Being a good teammate sometimes means more than just being there to help train with your fellow training partners. Sometimes it even means stepping in for one of them and fighting a battle that he or she is currently unable to engage in.
In the case of Minnesota mixed martial artist Nick Compton, it’s both of those things—but when there’s a huge opportunity for himself involved, it just makes things that much sweeter.
Compton will be replacing his The Academy teammate, Zach Juusola, in the main event of Friday night’s Driller Promotions event in downtown Minneapolis at the Hyatt hotel.
Juusola suffered a broken orbital bone while preparing for his bout with Billy Christianson. With “Juice” out, matchmaker Jeremy Bjornberg turned to Compton to step in and take his place.
“I actually had a feeling that I was going to be approached about taking his spot. When I received a call from Jeremy and he offered me the main event, it didn’t take me long to decide to take that fight,” Compton told Bleacher Report MMA. “Once the main event became available, I saw it as a major opportunity for me and I couldn’t pass up on that.”
Compton’s opponent, Billy Christianson, is the No. 8-ranked lightweight fighter in the state of Minnesota according to MNMMANEWS.com. The opportunity to fight a ranked fighter in the main event was something that Compton believes he is ready for.
“I’ve been fighting almost once a month. Jeremy Bjornberg has kept me really busy and that’s exactly what I’ve wanted,” he said. “I took April off from fighting to focus on getting better at The Academy, looking to become a better all-around fighter, with an emphasis on my wrestling.”
The 30-year-old was training for a fight of his own on the same card against Caleb Wolff, and trained daily with Juusola in preparation for the event.
Christianson himself told Bleacher Report earlier this week that he believes Compton and Juusola are very similar fighters, at least stylistically, but Compton himself wasn’t so quick to agree.
“There are some similarities between our styles, especially in the standup. We’re both longer 155-pounders, we both definitely use our feet and our hands well,” he explained. “I believe that Juice is more of a wrestling-based grappler and I’m more of a jiu-jitsu-based grappler. That’s evident by just looking at our wins and how [the fights] have been finished.”
At 4-2 as a professional, each of Compton’s three most recent wins have come by way of submission. Two were even in the first round.
“We implemented [Juusola’s gameplan] into what I was doing and catered it to my strengths,” he said. “But I think I pose a different kind of threat when it comes to the submission game, and I don’t think that’s going to be similar to Juice.”
The submission game has been good to Compton in his six professional fights, and while it would appear on the surface that it would be a wise decision for him to try to take Christianson to the mat, Compton doesn’t seem to be intent on such a straightforward strategy.
“I’m really comfortable wherever the fight takes place,” he said. “I don’t really like to say that I’m going to key in on taking the fight to the ground. I feel like I’ve been improving my standup and my footwork. If it’s a standup fight, it’s a standup fight. I’m perfectly comfortable going three rounds on my feet. I don’t feel like I need to bring it to the ground.”
As confident as he is, Compton is not overlooking a fighter whom he called an extremely dangerous and aggressive striker.
“Billy [Christianson] is my main focus right now,” Compton said. “I don’t think past anyone. He’s very dangerous, he’s 6-1. He brings a lot of explosiveness. For me to overlook him at all would be a big mistake.”
These two fight finishers will do battle on May 18 as they meet in the main event at Driller Promotions’ Downtown Showdown V from the Hyatt in Minneapolis. Fans can purchase tickets online or at the door the day of the event.
Photography thanks to Sandy Hackenmueller of Fight to Finish Photography.
For more MMA news, fighter interviews and opinions, follow Nick Caron: @NicholasCaron.
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