestimating him, I think he is a very talented fighter who hasn’t got enough ring time to showcase his great skills.
How do you think your next fight will end?
I don’t put a lot of thought in it, I just go as it flows. I just let it flow, I don’t like to put too much thought into a gameplan. But if there is to make a guess, it could maybe be by KO with a headkick, it could be a submission with a guillotine, maybe a body kick TKO. I really like muay thai. My game plan is basically do muay thai and jiu jitsu while he does his boxing and wrestling.
Would you like to say something to your opponent?
I don’t really like to say too much to him. I just want to say good luck and I wish him luck in the future. We all are here trying to make it to the big leagues, we are trying to make a living out of it. I wish him the best of luck. I would like to give a shout out to my coaches, Garrett Marks, Halo Jiu Jitsu, Shawn Tomkins, Chris Horodecki, Mark Hominick, Sam Style and Isaac Ruiz, my manager.
