David Martinez pauses work as surgeon for Dana White's Contender Series, hopes to join sister in UFC

Some folks say there’s not enough time in the day to get daily tasks done, but David Martinez is proving that to be a myth.

Until recently, Martinez (10-1) simultaneously juggled not one – but two – highly-demanding professional paths. Martinez was a surgeon by day and a fighter by night. He worked in family medicine at a hospital in Mexico.

“It’s very nice because I wake up very early,” Martinez told MMA Junkie. “Then we go to a hospital around 7 o’clock. Then we have many, many patients. I helped with surgery. Sometimes, I stayed very long in the hospital.”

Martinez would then go home, then to training, then back home for a quick snooze before the process began all over again. That was the daily grind – until the UFC came knocking.

It was a difficult decision to put practicing medicine to the side, especially given the current lucrative differential. But Martinez figures the window to compete as a professional athlete is slim compared to working in a hospital.

“I stopped the medicine career for a little time, because I want to put all my focus, all my time in this opportunity, because I know this opportunity is the biggest opportunity and the biggest league in the world,” Martinez said. “… It was very difficult, but I make a decision. For medicine, we have a lot of time. For this sport, it’s a very short career.”

Martinez made a name for himself with Combate Global, becoming the promotion’s bantamweight champion. With nine finishes in 10 wins, the UFC came knocking immediately once his contractual ties to Combate were up.

Martinez will compete Tuesday at Dana White’s Contender Series 74 against undefeated Texas-based bantamweight Xavier Franklin (5-0).

If all goes well, Martinez hopes to put on an impressive performance in front of Dana White and then join his sister “Super Mely” Melissa Martinez in the UFC.

Melissa (7-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) is scheduled for her second promotional bout Oct. 19 at UFC Fight Night 245 vs. Alice Ardelean (9-6 MMA, 0-1 UFC) after a lengthy time on the shelf due to a knee injury.

David is one year younger than Melissa but served as inspiration for his sister’s MMA path. David was first to pursue combat sports, and it wasn’t long thereafter that Melissa signed up, too. They estimate they each began around 3 years old, which makes sense given their parents are also martial artists.

“I started in this sport for him,” Melissa told MMA Junkie. “He started in MMA. He was the first fighter in professional ranks. Then I fought in professional MMA. But I started because of him.”

They went from karate to kickboxing before they came across Bonebreakers MMA in Mexico City. They remain at Bonebreakers MMA to this day.

The Martinez siblings will become the second brother-sister tandem in UFC history should he earn a contract (joining Mizuki and Naoki Inoue in the record books).

“She always gets the goals,” David said. “She inspired me to be better today and the other days. … Fighting in the UFC with my sister is my biggest dream. That’s all.”

But the hopes and dreams don’t end there. The Martinezs know they have a long way to go, but the thought of being siblings holding titles in the UFC is an unavoidable thought.

“Of course we want to be champions some day,” David said. “We start with little, short steps – step-by-step – to achieve our goals.”