MMA Viking’s content partner Fightsport.fi recently interviewed Finnish light heavyweight prospect Marcus “Caveman” Vänttinen (21-4) who is working his way back to the game after a knee injury that demanded surgical treatment. Vänttinen fought his Bellator debut in April when he dropped a split decision to American John Hawk. The reason for the bland performance was a serious knee injury Vänttinen had suffered months before the fight. Surgery was performed after the bout and the Finn begin grueling rehab to the knee back to fighting shape. Now the return of the Caveman is getting close.
“The knee holds up well even in hard sparring. I don’t have to worry about it anymore” says Vänttinen.
The time off from active combat training and fighting has given Vänttinen time to assess and re-evaluate his training methods. Now Vänttinen, who trains 10 to 11 times a week, does everything according to a totally different schedule.
“Before I tried to keep myself in fighting shape all year round. I was training too much and too hard. Now I have a training program that is divided into periods and I will have a proper training camp for each fight. ” says the Caveman
Changing his training methods might not be the only thing that is changing for the Finn. Vänttinen, who walks around at 105 kgs (233 lbs), might be moving up to heavyweight in the future.
“There is always a shortage of heavyweights in the UFC. Getting to the UFC is still my main goal. So if I have to move up to heavy to get into the UFC, I’m willing to do that. But my weight still comes off easily for the light heavyweight limit. ”
Vänttinen has no idea where, when or against who he will fight when he returns to action but one thing is for sure: he is not going back to Bellator.
“Bellator contacted my manager Petteri Maunu and told him that they would like to have me back after I get couple of wins but I don’t want to fight for them anymore. There are many reasons for it but the main reason is that I don’t like the way they treat their fighters. Promotions have offered me fights. One interesting offer came from India from Super Fight League. They offered me a fight in November but that was too soon for me.” Says the Finn who should get a final clearing for the orthopedic within couple of weeks.
