The moment a fighter makes it to the UFC is always special, and we’ve seen many examples down the years of fighters reacting to the news of their first contract with the sport’s number one promotion.
The most recent came this week, when City Kickboxing-trained welterweight prospect and teammate of undisputed UFC middleweight champion and two-time Charles “Mask” Lewis Fighters Only Fighter of the Year Israel Adesanya, Mike “Blood Diamond” Mathetha, was presented with a four-fight UFC contract by his head coach, Eugene Bareman.
Bareman gathered together the City Kickboxing team after practice and brought Adesanya to the front as he waxed lyrical about Adesanya’s rise through the gym to become one of the biggest stars in the sport.
Then, he produced a brown envelope and switched gears, stating simply, “‘Blood Diamond,’ welcome to the UFC!”
The news was met with huge cheers as a stunned Mathetha waked up to receive his first UFC contract offer letter, before joking that the UFC call was never in doubt.
“What can I say? To be honest, with the team I’ve got, I’m not surprised!” he grinned, as Adesanya beamed with pride alongside him.
Kiwi Mathetha joins UFC champion Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski, plus Dan Hooker, Kai Kara-France, Brad Riddell, Carlos Ulbert and Shane Young as City Kickboxing’s latest addition to the UFC roster.
Check out the magic moment when he learned of his UFC contract via the video below.
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