Mickey Gall looks beyond UFC 203 bout for fighting career
When Mickey Gall steps in the cage Saturday night on the main card of UFC 203 in Cleveland, Ohio, he is well aware of his status as little more than just the guy who is fighting Phil “CM Punk” Brooks.
Gall hopes it’s the last time he has to fill that role.
“My contract is longer than just this fight,” the welterweight said of his status as the B-side of Brooks’ much-anticipated mixed martial arts debut. “I never want to go back to regional scene. I’m in the UFC now and I’m here to stay. I want to fight the best in the world. (This is) where I belong and I want war with the best guys in the world.”
Brooks is far from that. He left the WWE in late 2014 as one of the biggest stars in professional wrestling and signed a deal with the UFC despite having never competed in a real fight or even training at a high level.
Gall actively pursued the opportunity to fight Brooks. He knew UFC president Dana White was in attendance at his professional debut on a Dead Serious MMA promotions card in Philadelphia in November and called out Brooks after winning his bout.
White rewarded Gall with a UFC deal and a fight against Mike Jackson in February with the promise of a fight against Brooks should he win. The 24-year-old New Jersey native made good on it with a 45-second submission victory and will now get a chance to compete on the big stage with a whole lot of attention on his third professional fight.
It’s the one area where Brooks may have an edge. Even though he has no experience as a fighter, he has been a huge star performing in front of massive crowds both in person and on television for a long time.
Gall doesn’t think it will be an issue.
“It’s the same as any other fight,” he said. “While he does have the experience fighting in front of large groups of people, I’ve been fighting in front of large groups of people too. Not those numbers but in my eyes I’ve had fights where I’ve had over 100 friends and family members at the fight. It’s not performing, it’s a real fight. We’re going to be standing across each other and within the rules of that trying to kill each other. It’s a different thing, something that I believe I have more experience in.”
For his part, Brooks says he also has his eyes on bigger things in the UFC and isn’t necessarily just looking at fighting once for the experience.
Gall is definitely in it for the long haul.
“I want to fight the best in the world,” he said. “I think the UFC has the best in the world. You know, big names make nice trophies and I want a bunch of trophies. I want everybody, man. My goal is to be UFC champion so whoever’s in the way I plan on moving up the ranking and getting that belt.”
Should he win on Saturday, he may have another plan in mind for his post-fight speech.
“I might have a name on the microphone for after,” he said. “We’ll see.”
NOT RULING OUT TITLE RUN
Josh Barnett was the youngest man to win the UFC heavyweight championship when he captured the belt at the age of 24 in 2002.
He’s not ruling out a late-career run at regaining the title after submitting former champ Andrei Arlovski on Saturday in the main event of UFC Fight Night 93 in Hamburg, Germany.
Barnett feels the division is so balanced that any of the top contenders could win the belt if given the chance.
“I don’t think in those modalities,” he said during the post-fight news conference. “I think of just being able to perform at my best at any given moment, completely living in that immediate now.
“There’s a slew of guys out there, of us in the heavyweight division that have proven that we are capable of being the world champion. Anywhere you put us. We’re always ready to take the challenge, and it’s always acceptable for us to be in the title fight.”
Stipe Miocic will defend the title against Alistair Overeem in the main event of UFC 203 on Saturday night.
VISA ISSUES ALTER UFC 203 CARD
One fight on Saturday night’s card has been changed and another postponed after a pair of fighters experienced issues securing visas.
Lightweight Mairbek Taisumov was removed from his fight against Nik Lentz and replaced by Michael McBride. Taisumov was also pulled from a scheduled January fight in Boston for the same reason. He hasn’t competed in the United States since a 2011 M-1 Global fight in Costa Mesa, California.
On Monday, the organization announced a lightweight bout between Damir Hadzovic and Yusuke Kasuya had been moved from UFC 203 to UFC Fight Night 97 on Oct. 15 in Manila because Hadzovic, a Bosnian, had difficulty securing his visa.
Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj