‘Hope MMA Explodes In India’, UFC Flyweight Matt Schnell’s Message To Indian Fans

New Delhi: Flyweight fighter Matt Schnell is set to make his much-awaited return to the octagon in the upcoming UFC Fight Night event headlined by the Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs Shamil Gaziev fight at the UFC Apex arena in Las Vegas, Nevada in the United States, on Saturday.

Schnell is one of the veterans in the UFC Flyweight division and ahead of his upcoming fight against Steve Erceg in the opening bout of the UFC Vegas 82 Main Card, he expressed his love for the Indian fan community and wished that MMA becomes really successful in India.

“I truly am flattered. I would say to any of my Indian fans, reach out to me, come and comment on my stuff. I’ll talk back to you. I appreciate you all. I hope MMA explodes in India and it would be such a great thing too. I know there’s some Indian guys that are making some noise already and I look forward to seeing more. I love it,” said Matt Schnell in an exclusive conversation with India.com.

Schnell is returning to the cage for the first time since December 2022. He was supposed to fight Erceg in November last year but unfortunately had to withdraw due to an infection in his lower back. During his conversation with India.com, he also talked about his layoff from the cage and his back infection.

“I think it (layoff from fighting) can affect people. I’ve trained hard though. I’ve been training hard ever since. It’s not as if I was sitting on the couch and waiting around. I’ve been working trying to hone my craft and sharpen the blade. The last fight, I can’t remember the exact date but we were close to it and I contracted an infection on my lower back,” Schnell told India.com.

“It was just a result of wrestling off of a cage, something that we do all the time. Typically, things like that, you get a little abrasion, it heals. I’ve been fighting 15 years now. This is the first time I’ve dealt with anything like it. It just advanced. It became infected with the way it was. It advanced really quickly and it was wild. Yeah, one day it was just a little, the next day it was MRSA. I prepared for the whole thing. I did the whole camp, I was ready to go and that’s just the way it went. That’s how it worked out,” he added.

This will be Schnell’s 10th fight in the UFC Flyweight division and the fighter is loved by fight fans across the world for putting on action-packed and entertaining fights. Fans would be expecting a similar fight as Schnell gears up to take on Erceg in an attempt to return to the win column and rise up the rankings.