This article was originally published on https://www.flashscore.com/
Hulme has already made an impact on the European scene
Europe’s OKTAGON MMA has been growing steadily to become one of the big players in the global combat sports market, and is therefore becoming a target for fighters from all over the globe. As a result fans have become accustomed to frequent appearances from new faces, but few have made as good an impression in their first outing in the cage as Mark Hulme. The fighter from South Africa revealed more about himself in an interview with Flashscore News…
Hulme became a sensation in OKTAGON literally overnight. He made his debut at the number 67 tournament in Trinec and showed that he is a force to be reckoned with in the Tipsport Gamechanger pyramid. Six years older than Andreas Michailidis of Greece, he finished off Michailidis in just 2:20 of the first round via submission.
Asked how he got into the Czech-Slovak organisation in the first place, Hulme said: “I have a good manager. He phoned me and told me that there was a million euro (R20.3m) tournament in Europe and an organisation called OKTAGON.
“I’m a born fighter, it’s something I’ve been doing all my life, which I’ve dedicated to it. When the opportunity came up, I jumped at it.”
The 30-year-old from Johannesburg said he had limited prior knowledge of OKTAGON.
“I never followed OKTAGON until I heard about the Tipsport Gamechanger event,” he said. “I have to say that when I Googled it, went on YouTube, I was quite (pleasantly) surprised.”
Though he is new to the OKTAGON world, Hulme has MMA experience to spare. He went in as a multiple-time champion of Africa’s Extreme Fighting Championship and also appeared as a contestant on the American show The Ultimate Fighter last year. In addition, his good friend and training partner is Dricus du Plessis.
“Being on a team with Du Plessis, the first South African to win a middleweight title, has its perks and he’s definitely proud of me,” Hulme said.
“I remember him telling me after his fight with (Israel) Adesanya that if I ever lose again, he’ll kick my ass.
“I believe he stands by his word, just like I do, so I just replied that it wouldn’t be necessary.”
Hulme’s gym is known for extremely hard training methods. His team have instituted a method called “Double Distance” in which fighters go twice the scheduled number of rounds in a bout during their last sparring session – each round with a fresh sparring partner. Hulme once tried a whopping 24 rounds in this mode.
But in addition to gladiatorial physical training, he is also in tune with the brand side of the sport.
“OKTAGON has been a great blessing for me, not only in terms of the caliber of fights I get, also the level of opponents, but they’re making a difference and I can definitely see my viewership growing,” he said,
“Aside from your fighting skills and strength, the most important thing is the importance of social media. OKTAGON increases that dramatically for me. I’m looking forward to becoming a household name in Europe.”
All the better as MMA is experiencing a boom in his home country: “The popularity of the sport in South Africa has definitely increased. It’s become very widespread since five to ten years ago when I couldn’t tell anyone I was doing MMA because nobody knew what it was. Nowadays, people even recognize me on the street.”
Hulme is one of the odds-on favorites for the overall triumph, along with Matej Penaz, after a clear-cut victory in the first round of the Tipsport Gamechanger pyramid.
“The win is definitely a signal for all the other contenders and it will be very difficult to stop the ‘snowball’ effect. I agree that I am the favourite. In the end, I think it’s about luck who I meet in the final,” he added.
However, he won’t have it easy in the near future. His opponent in the next round will be Dominik Humburger of the Czech Republic, who got past Samuel Kristofic. The duel is set to take place on June 28.
“Humburger is definitely the person I wanted to pick,” Hulme said. “He was the first fighter that was available.
“I didn’t want to skip anyone and give him the bragging rights that I didn’t want to fight him.
“Dominic is a tough opponent, well built, but all that extra muscle definitely slowed him down and I’ll most likely want another first round submission finish.”