Peter Stanonik is more than ready for another one-night tournament.
‘Da Ronin’ will return to the kickboxing ring at XFN 383 on Oct. 14. It’s not just one match, but two should Stanonik get past his first opponent. Stanonik is no stranger to this format as he has previously won three fights in one night under the XFN banner in 2021.
Having that previous experience, the Ambush Muay Thai product believes he has the recipe for success this weekend.
“I got the recipe,” Stanonik told MMA Island. “It’s not as easy as what people think. It is a full sprint. You gotta be willing to work. It gives me confidence. I get to fight at my weight class with only two guys. It’s me vs. me. I think a lot of people, they know me by now, I am very entertaining, very coming forward and ending with knockouts. I love knockouts so I do believe I’ll win both fights by knockout.”
For Stanonik, this fight camp has been a lot different than others. The 34 year-old has evolved and embraced a new mentality at this stage of his career. Like the old quote goes, ‘your greatest opponent is yourself’ and Stanonik truly realizes that now heading into XFN 383.
“I will be fighting twice in one night. To be honest, I don’t know completely who’s in the tournament but this camp isn’t about who I’m fighting because my physicality has always been there, it’s just my mentality hasn’t always been there. So it’s me vs. me. I know that sounds cliche but sometimes, sh*t, you gotta walk through fire to get to the kitchen. I’m just willing to go that fire. So it’s really just me vs. me. personally. Whoever is out there, it really doesn’t matter. I’m so confident in my abilities and my cardio, my strength training, it really don’t matter.”
What sparked the change in Stanonik’s mental game? Stanonik would dive into it.
“So my coach just became one of the head WBC guys, I think there’s three of them in the nation. I’ve seen his progression throughout the whole sport of muay thai and kickboxing and it’s like motivated to working on changes. Who I was outside of the ring didn’t align with who I should be inside of the ring. My mentality and physicality has changed. It’s finally meshing. At the age of 34, there’s really no excuse to not have worked on my mentality. So, it’s like translating over to the [weight] cut, the diet, my work ethic, my motivation. I’m remotivated.”
Catch the re-motivated Peter Stanonik at XFN 383 on Oct. 14, which streams live on UFC Fight Pass.