A victory would certainly go a long way towards Samaniego’s dream of making it to the UFC, where former CFFC champs Jared Gordon and Pat Sabatini currently reside. Perhaps a berth on the next season of Dana White’s Contender Series could be in the cards.
Whatever the path ahead, Samaniego knows who’s going to be walking it with him, and he’s looking forward to seeing some respect put on the Gilbert Grappling name.
“I’m a Gilbert Grappling guy for life, for sure,” Samaniego said. “Dan, he took me in when I had nothing, and Jose, he’s got the same philosophy. When I met him, I could just tell, it’s us versus everybody else. If you don’t want to join, then we’re just going to f**king beat you up. That’s how I see it.
“My last fight was against a guy from a good gym. I’m pretty sure this guy goes to the same gym, and we’ve got a slogan: We’re just going to keep beating another million-dollar corner. So these guys think they’re good, but we’re better. It’s only a matter of time before we get that recognition, and that’s going to happen.”