Hathaway, Santana Eager to Cross Paths
At Cage Rage 25 in March, John "The Hitman" Hathaway made
a successful debut on London's biggest stage by laying waste to
South London tough guy Marvin Arnold Bleau
(Pictures) early in the first
round.
Hathaway, 7-0, wasted no time on his feet with the dangerous kickboxer. Immediately he planted Arnold Bleau on his back and hammered him into the mat with a blistering series of punches.
"I knew that Marvin was nothing on the ground and, if I could take him there, then it was far more into my favor," Hathaway said. "The fight was ended really quick. He just didn't seem to defend himself on the floor."
A former welterweight, Hathaway appeared to have filled into a fully-fledged middleweight with real prospects in the division. However, to give himself an advantage that few professional fighters can resist, he now plans to make his way back down to the 170-pound class.
"I'm going to be fighting in July. I'm going to try and make welterweight and go from there, assuming I can actually make it," he said. "I know I can make it, but it's how my body will feel the day after.
"If I can make it, it would just be such an advantage," Hathaway continued. "But it's not 100 percent at the moment. We'll see over the next month and a half and see how my weight levels out. The way I see it is looking to see where I'm going to be stronger at, where I'm going to be better in the division and how I can rise in each division."
Hathaway's chosen weight class is without a doubt one of the hottest in the United Kingdom. It seems that even before his move to the division has been finalized, the rising star has experienced fighters gunning for him.
"I think Henrique Santana (Pictures) said something about wanting to fight me if I went to welter," said Hathaway, who in June 2007 outpointed Henrique's brother Tarcio Santana (Pictures).
At 5-3, Henrique is the more experienced Santana. In preparation for what he described as the best fight of his life, he stepped up his conditioning training to address his renowned lack of cardio and the improvement showed in a March bout against London Shootfighter Michael Johnson at Cage Rage 25.
Over three rounds Santana forced the issue and displayed incredible developments to both his kicking and takedown games. He came through some hard shots to earn a well-deserved unanimous decision.
"He did amazing against Johnson," Hathaway said. "I was there watching that fight. He looked great. He did everything right, drove on his takedowns, seemed to plan his takedowns at the right time as well, suckered Michael in."
Asked whether he could handle the Brazilian's skills on the mat, Hathaway sounded confident yet all too aware of the problems he might face in a grappling encounter with Santana.
"It depends on where it is," Hathaway said. "I don't know too much about Henrique, but I'd be far more comfortable being on top because I know there are things I can do to posture up and get out of submissions, get out and back standing. But being on the bottom is the worst place. It's the place I don't want to be, underneath someone like him."
While overseeing the progress of his students at a jiu-jitsu competition, Santana was elated to hear about the prospect of Hathaway returning to welterweight. He spoke excitedly about the idea of squaring off with the undefeated Zero Tolerance Fight Skool graduate.
"It's wonderful because he fought my brother at middleweight," Santana said. "My brother was not ready at the time. If I had the chance to fight against him, it would be like a big Christmas present!"
In what clearly was the fight of the night on the June 2007 Cage Rage Contenders show, Tarcio Santana (Pictures) stood toe-to-toe with Hathaway as they exchanged shots for round after round. It was, however, the Hitman who emerged victorious, lighting the fire under the battered Brazilian's older brother in the process.
"I'm sure I can get [Hathaway] to the ground and I can finish him on the ground," Santana assessed. "Not the same way as the Michael Johnson fight because for every fighter you have to have a different strategy. But I definitely think I can take him to the ground, maybe finish with a choke, maybe finish with a unanimous decision."
Given the opportunity to address his dream opponent directly, Santana's eyes widened noticeably: "Hathaway, I am the lion, man. You are my next victim. I promise you, bro. Nothing personal -- it's just a family thing."
Hathaway, 7-0, wasted no time on his feet with the dangerous kickboxer. Immediately he planted Arnold Bleau on his back and hammered him into the mat with a blistering series of punches.
"I knew that Marvin was nothing on the ground and, if I could take him there, then it was far more into my favor," Hathaway said. "The fight was ended really quick. He just didn't seem to defend himself on the floor."
A former welterweight, Hathaway appeared to have filled into a fully-fledged middleweight with real prospects in the division. However, to give himself an advantage that few professional fighters can resist, he now plans to make his way back down to the 170-pound class.
"I'm going to be fighting in July. I'm going to try and make welterweight and go from there, assuming I can actually make it," he said. "I know I can make it, but it's how my body will feel the day after.
"If I can make it, it would just be such an advantage," Hathaway continued. "But it's not 100 percent at the moment. We'll see over the next month and a half and see how my weight levels out. The way I see it is looking to see where I'm going to be stronger at, where I'm going to be better in the division and how I can rise in each division."
Hathaway's chosen weight class is without a doubt one of the hottest in the United Kingdom. It seems that even before his move to the division has been finalized, the rising star has experienced fighters gunning for him.
"I think Henrique Santana (Pictures) said something about wanting to fight me if I went to welter," said Hathaway, who in June 2007 outpointed Henrique's brother Tarcio Santana (Pictures).
At 5-3, Henrique is the more experienced Santana. In preparation for what he described as the best fight of his life, he stepped up his conditioning training to address his renowned lack of cardio and the improvement showed in a March bout against London Shootfighter Michael Johnson at Cage Rage 25.
Over three rounds Santana forced the issue and displayed incredible developments to both his kicking and takedown games. He came through some hard shots to earn a well-deserved unanimous decision.
"He did amazing against Johnson," Hathaway said. "I was there watching that fight. He looked great. He did everything right, drove on his takedowns, seemed to plan his takedowns at the right time as well, suckered Michael in."
Asked whether he could handle the Brazilian's skills on the mat, Hathaway sounded confident yet all too aware of the problems he might face in a grappling encounter with Santana.
"It depends on where it is," Hathaway said. "I don't know too much about Henrique, but I'd be far more comfortable being on top because I know there are things I can do to posture up and get out of submissions, get out and back standing. But being on the bottom is the worst place. It's the place I don't want to be, underneath someone like him."
While overseeing the progress of his students at a jiu-jitsu competition, Santana was elated to hear about the prospect of Hathaway returning to welterweight. He spoke excitedly about the idea of squaring off with the undefeated Zero Tolerance Fight Skool graduate.
"It's wonderful because he fought my brother at middleweight," Santana said. "My brother was not ready at the time. If I had the chance to fight against him, it would be like a big Christmas present!"
In what clearly was the fight of the night on the June 2007 Cage Rage Contenders show, Tarcio Santana (Pictures) stood toe-to-toe with Hathaway as they exchanged shots for round after round. It was, however, the Hitman who emerged victorious, lighting the fire under the battered Brazilian's older brother in the process.
"I'm sure I can get [Hathaway] to the ground and I can finish him on the ground," Santana assessed. "Not the same way as the Michael Johnson fight because for every fighter you have to have a different strategy. But I definitely think I can take him to the ground, maybe finish with a choke, maybe finish with a unanimous decision."
Given the opportunity to address his dream opponent directly, Santana's eyes widened noticeably: "Hathaway, I am the lion, man. You are my next victim. I promise you, bro. Nothing personal -- it's just a family thing."
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