Paul Buentello may be into his forties but the former UFC and Strikeforce fighter isn’t ready to ring the bell on his career just yet.
The big Texan won the main event at the third Abu Dhabi Warriors mixed martial arts tournament held in Abu Dhabi, defeating Cameroon’s Rameau Sokoudjou via a brutal knock-out in the third round.
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The 41-year-old has enjoyed a sporadic but high-profile MMA career, winning the title of King of the Cage Heavyweight Champion in 2003.
He has fought for the UFC heavyweight championship on one previous occasion, losing to Andrei Arlovski in 2005, while he was also defeated by Alistair Overeem in his only heavyweight title shot with Strikeforce too.
Buentello gave up 10 years to his opponent and was visibly tired as the fight went on, although he is not quite ready to throw in the towel and encourages any aspiring, young MMA stars to follow his lead.
“Make my past your future,” Buentello said after his bout. “My past is wonderful, UFC, Bellator, Strikeforce, Affliction, I’ve fought all over Russia. Make your future my past and you’ll have a wonderful trip in this game.
“I would tell other fighters to keep going. I’m 41 but I still have that warrior spirit. I just want to fight. I have no plans to give up yet, but one day…
“There’s always a bigger mountain but right now I’m having fun and this win is the icing on the cake.”
Buentello fought for free in Abu Dhabi, desperate to take a trip to see a country he’d heard so many good things about.
“It was a great experience,” said the American. “The whole programme was second to none. I’ve been in big promotions, big shows, in front of bigger, huge crowds, but this was one of the best out of country experiences I’ve ever had.
“To tell you the truth, when they called me for this fight I didn’t ask for money or an opponent, I just said yes, I wanted to go. I wanted to come here so bad and I got to perform in front of the Abu Dhabi fans and for this wonderful programme.
“I’ve never been here and heard so many great things about it, how the people are, how it’s really easy-going and that’s how it’s been.”
Buentello might have been fading during the fight but always felt he had the measure of his opponent.
“I was a little frustrated after the first round and then tired after the second,” he said. “My cornerman just told me ‘give me everything, you’ve got five minutes, show him you could continue fighting’ and that’s what I did.”
