Nearly every fighter on the regional scene have to work a second job in order to make a living. With the small salaries on the come up, there is no other way to live for the most part. However, for Malcolm Wellmaker, his other job is far more than just a simple side hustle while he chances his dream.
“I’m a union pipe fitter and pipe welder. I went through a five-year appenticeship starting in 2015,” Wellmaker explains. “I’ve been in the construction industry ever since.”
He not only uses his other career to make a living, but he also shares a lot of what that job entails through his social media. If you check him out on Instagram (@wallathemachine) you can see him working in the shop and welding pipes together.
“I lot of the content I post on social media is welding in the shop, but honestly that’s less than half of what I do,” he said. “A lot of the times I’m out at actual plants in dark places like paper mills and different types of refineries.”
All of that travel and work in tight places can be exhausting for anyone, let alone someone who needs to train immediately afterwards. However, Wellmaker attributes his success to his everyday struggle.
“It’s hard. It’s a legitimate struggle mentally and physically to still make sure I train every day – and efficiently,” Wellmaker said. “But it’s my struggle. It’s what I’ve been working through and what’s been motivating me for the past six or seven years while I’ve been balancing these two sides.”
Not only does he have the construction industry to thank for his resolve, but it was also the way that he found MMA. Had it not been for working in construction, we might not be watching Wellmaker on Tuesday night.
“It’s funny, I fell into MMA because I got into the construction trade and I started making better money and I started eating better,” he said with a laugh. “I was a lot less active and my lifestyle was getting a lot more poor and I was starting to gain weight… I didn’t like it so I talked to a couple of guys and I remember two guys who specifically told me, man you got to try MMA. You’ll love it.”
The rest, as they say, is history. He’s rode that journey of finding MMA to a 7-0 professional record and a spot on Dana White’s Contender Series this Tuesday. He’ll face Adam Bramhald as part of the card, which begins at 8pm EST on ESPN+.
You can hear this whole interview below at 2:18.
