Featherweight ready to seize second chance
Every athlete has a complicated relationship with the past — a constant battle to rewrite, reassess and create history.
For Kiwi featherweight Shane Young, it means coming to terms with a disappointing UFC debut, where he took the fight on eight days’ notice — ultimately falling to a unanimous decision loss to Alexander Volkanovski.
This time around, in what he calls a “proper” debut, Young (11-4) has had a lot more time to prepare for his next visit to the octagon, where he faces Filipino Roland Dy (9-6-1NC) in Singapore tonight.
“It’s funny because now that I’m here, it only makes sense,” says Young. “Because when you’re on the way up you’re like ‘I can’t believe it’.
“But now I’m like, yeah, this feels right. This is my purpose. I’ve been doing this for 10 years now.”
He’s also had time to ponder the past, in particular, his own.
Young (Nga¯ti Kahungunu) will be the first fighter to fly the Tino Rangatiratanga flag in the UFC. His decision to showcase his Ma¯ori heritage on the world stage is the result of a recent newfound love for his culture.
“In the last probably year and a half, I’ve kind of begun the uphill trek of remembering and reacquainting myself with my Ma¯oridom.
“I just know that [flying the Ma¯ori flag] would instil me with mana and hopefully inspire other people to just remember their culture.
“Especially in New Zealand I think it’s very important for us to remember where we came from and our t¯ıpuna, our ancestors, and try and live a little bit more like they did.
“It’s gonna be a good thing for me as well. When I’m walking out it will fill me with mana, fill me with spirit and pride as well as I carry our flag into battle.”
The 24-year-old will also have extra motivation to get his hand raised as he aims to make history by speaking te reo Ma¯ori during the postfight interviews in the UFC octagon.
“That’s what’s really driving me to win this fight because there’s a quote: ‘Ko Te Reo Te Mauri o Te Mana Ma¯ori’. It means basically the culture of Ma¯ori is carried through te reo.
“It’s a magical language that’s filled with power; our words are filled with power. So I wanna spread that power to the world.”
Two weeks after Young fights in Singapore, his Auckland City Kickboxing gym-mates Israel Adesanya and Dan Hooker will feature in back-to-back events in Las Vegas.
Adesanya is headlining the Ultimate Fighter Finale on July 7, while Hooker fights on the main card at UFC
226 the following day.
They’re all part of a new explosion of Kiwi fighters conquering the world.
“What me and Israel say all the time is we’re the tip of the taiaha of the next wave,” says Young.
“[There’s been] so many dudes we could name that were smashing it on the world stage and now 10, 15 almost
20 years later we’re doing the exact same thing.”
Most fighters would be intimidated fighting in a foreign country on MMA’s biggest stage, especially early in their career, but Young sees it as an opportunity.
It’s a platform he wants to use to inspire other New Zealanders, especially Ma¯ori.