Wednesday, March 7, 2007

UK'S ETIM ADDED TO APRIL 21 UFC 70


By Jim Burman

Undefeated lightweight Terry Etim (7-0) will put his record on the line April 21 when the Ultimate Fighting Championship makes its return to UK soil at the Manchester Evening News Arena in Manchester, England.

An opponent for Etim has not been announced, while the Liverpool native is staying “mums” about who he might meet in the Octagon that night.

Signing a UFC contract with only six fights in two years is a bit of a whirlwind ascension and plenty of fans, including those in the UK, may not have seen Etim fight.

“I’ve got a stand- up background, muay Thai, but I’ve been working on my ground game as well,” describes Etim. However, six of Etim’s seven victories have come via submission. “Yeah, most people have only seen my ground game,” he quips.

With Terry still being relatively new to pro MMA, what has he done to raise his game for the UFC? “As soon as I found out about the UFC I stepped my training up with it being such an opportunity. I’ve just been over to Brazil for six weeks training at RFT (Renevacao Fight Team) with Marcio ‘Cromado’ Barbosa. It was great training out there, training three times a day.”

“I just want to show off everything that I’ve been working on throughout all of my fights…Everyone wants to be in the UFC so I’m going to have to put it all together and show people what I’m about.”

As for fighting in the UFC and in Manchester too, only a short journey away from his native Liverpool? Etim echoes the sentiment of most other European fighters on the card. “It means everything, it’s a dream come true. I think that it’s every fighter’s ambition to get into the UFC.”


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