Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Featherweight contender Josh Emmett puts into perspective what it’s like fighting at home — especially in Sactown.
Josh Emmett could hear every one of the thousands of fans rooting for him last weekend at UFC Sacramento.
Emmett’s sole focus was on his opponent when he entered the cage at Golden 1 Center, just five miles away from where he trains at Team Alpha Male, but he was able to hear the fans stomping their feet, chanting, and yelling during his featherweight bout with Mirsad Bektic.
“It was so loud in the arena,” Emmett, who defeated Bektic by first-round TKO on the event’s main card, told Bloody Elbow. “You would’ve had to have been there. The audio on TV doesn’t do it justice.”
It was the second time Emmett fought in his hometown of Sacramento as a UFC fighter — the first in December 2016, the last time the promotion visited the California capital before Saturday. But Emmett has competed in Sacramento countless times prior to signing with the UFC three years ago, and he’s built up quite the name in the city as a mixed martial arts fighter.
Emmett also happens to be undefeated in Sacramento. Fighting there has worked out for him, but what really is the impact of fighting at home? Is there added pressure, or more motivation? Are fighters more confident, or do they have more energy? Or is it all the same, whether a fight is in their backyards or on the other side of the globe?
Like most MMA fighters, Emmett hates losing. In fact, he’s afraid of it. Not because he can’t handle coming up short, but because he doesn’t want to let down his fans and loved ones. He can’t fathom what his family or close friends go through when he fights. Emmett, of course, loves fighting at home, but when every single person in the arena is cheering for him, it does increase that fear he has of losing.
“I’m really not nervous when I fight. The only thing that scares me in fighting is losing,” Emmett said. “That’s like my only fear — to lose. Fighting at home, that fear of losing is heightened. If I were to lose, not only am I losing in front of the whole world, I’m losing in front of all my friends and family — everyone in my city. I feel like I’d want to just go away, not even walk out of the cage.
“I put so much pressure on myself, and I push myself. I know everyone says they work hard, but I can guarantee you nobody works harder than me. I put a lot of pressure on myself, so I don’t feel those emotions, like I let everyone down.”
Fighting at home may increase Emmett’s fear of losing, but at the same time, it pumps him up, he said.
“They motivate me so much,” he said of the Sacramento fans. “It does something to me, I can’t even explain it. I feed off the energy. They get me to the fight. I don’t care if I’m hurt, fatigued, I will fight to the bitter end.”
Some MMA fighters, even big names, can walk down the main drag of their respective hometowns and not get noticed. But that doesn’t seem like the case in Sacramento. There, things are different, Emmett said. Some of the top names coming out of Team Alpha Male — partiularly Urijah Faber, who scored a big win Saturday in his return fight — are Sacramento famous.
“Sacramento has the loudest and the best fans,” Emmett said. “They get behind all the teams in Sacramento, whether it being the Kings, the River Cats, the Sacramento Republic, or, of course, the best mixed martial arts team in the world, Team Alpha Male. I have a huge following in Sacramento; I know everybody here. I have so many connections. I know so many different people. I used to own a gym in Sacramento. I went to school around here. I have some businesses around town, too, that I’m part of.
“They back us so much. We get so much media attention from the local news and we know all the reporters and all the people that write for the magazines and newspapers. It is way different than all the other big gyms that are from these towns. Sacramento is such a proud city. It’s just different. It’s hard to explain.”
Emmett couldn’t really pin point why Sacramento feels different, but he was rather convincing regardless. He said maybe it’s because the city kind of feels like a small town — in which everyone knows everyone and everyone roots for everyone — even though it has a population of well over half a million.
“It’s a tight-knit community,” Emmett said. “I really don’t know. It’s just something different than what I’ve experienced in other cities. They just really are proud of Sacramento — everyone has a tight-knit bond. People support local businesses. There’s so much more support around here.
“We have some of the best fans in sports. They support their own and get behind everyone. It’s just different, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s amazing.”