Guido Cannetti will face local hero Diego Rivas in the first ever UFC card in Chile.

Guido Cannetti: ‘I’m Going To Chile With My Flag To Colonize; Not Just To Fight’

The UFC Octagon will land in Chile for the first time ever on May 19 when UFC Fight Night 129 takes place at the Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile,.

One of the fights that has attracted the most attention since its announcement is the main card bout between Argentine Guido “El Ninja” Cannetti from Mar del Plata, Argentina, and local superstar Diego “Pitbull” Rivas of Temuco, Chile.

Cannetti recently welcomed MMANYTT into his Our Town MMA gym in Buenos Aires, to talk exclusively about his upcoming bout with his former “The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America” teammate.

“The truth is that I am very happy to be in the first card of Chile, because it is also close to my country and many people can travel to see me,” the Argentine said. “I am the visitor, although I also like being a villain, but this time I’m going with my flag to colonize, I’m not just going to fight. “I will go there with my feelings and my country, I am very Argentine, we have a lot of history with Chile and I will go to war. “

The 38-year-old Argentinian is delighted by the opportunity to face Rivas who will be the first Chilean to compete under the UFC promotional banner since 2014.

“I love fighting with someone from that country, I got used to fighting as a visitor and I feel that energy that gives me strength, I love that rivalry,” Cannetti explained. “Going to win in that territory is going to be spectacular.”

For a fight of such magnitude, Cannetti is already doing a preparation that will consist of two phases: the first on Argentine soil and the second in the United States, with the recognized Team Alpha Male training centre, located in Sacramento, California.