Blake Bilder is itching to return at Lights Out Xtreme Fighting 2
When Blake Bilder enters Lights Out Xtreme Fighting’s cage on July 6, it’ll be almost ten months since he last fought. Though that is certainly not what Bilder intended to do. After fighting to a draw with Dennis Linton last October, Bilder intended to get not one, but two MMA fights in before the year ended. However, he wasn’t able to get an opponent, even when he tried for a fight recently in May.
“We tried getting a fight set up for May 18 but we had three people that got offered the fight and they shall remain nameless but they all turned it down. It is what it is. There’s a lot of people out there that want to not lose instead of wanting to win.”
Because he wasn’t able to find a fight in MMA, Bilder turned his attention to boxing after he was offered a fight by a promoter. During his amateur career, Bilder is a Golden Gloves champion having won on the regional in state scene in Georgia in 2013 (according to Bilder). But even in boxing, Bilder wasn’t able to find the right matchup.
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“So we were going to then, we couldn’t come to an agreement. It didn’t end up working out. The thing was we didn’t have any MMA fights lined up, I didn’t have anything lined up. I got an offer for a boxing match but the guy I was supposed to originally take wouldn’t sign. We were like “well, alright.” We were offered another guy but he had a ton of experience and my manager didn’t think it was a good idea so we decided it wasn’t the right move.”
“Then we just waited around for an MMA fight and that finally happened.”
While he hasn’t had a fight lined up, Bilder has stayed in the gym and made a more permanent life for himself in California. Bilder had moved from Minnesota to train at Team Oyama but his partner in his security camera business decided to retire so he shut down the business and is able to stay in California. Now he started his own personal training business which has taken off.
Since he hasn’t been able to fight for a significant amount of time, Bilder has focused on making improvements on his skills. He believes the biggest improvements have been his wrestling and lifestyle. He has been able to consistently be in the gym instead of travelling and was recently baptized.
Now he is turning his full attention to July 6 where he will face Derion Chapman at LXF 2. Chapman was not Bilder’s original opponent, Bilder was supposed to face fellow undefeated fighter Jay Jay Wilson but Wilson withdrew from the fight. Chapman, is tougher than his 5-8-1 record shows. He has fought top prospects like A.J. Bryant, Richard LeRoy and Erick Gonzalez. He also has a victory over Jacob Rosales who is competing on the Contender Series this summer.
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Bilder is happy Chapman took the fight and though he had to make a few adjustments in camp because Chapman is a southpaw, Bilder still expects to get a finish.
“I think it’s great, I like an opponent that won’t back out. We had to switch some tings up because he’s a southpaw, but I’ve boxed against good southpaws and had MMA fights and kickboxing matches against good southpaws so I feel very confident! The prediction is the same, we go in there, impose our will and get the job done early.”
