Issue 171

October 2018

After overcoming a troubled upbringing, the explosive light heavyweight is now making a name for himself on the world stage.

Overall, you are 7-0 with nearly every fight ending in devastating fashion. How happy are you with the recent win over Dashawn Boatwright on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series?

I am happiest with the last fight, given the nature of what it brought and what it will bring. I know there will be more glorious battles to come and I look forward to those.

With so many devastating finishes already, your power is being compared to Mike Tyson’s. Those are pretty high compliments but so far, so good, right?

Right. They are flawless victories, like Tyson’s victims.

Mike Tyson is one of the most revered fighters, even in MMA circles. Is he someone specifically that you looked to emulate on some level?

I definitely have studied Mike Tyson and implemented some of his style into my game. I like the way he hit. He hit hard and in his prime with Cus D’Amato he was super-fast.

You burst on the scene for mainstream fans on Dana White's Contender Series. This is your second go-around on the show. How did the opportunity initially present itself?

The first time on the show I had just landed a three-fight deal with Resurrection Fighting Alliance (RFA). RFA guys knew guys inside the UFC. They reached out to RFA and told them. They (RFA) called me early one morning and told me I was fighting on the series. I was like, ‘No. We have the contract with RFA and we are going to fight there. We aren’t going to keep jumping around.’

Then my manager called and he explained it to me. I was like, ‘Whoa. I definitely want to do that!’ That’s how the first one came up. The second one came up by basically them telling me to get more experience and then potentially getting back into the UFC by getting back on the series, on TUF or just right into the UFC and prove myself with a fight. It happened and here I am.

To your credit, you went on the show and got a win the first time around, most likely expecting a contract. You didn’t get it and you went back and sharpened your tools and came back and showed out even more the second time around to get the contract. Can you speak to that mindset?

I sleep very little. I train two or three times a day. I do boxing in the morning. I do strength and conditioning, then MMA or wrestling and then I have to go to work. Then I do it all over again.

After the first Contenders Series I went right back and did the same thing over and over. I am ready and I have been ready. I have been grinding. It’s something I love to do.

Not only are you working out, you are holding down a full-time job. How tough can that balancing act become when you are trying to make an impact at the sport’s highest level?

Balancing working and training and all that is hard. Your body starts to break down, not because you are training too hard but because you are not getting enough rest.

I find all kinds of inspiration and motivation.

I go the spiritual route. I listen to TD Jakes and David Goggins. I would do that every day. I would put on that inspiration and motivation and it would help propel me to go train, to go do strength and conditioning and the rest.

It was discipline and I would literally keep drilling in my head as far as what I want, which was getting to the UFC. I didn’t want to just get there, but to explode in there and capture a title. I just focus on the task at hand and that’s being in the UFC. Given that nature of working and training, I’m here.

The UFC light heavyweight division isn’t especially deep at the moment. Do you feel with that in mind, that you can come in and really make some noise in a short period of time?

Yes. I feel like I can come in there and make an impact. I have been watching the UFC for some time now.

I feel like many of the light heavyweights have an angel on their shoulder. Some of them are still hanging around. I am excited to get in there and show myself and what good fighting is. I feel that I bring a lot of excitement.

Given all that you have overcome from your childhood, when you spent a lot of time in foster homes, did you still visualize then reaching the heights you have today?

I thought on some big stage, whether it be MMA or the NFL. I always had that in my mind growing up going through the trials and tribulations.

I am going to be on a big stage in some kind of sport, I didn’t care if it was soccer. I was going to go into it and drown myself in it and come out on land eventually.

Do you feel like you channel a certain level of fire or rage from your difficult upbringing that you unleash on opponents in the octagon or is that just something goofy that writers talk about?

No it’s definitely channeled. It’s one way that I express myself. That’s why I can laugh at weigh-ins. I’m focused already.

I do bring a lot from my past trials and tribulations to the actual fight night. I release whatever I can when I’m fighting. I was fighting in Denver Colorado, I was fighting Brock Combs and he was leg kicking me to the point where my leg was getting contusions.

In my mind I was saying, You can keep kicking this leg. I don’t care if it swells up or I can’t bend it. I am still going to come at you with great ferocity and try to rip your head off. In my mind, you have to break this leg to stop me.

I think that is because I channel so much of my past into those moments. It helps me.

You were a standout football player in college. You even competed professionally in the Arena League and the Canadian Football League. Who inspired you on the gridiron?

Ray Lewis was that guy for me. He talked about effort a lot. That always stuck with me. No matter what you do in life, even if it’s reading a book, just put in effort. If you are tired just put in some effort and you will finish the book. Ray Lewis was always a big inspiration for me.

What is your favorite moment from your time in football, either at college or as a pro?

I was on punt and I ran on punt to go tackle the returner. I remember breaking free, clean running in the open field.

He caught it and I knocked him out with my helmet. He woke up and walked around in a daze. He asked if I hit him. Everyone had to tell him yeah, I knocked him out. That was my favorite moment.

So that was your first official knockout on the record?

Yeah, knockout via helmet! It was a flash knockout. He got up though. That was my favorite moment.