Wearside MMA fighter earns deal with UFC
A MIXED martial artist has landed a coveted contract with the world’s biggest fighting promotion, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, after a whirlwind few months.
Undefeated Sunderland star Mick Parkin has wowed fight bosses including UFC chief Dana White, who made the decision to sign him up after watching him fight in America last month.
Having started training when he was just 15 years old, Mick is pleased with what he has achieved over the course of his career so far – but insists he is going to ramp things up even more now.
“I’m not special or anything like that, I’ve just trained hard and I’ve done it,” he said.
“It’s only just starting now, it’s probably going to get a lot harder but I’m looking forward to it.”
He began his journey into fighting stardom by attending his local MMA gym with friends from the Castletown area as a teenager. He would go on to have his first professional kick-boxing fight when he was 18 before going on to make waves on the regional scene in mixed martial arts, training out of Seaham’s Team Fish Tank.
The now 26-year-old has racked up an impressive record of six wins and zero losses over the course of his career but made his name in the North East, headlining multiple local shows for thousands of travelling fight fans.
And his performances soon caught the eye of big-time fight chiefs, with Mick making the risky decision to book in one final headline bout under UK promotion Rise and Conquer, knowing that if he lost his main event scrap with Fatih Aktas in May in Darlington, he would wave goodbye to a chance to fight for a UFC contract later in the summer.
He said: “I was already matched up for a fight on Rise and Conquer and they (the UFC) said I could still fight but if I got beat on that I’ll not be fighting on the Contender Series. People were saying that it was canny risky but I thought that if you can’t beat people on the local scene then you’re not really ready for the bigger shows anyway.”
Mick landed a brutal technical knock-out on Fatih in front of a supportive Rainton Arena before instantly beginning training for the Contender Series with a date set for August.
He flew out to Las Vegas, Nevada, a week before the bout to make the most of the experience with his coach Andrew Fisher and fellow fighter Paul Craig, before facing Brazilian Eduardo
Neves, also undefeated, on August 23.
He said: “I knew it was a mint opportunity and I was buzzing for it but I wasn’t overwhelmed – I was more worried about the fight than anything else. I knew he was dangerous and explosive so I was more focused on the opponent.
“I always think that I’ve just got to be me, I never thought about ‘you’ll have to do this and that and try to knock him out.’ Loads of people go in there and try not to be themselves and end up getting beat and people will say ‘oh, you got beat because you were trying to impress someone.’
“I just thought to myself hopefully I just win and that he’s (Dana White’s) impressed by my style.”
Eduardo began pretty fast, clipping Mick with a couple of big shots early on but he recovered quickly, waited patiently, and picked his shots. Eventually Mick landed a huge takedown and put the exhausted Brazilian in a rear-naked choke to win the fight in the first round.
As a result, UFC owner White offered Mick a contract and was filled with praise for the Castletown youngster as the show came to a close.
The 53-year-old fight czar said: “So Mick, obviously this kid is now 6-0, monster heavyweight. I was impressed with his chin, his power, and obviously he had a great finish too.
“What a well-rounded fight in a very short period of time. Welcome to the UFC, Mick.”
After lapping up his successes stateside with his coaching team, Mick arrived back to Sunderland, greeted by a surprise party at his home.
Around a hundred locals crowded outside his house to give him a welcome fit for a king, equipped with streamers, balloons and signs while giving a monumental cheer.
He said: “It’s amazing, my phone was going crazy before I fought then after I checked Facebook and there was about 180 things I’d been tagged in. I tried to get back to everybody, but at one point I had to stop.
“I was replying to hundreds of messages then by the time I’d done that a hundred more would come through – and then there was message requests from people too. I’m sorry if I haven’t got back to anyone yet, it’ll have been by accident.”
Mick is already looking forward to his first official fight in the UFC. In preparation, he will be in the gym Monday to Saturday with top-class training partners, including KSW heavyweight champion Phil De Fries, UFC contender Tom Aspinall, and the well-established Paul Craig.
He said: “I was never good at anything naturally. Some people get in and they’re really fast or really strong, but I wasn’t – I just enjoyed it. I didn’t get into it to be a fighter, I never wanted to be a fighter, or tough, I just liked training.
“I got into it as a hobby and the further I got on I wanted to see how good I could get at it. I would tell people to just try it, it’s not what you’d expect.
“Everyone is lovely at the gym, amateurs turn up from day one and everybody is really inviting. It brings kids out of their shell and teaches them confidence and discipline but I would tell anyone of any age to try it. Older blokes have came to the gym and loved it – you shouldn’t be put off.”