South Africa’s Mark Hulme returns to action at Oktagon 74 this Saturday, where he faces Dominik Humburger as part of the Tipsport Gamechanger Middleweight Tournament.
Prior to debuting with Oktagon this past February, Hulme (13-3) had appeared as part of The Ultimate Fighter 32, losing to Paddy McCorry in an exhibition bout. The experience, Hulme explained in a recent interview with Cageside Press, was more important than the result.
“You take a dog, a fighting dog, you put it in a cage, you beat the sh*t out of it, maybe break its leg or something and then you put it up to fight, naturally that dog isn’t going to perform the way it should, or can,” stated Hulme. “The Ultimate Fighter for me personally was, I lost a fight, and big respect to Paddy, but I think that was something that I needed. Something that, it’s not something that I wanted, it’s something that I needed.”
“I went in there with this mentality of, give me what I need, not necessarily what I want. And obviously I wanted to win that, but looking back, I can see where I am today, this is exactly where I wanted to be. And having to pay the price of not performing to my best in that fight, that’s okay with me. I never doubted what I could do, I never doubted who I was as a person.”
Referring to himself as a dog beaten to a pulp at the time, Hulme noted that his TUF fight had been his first in over a year. Injuries ahead of the bout included a complete bicep reconstruction. Even in his fight with Andreas Michailidis, his Oktagon MMA debut, Hulme saw himself as a “dead man walking,” one who had “nothing to lose.”
“I stepped in there against Michailidis again, a slightly battered and bruised dog,” continued Hulme. “I tore my lat two weeks before the fight, but there was just a different kind of belief, and I’m taking that belief all the way to the top of the Tipsport Gamechanger.”
That belief should serve him well against Humburger, who will have home field advantage so to speak in Prague, with the crowd behind him. Noting Humburger’s tendency to fire check hooks under pressure, Hulme observed that “I’m sure he’s evolved, I’m sure he’s training, and he’s adding tools to his arsenal, but all of that is- I’ve seen all of that. I’ve trained with the world champion, Dricus Du Plessis, and I’ve been in Dagestan. I’ve trained there with those lads. Nothing that anyone is going to bring will shock me.”
Mark Hulme has come along way in his MMA journey, which dates back to amateur fights in 2011, but really to his high school days. Back then, he went from being frustrated with the authority he found during his school years, to walking into a martial arts gym. His father, in fact, presented him with a choice: “It was one of two options. He told me, either I get shipped off to boarding school, or start training martial arts and learn some discipline.”
That’s when Hulme discovered mixed martial arts, and made his choice. “Against his better judgment, [dad] took me to my first place, and right after that, I got in the car and told my dad ‘that’s it, I’m going to quit school, this is what I’m going to do. I’m going to be a professional fighter.'”
Hulme’s father did make him finish school, but the career path stuck. Still, it’s somewhat ironic that a teen struggling with discipline and authority opted for martial arts, with it’s tradition of, well, discipline and authority.
“It’s not so much that I have an issue with authority,” Hulme noted. “It’s an issue for me when, how can I say this politely, it’s an issue for me when someone has authority that doesn’t really command it, that doesn’t really deserve it.”
“You’re my teacher, your authority is to teach me and I will respect that and listen to you. But if your authority is that I’m a little sh*t, and I must keep quiet and I must do what you say because you’re the teacher, then I’m going to f*cking give you the finger and try to burn your class down.”
“Martial arts was like, oh you think you’re a tough guy, but a few beatings, I quickly learned, this is authority I have to listen to,” Hulme admitted. “There’s actual repercussions. They’re not going to phone my daddy and b*tch to him about my attitude, they’re going to whip it out of me.”
All these years later, Hulme has been on the brink of a UFC run, and is now looking to earn serious money with Oktagon MMA in the Gamechanger tournament. The goal of the UFC is still there, mind you. Though the path there may not be the smoothest for Hulme.
“In one way, I would like to have a run in the UFC. It’s the organization. But on the other hand, if they can’t see the value in me, then I’m not going to lick their f*cking ass. Oktagon is showing me a lot of love. Oktagon is investing a lot into me,” Hulme exclaimed.
Then, there’s the state of the world, with the U.S., Europe, China, and everyone else arguably more chaotic than ever.
“Sh*t’s getting crazy, man. If I’m going to say it like that, I don’t know if UFC is going to be the best choice if World War 3 breaks out. Or if that’s even going to be a choice. Short term, win Tipsport Gamechanger. That’s number one, that’s already going to change my life. Ultimately, I’m a fighter, and I want to be known as one of the best. I really want to be known as one of the best.”
Hulme added that he’s not just “sucking his thumb” like every other fighter when he says that. “I want to fight the best, and if people thing the best guys are in the UFC, then I’m going to try my damn best to get there.”
Watch our full interview with Oktagon 74 middleweight Mark Hulme above.
