“We have 16,000 people in my tribe – I’m the first professional fighter,” Rednose said in an interview with Cageside Press. “I carry that with honor. I really take a lot of pride in being Native American.”

Rednose was bullied as a kid due to his lighter complexion, but that did not deter him from making something of himself and remaining proud to represent Native Americans across the country.

“I’ve always gotten judged because my skin color is a little bit lighter than most Native Americans. My dad and I have different skin colors, and I just had to grow up with that my whole life. All the Natives would call me white boy and all the white boys would make fun of me for being Native,” Rednose said. “I’m very proud to be Native American. I’m very proud to represent the CNA tribe. I’m going to take it as far as I can.”

The Oklahoman fighter finished (8-2) as an amateur, securing victories at both heavyweight and light heavyweight while finishing his opponents in each and every one of his wins – a record that Rednose hopes to keep intact moving forward.

“I know it’s going to be a hard task to do at the professional level, but I’m going to try my hardest to keep my (100% finish rate) going as long as I can,” Rednose said. “I like to get in there and get out as fast as I can.”

Rednose struggled with confidence at times in the past, as he lacked a true head coach – and even a real gym to call home throughout most of his amateur career.

“I trained out of my garage, man, for like the first five or six fights of my amateur career,” Rednose said. “So, it kind of always made me doubt myself a little bit just because I didn’t come from a real gym for the longest time.”

That doubt went out the window the day that Rednose met his current head coach, Joe Stevenson.

“I’ve had a lot of great coaches in my life growing up – Joe is by far the best coach I’ve ever had. He can break down this game to a level that I can’t even explain. He’s been a great mentor for me, he’s helped me grow my relationship with God. He’s very religious and that’s important to me and my family. He’s the right person to be in my corner coaching me and being there every step of the way,” Rednose said.

Rednose did travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico, however, to learn from some of the greatest minds in the sport at Jackson Wink MMA Academy.

“Back in 2019, I got a lot of good rounds in with Jon Jones. There were some tough guys at Jackson Wink,” Rednose said. “Diego Sanchez was out there at the time, Mike Perry, Cowboy Cerrone. That was like my first real experience of leaving home and training elsewhere in a real gym. It was amazing. It was an experience of a lifetime for sure.”

In recent times, Rednose has completed most of his training in California, where he’s grateful to be able to call UFC Light Heavyweight Dominick Reyes one of his primary sparring partners.

With the right coaches and teammates by his  side, Rednose feels supremely confident in his abilities as he looks to kick off his professional fighting career with a statement victory come October.

“I’m 100% going to get a win in this professional debut, no doubt about it. It’s going to mean a lot to me,” Rednose said. “I feel like God put me on this earth to do this, and I have the skills and the capabilities of advancing even further to the next level, and that’s what I’m going to try my hardest to do. I’m just blessed with this opportunity to try and change my kids’ future.”

Rednose fought in the heavyweight division throughout the majority of his amateur days, though he’s set to compete at 205 LBS when he makes his pro debut for King of the Cage in Worley, Idaho on October 10, live on Pluto TV.

The Native American fighter urges fans in attendance and viewers from around the world to stay in their seats and have their popcorn ready when he makes the walk to the cage.

“It will be a first round finish,” Rednose said. “I give you guys my word.”

Gabe Rednose makes his professional debut for King of the Cage on October 10 at Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort in Worley, Idaho – Live on Pluto TV.

The post Meet Gabe Rednose: Native American Knockout Artist appeared first on Cageside Press.

The sport of mixed martial arts is a rapidly changing landscape; the sport as we know it has only been around since 2001. When the Fertitta brothers purchased the UFC and Dana White ushered in the new era of MMA, the floodgates were open.

Although the sport as we know it is seventeen years old now, we have already bore witness to countless ebbs and flows the sport has taken. Among those, fighters just don’t take fights like they used too.

It almost seems laughable that a combat sports athlete would be able to turn down a fight, but this is the unfortunate state of the sport. The good news is, not all fighters turn down fights, and every now and again a special kind of fighter comes through the ranks.

An individual that has ‘IT’, a throw back to the good old days of MMA, a fighter who isn’t afraid to take four fights, in four states, in four weeks.

Cageside Press recently sat down with Dominic Martin to talk about his career, working with coach Spencer Fisher, and his incomparable four fights in four weeks.

As if Martin’s crazy fight schedule wasn’t taxing enough, he just got over a bout with food poisoning. How is the young prospect feeling now?

“Oh man, I feel a lot better now,” Martin said regarding his recent illness. “I just felt so terrible, food poisoning is no joke.” Indeed, it’s not.

Perhaps the demand that Martin is putting his body through is weakening his constitution.

What would possess a young fighter to take four fights in four weeks in four different states? “They (King of the Cage) asked me if I could fill in on an important fight,” Martin explained. “So, I did”.

“I filled in on a couple days’ notice because this guy’s opponent dropped out of the fight, it was an important fight for the promotion and for this guy. He sold something like 150 tickets, so he deserved to fight, so I filled in.”

That attitude is admirable and quite honestly, you just don’t see that kind of sportsmanship in MMA anymore, especially on the amateur scene.

Talking with the midwestern standout you quickly realize this kid is special. At only 21 years he has a sort of wise beyond his years demeanor.

Martin is a throwback and you can thank his first MMA coach and mentor Spencer ‘The King’ Fisher for that. However, recently Fisher moved back to North Carolina to spend more time with his family leaving Martin a man without a camp.

“Spencer is awesome,” Martin said. “Right now, I’m looking to get in with a good camp like Jacksons (Jackson Wink MMA) or Alpha Male, no one has gotten back to me, maybe I don’t have a big enough name yet.”

“They could be missing out on the next Conor McGregor,” Martin said regarding high profile camps passing on him.

Getting noticed is just a matter of time for the young man known as ‘The Heat”.

“Look, since I’ve taken all these fights in a 30-day period people are starting to call for interviews and take notice,” said Martin. Guilty as charged Sir.

To be fair though, I have had my eye on Martin for some time; being a Midwesterner we tend to have an affinity for our brethren.

Martin entered the cage for the fourth time in a month this Saturday night at King of the Cage: Stone Cold @ the Menominee Casino Resort in Keshena, Wisconsin.

The post Four Fights, Four Weeks, Four States: The Incomparable Dominic Martin appeared first on Cageside Press.

It’s a boy!

Conor McGregor Jr. has been welcomed into the world. The first child of UFC two-division champ Conor McGregor and long time partner Dee Devlin arrived Friday according to grandfather Tony, who told the Irish Mirror that “Baby Conor Jack McGregor was delivered last night at 8pm in the Coombe Hospital. He came in at 8 pounds 14 ounces. The whole family are absolutely delighted. We’ve experienced this recently with our eldest daughter and there’s no better feeling in the world than being a grandparent. The parents are absolutely over the moon and everyone is healthy.”

Conor Jr. already has an Instagram account (run by his proud parents) with over 20,000 followers.

First photo

The champ posted the first child of little Conor McGregor Jr. to Instagram, and posted a message as well, saying “Dee and Junior are doing great everyone! Thank you for all the kind words, I am one proud and blessed Daddy ❤️”

Al Is Still Ragin’

Al Iaquinta is so mad at the UFC, he told those “sissies” to cut him on Twitter. The UFC  has so far failed to take the bait, but an anonymous official told MMAJunkie that Iaquinta is still banned from collecting performance bonuses after trashing a hotel room, cursing on national TV, and blowing off a fighter summit.

They’re also none to happy that Iaquinta claimed he had to beg to get knee surgery, since “it was a chronic injury and not something that happened while training or fighting for us.” Nevertheless, the UFC did cough up the dough. “We paid for it. The entire medical team assisted through his surgeon getting this done and getting it paid, and Al never once called anyone to thank them. Instead he goes out on the Internet and says he had to beg for it, which is absolutely, 100 percent false” an anonymous UFC official told the site.

King of the Cage

Andy Nguyen picked up a decision victory (the first decision win to go her way thus far in her professional career) over Bi Nguyen at Saturday night’s King of the Cage event, with the fight streaming live on Facebook. The action-filled bout was the second fight between the pair, and sets up a potential rubber match.

Now we’ll get even more “win-win” jokes!

Invicta FC 23 Interviews Are Coming!

Cageside Press was lucky to get a chance to speak to “The Happy Warrior” Roxanne Modafferi and Andrea “KGB” Lee about the upcoming Invicta FC 23, the state of the stacked flyweight division, and the UFC’s foray into the 125lb weight class on the women’s side.

Stay tuned later this week for our chat with both fighters!

The post Sunday News Roundup: Ragin’ Al, McGregor Jr., and More appeared first on Cageside Press.