Marthin Hamlet Won’t Grapple with Antonio Carlos Jr. ‘Without Punches’ at PFL Championships

The legendary Rickson Gracie once said, “Punch a black belt in the face once, he becomes a brown belt. Punch him again, purple belt,” and so on. It is a principle Marthin Hamlet has clearly taken to heart.

2021 has been quite a successful year for Hamlet (8-2, 2-1 PFL), who competes for the Professional Fighters League 205-pound championship against Antonio Carlos Jr. on Oct. 27. The Frontline Academy standout already overcame a tough Brazilian in the semifinals, where he defeated Ultimate Fighting Championship alum Cezar Ferreira due to a leg injury early in the fight. Now, the Norwegian is focusing on “Cara De Sapato” and vows to hit his upcoming opponent with every weapon in his arsenal, especially on the ground.

“I’ve been training with a lot of good guys [in BJJ],” Hamlet said to Sherdog. “We have to think about Brazilian jiu-jitsu is not MMA, wrestling is not MMA, we have to mix it up, so I respect his record in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but when he faces me in that cage, I have no respect for his earlier things in the career. I faced a lot of good jiu-jitsu guys, but my plan is not to grapple with him. I’m not going to go in position and grapple with him for 25 minutes without punches and stuff. When you start punching, the grappling will be different. When you start wrestling with punches, the wrestling will be different. Yeah, I like the whole thing.”

Hamlet also discussed the bizarre ending of his bout with Ferreira, shared his picks for the remaining PFL title fight, and revealed some names he would like to face in the 2022 season.

Tudor Leonte started writing about mixed martial arts in 2013 for Italian media outlets. His journey with Sherdog began in 2018 and he now covers One Championship and countless European shows. You can follow him on Twitter @MrTudorLeonte.