With the novel COVID-19 wiping out the PFL’s 2020 schedule, many of the promotion’s newer fighters were never given an opportunity to compete in MMA last year, among them light-heavyweight Chris Camozzi.
While 2020 was admittedly difficult for Camozzi’s MMA career, he tempers his disappointment knowing what was going on around him and with the fact that he’ll finally be returning to action this year.
“It was a tough mental thing, especially being set to fight in the PFL last May and then they pulled the plug a month or two before,” Camozzi told MMAWeekly.com. “But there’s worse things that people had to deal with over the last year so I guess it’s not a big deal.
“I’m happy to be back at it. It’s nice to finally have a date, a location, and an opponent. Now it doesn’t seem so far away.”
If something good came out of the lack of fights in 2020 for Camozzi it was the fact that he was able to focus on developing his game, which he normally does not have extended time to do when actively fighting.
“I knew that nothing was on the horizon for me, so I had time to put in work on places that I wanted to work on,” said Camozzi.
“A big thing for me was try to get a little bit stronger, a little more powerful. Just work on things that I didn’t always have time to because I was always in fight camp and it’s hard to take a step back and work on some of those things when you’re in the heat of training camp.”
On April 29 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Camozzi (25-14) makes his promotional debut at 2021 PFL 2 versus Emiliano Sordi (22-8) in a main card 205-pound regular season bout.
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“With him being a former champion, I figure why not ask for the best guy that they have,” Camozzi said of Sordi. “With this format why not take on the best guy first when you’re the freshest and not banged up.
“Stylistically he’s a tough match-up which makes me excited for (it). As far as winning, I just need to go in and do what I do and pressure him and not let him dictate the pace. I just need to focus on me more than I focus on him.”
Having had issues with finding fights in the past and bouncing between MMA and Muay Thai, Camozzi is pleased to be part of the PFL’s season then playoffs format and the opportunities it can afford him for consistency in 2021.
“I love this format and the fact that they do it like a season,” said Camozzi. “I know exactly what’s after. There’s no waiting game, there’s no short-notice, they line up everything ahead of time and you know what the season’s going to look like. I like having an end goal and something on the horizon I’m training for.”