Anthony Hamilton was considered an underdog heading into his MFC heavyweight title bout at MFC 38 against Smealinho Rama last October.
Outspoken MFC President Mark Pavelich had been singing the praises of his opponent, Smealinho Rama for the longest time.
When the fight started, it looked as though Pavelich would be proven correct as Hamilton found himself in some trouble in parts of the first round, but he survived and came out for the second round re-energized and confident.
What happened next quickly caught the attention of Pavelich, the fans in attendance and those watching the fight at home.
Twelve seconds after the bell for the second round sounded, Hamilton landed a vicious head kick that knocked Rama out cold. Minutes later he was announced as the new MFC heavyweight champion and was wearing the MFC belt around his waist. Pavelich recently said Rama was still looking for his head somewhere in the fourth row.
The importance of what he had just accomplished took a while to soak in, but once it did, he knew that being a champion in the MFC carried a lot of responsibility. True to form, Hamilton was more than happy to carry the load on his massive shoulders.
“It’s an honor, especially in an organization like the MFC as well as a dream come true,” Hamilton told Alchemist Radio. “I think this is what every fighter works for, to be a champion, especially a world champion. It’s amazing and the experience since then has really been a blessing.”
“When I was first coming up, I had heard about the MFC and then I met Roger Hollet while training at Jackson’s. He was a former MFC light heavyweight champion and I thought that was amazing. Now I’m here and I became champion a few months ago. After I won, I was overcome by my emotions because of all the hard work and sacrifice it took to get to that point.”
Hamilton has been working towards the goal of becoming a world champion since he was in high school.
The Jackson’s MMA-trained heavyweight played football, basketball, wrestling and track until he graduated. Once he started college, he chose to concentrate on football and wrestling, which allowed him to spend more time on each sport.
He was left to look for other avenues to stay competitive once college ended because there weren’t many opportunities available for him to continue to wrestle. That was actually a blessing in disguise as it led him to where he is today.
“We didn’t really have much more of outlet to keep wrestling other than the Olympic team,” explained Hamilton. “I started training Jiu-Jitsu and I saw The Ultimate Fighter on TV. I thought that was a perfect opportunity for me to keep competing. I started training some boxing and kickboxing and it kind of took off from there.”
As the old saying goes, there is no rest for the weary, and that certainly rings true in Hamilton’s case.
Just three months after defeating Rama, the MFC has booked Hamilton in the main event of MFC 39 on January 17 where he will defend his title for the first time.
His opponent is Darrill Schoonover, a man who has finished 12 of his 13 victories.
Many fans will most likely remember Schoonover from his time as a contestant on season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter. Unfortunately they may remember him more for the nickname Quinton “Rampage” Jackson gave him than his skills as a fighter, but he can quickly change that on January 17.
“I’m honored to fight someone like Schoonover, he’s a tough guy,” Hamilton admitted. “He’s not a guy you can overlook by any means. He’s proven throughout his career how tough he is by fighting some of the toughest guys around. You can’t take anything away from him and it’s going to be a big fight for me. Right now I’m looking at it as another fight, I’ve been training really hard and I’m looking forward to showcasing my skills.”
This training camp has been especially beneficial according to Hamilton.
While he is afforded the opportunity to train with some of the world’s greatest fighters at Jackson’s, he credited one UFC heavyweight in particular for helping him prepare for Schoonover.
Travis Browne is coming off a first round knockout of Josh Barnett at UFC 168.
Hamilton was enlisted to help Browne train for his bout, and it has helped his overall game immensely. Watching Browne grow as a fighter has driven Hamilton to work harder to improve his skills and become a better fighter himself.
“I train with these guys all year round, but for this one in particular Browne was preparing for Barnett,” said Hamilton. “We put in a lot of work in together and it’s been an amazing experience. He’ll be coming up with me to Canada and will be in my corner. It’s awesome to have a guy like that as part of your camp and in your corner.”
“He’s going to be the champ one day and you can’t beat that. I saw an amazing Travis Browne last month when we were training together and I had no doubt in my mind that he would smash Barnett. I’m looking forward to what he does in 2014, and I have no doubt that he’s going to challenge Cain and take that title.”
Although he may have started off as a wrestler, Hamilton has quickly grown and expanded his game with the help of his training partners at Jackson’s MMA.
He realizes what awaits him each and every day when he arrives at the gym to train, and he plans on taking full advantage of the bevy of talent he gets to work with.
“I grew up wrestling and still have more of a wrestling base, but I’ve really tried to diversify and be more like Travis Browne or Jon Jones,” Hamilton stated. “Those guys are amazing on their feet and I hope that I can be like that one day. I feel like I’m getting better every time I step into the ring and that’s a testament to training with these monsters year round.”
To listen to the full interview, you can also check us out on Stitcher and ITunes. Hamilton joins us around the 10 minute mark.
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