Issue 118

August 2014

Canadian lightweight Mitch Clarke was deemed by many an underdog in his fight against Al Iaquinta, until ‘Danger Zone’ locked in a sneaky D’Arce choke ‘Submission of the Year’ contender

Don’t sleep on me!” Those were the words an emotional Mitch Clarke screamed at the TV cameras, after putting his opponent, Al Iaquinta, into the land of nod at UFC 173. It seemed Clarke was offering some heart-felt advice to those who’d doubted him prior to the fight with his highly touted rival.

But surely Clarke’s doubters couldn’t be blamed given he was coming off a lackluster win against John Maguire after dropping his first two fights in the promotion. And the Saskatoon-born fighter looked like he was proving his naysayers right after the Serra-Longo-trained Iaquinta caught Clarke with a beautiful punch in the first round, dropping him to the floor.

“I tried to stay long and keep my range out there while I was feeling him out but he clipped me and my legs turned to jelly,” Clarke explains. “He wouldn’t give me any space and I really had to fight to recover. He caught me with an elbow in the back of the head and I tried to survive the round.”

However, as every MMA fan knows, it only takes one mistake for a fight’s likely-looking outcome to be turned completely on its head, and when Iaquinta made just one mistake, Clarke was there, ready to capitalize and send his opponent to sleep.

“Once we were back on our feet and he threw a leg kick I started feeling more comfortable because Thai boxing is what I love to do,” he recalls. “I threw a hard right and hurt him but I was a little anxious coming in and got out of position. He went for a Von Flue choke but I was able to turn him and sink in a little choke of my own.

“I knew I had that D’Arce right away. That’s my money move. I heard him gurgling and my coaches yelling out to grab his leg. I felt him go out and I couldn’t be happier for the win.”

With an early candidate for ‘Submission of the Year’ at the next World MMA Awards, plus an extra $50,000 bonus for ‘Performance of the Night’, Clarke was certainly able to put the world, including 155lb champ Anthony Pettis, on notice that he’s a fighter to be reckoned with.

“I’m ready for a real run at this title. It’s my time.”