Massillon resident Antonio Castillo Jr. has opportunity to reach UFC after 15 year career

A lifetime of weight cuts, fight camps, missed holidays, cuts, bruises and broken bones has paid off for Massillon-based MMA fighter Antonio Castillo Jr. After 15 years, Castillo Jr. has an opportunity to possibly earn a UFC fight.

Castillo Jr. will appear on the Dana White Lookin' For a Fight series Wednesday at Combat Zone 79 in Boston. The event begins at 7 p.m. and is available to watch on the UFC Fight Pass service. Castillo Jr. (14-16) is set to face off with Kris Moutinho (9-6) in a 145-pound fight.

The event will conclude a whirlwind month for Castillo Jr. He fought less than two weeks ago and survived getting dropped early to submit Tobiaus Taylor in the third round with an anaconda choke. The turnaround has been quick, but there was no way Castillo Jr. was going to miss an opportunity to fight on such a big stage.

"I went through a war in my last fight," Castillo Jr. said. "It was a good scrap. He dropped me early and I got split open and took some damage in that fight. I'm doing a lot of no-contact work and pad work to get ready for this. I'm just kind of letting it sink in."

There were times when Castillo Jr. wondered if he would ever have such an opportunity. There has been plenty of adversity on the way to this fight. Castillo Jr. had a tremendous start to his pro career before a six-fight losing streak the stretched from 2017 to 2019 halted his momentum and caused plenty of reflection.

"I'm a faithful guy," Castillo Jr. said. "I don't believe I got into this by accident. There were some tough times, though. I spent a lot of years wondering, 'am I wasting my time?' I was watching guys pass me up that I was ahead of or started after me. Now I think of it as just getting the right seasoning."

Castillo rebounded from that stretch and has won four of his last six fights. He is set to take on Moutinho, a fighter who reached the UFC before he was released after two losses.

"It's going to be a war," Castillo Jr. said. "This is his first fight back since he was in the UFC. He's a tough fighter but I believe he is beatable. He has a lot of hype behind him and that is good for me if I find a way to win."

Reach Cliff at cliff.hickman@cantonrep.com

On Twitter: @chickmanREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Antonio Castillo Jr. is a win away from possibly earning a UFC fight