Las Vegas, NV — Newcomer Val Woodburn has the unenviable task of facing Bo Nickal on less than a week’s notice at UFC 290, but he has no qualms about playing spoiler in the fight.
Highly touted wrestler Nickal is an undefeated 4-0, but Woodburn doesn’t seem phased despite having last fought roughly a year ago.
“I’m definitely going to be the bad apple Saturday night. I’m definitely going to be that guy. I’m known for that,” Woodburn, himself undefeated at 7-0, told media outlets including Cageside Press during the UFC 290 media day on Wednesday. “Pretty much, I’m known for ruining guy’s careers. Not careers, but records and stuff.”
“I’m known for the upset, and I love being the underdog, because I thrive off of that. Like, after the fight, I want people to come up to me [saying] ‘hey, good job. You did a good job, we was counting you out, you came through, you did your thing.’ I’m coming out there to show them I’m a dog. You’ll see.”
You might say fighting is in Val Woodburn’s blood, as his father was a boxer. “I definitely got the drive from him, and the aggression, and the gladiator mentality,” he noted.
Outside of the fight game, Val runs a landscaping company. That allows him to create his own schedule and focus on training. “I can actually make my schedule to actually train and put more time to my career. So that’s what I do in the daytime, I go training, and when I get out of training, I go do landscaping, and I come home and do it every day, do it again.”
Getting called up to the UFC isn’t going to change how he does business, either. Woodburn expects to stick with that landscaping gig.
“That doesn’t change anything for me. I have a crew back home taking care of everything. Being on this platform doesn’t change anything. I still want to grow my business, and hire people, and feed families and change lives still. Nothing’s changed, I’m just where I’ve wanted to be. That’s all.”
UFC 290 is, of course, the crown jewel of International Fight Week, taking place this week in Las Vegas. Woodburn is a relative newcomer to the city, but has some support from the likes of Chris Curtis and Ode Osbourne.
“Those guys are like family. I have relationships with those family, I train with those guys. Been in the same spot with those guys. So we have a relationship, and I feel like we have a good connection,” Woodburn said of his UFC pals. “Those guys are really supportive, ever since I came to Vegas, they’ve been really support. That’s really big, because coming out here— this is not my hometown, so I’m just like out here. Pretty much I’m in a big old ocean right now, so that’s really good to get that support from those guys. It means a lot.”
Watch the full UFC 290 media day appearance by Val Woodburn above.
