Colin Wright is a champion and plans to stay that way after American Kombat Alliance’s Rite of Passage 5
On July 27, Colin Wright was on a mission. His goal was to reestablish himself as a top prospect in the MMA world like he was as an amateur. After almost three rounds of a grueling fight, Wright did just that by catching Kendrik Williams in an arm bar. The win earned him American Kombat Alliance’s featherweight title and the fact that he is a champion, still feels a bit surreal to him.
“To be honest it was kind of surreal. The gravity of the moment didn’t even really hit me. It took a while to sink in, it still feels surreal in a way. First pro belt.”
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As previously mentioned the fight was grueling, Wright was facing an explosive athlete in Williams who liked to primarily strike. Though Wright felt he could keep up with Williams on the feet, he decided to play to Williams’ weakness by fighting tight and taking it to the ground. Previously Wright has decided to take the fight to his opponent’s strengths and it has cost him, he believes sticking to the game plan ensured he was victorious.
“I wasn’t too keen on testing that (his stand up), there have been fights in the past where I knew the route to victory and instead of fighting that fight I got in my ego and wanted to beat the guy at their own game. It’s cost me in the past and it wasn’t an option this time you know with the belt on the line, it was stick to the game plan. I knew the longer the fight wore on, he would give me the finish at some point.”
One area that Wright didn’t feel comfortable in during the fight was his cardio. During the fight, Wright felt he lost his explosiveness after the first round. A factor that led to him draining himself in the first round was that Wright said that he contracted bronchitis shortly before the fight and it affected how he was able to train.
“To be honest, I didn’t really tell anybody but I got bronchitis literally the last three weeks of that training camp so my cardio was not really where it should’ve been. I came into that fight camp in really good shape. I’ve been training for five five-minute rounds since I was an amateur so I really feel like those are the type of fights where I can really, really show off my skills and I was really excited to show that off and I feel like that was stripped away from me at the last minute.”
“I have way better cardio than what I showed in that fight.”
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The Texas native will have an opportunity to show that his cardio is a strength at AKA Right of Passage 5 when he defends his featherweight title on October 27 against Jesse Butler.
“I’m excited for this fight too because I’m in way better shape this time around. When we step in there, Jesse Butler is going to find out how much better in shape I am for this one than I was for the Kendrik fight.”
Butler has an impressive record of 6-2 with five of six wins coming by finish. All of his finishes have been by submission, including two triangle chokes. Despite Butler’s impressive record, Wright believes he is the perfect matchup for him.
“I love this matchup, I think this matchup is going to allow me to showcase how well-rounded I am and how sharp I can be.”
Unlike the Williams fight, Wright plans on keeping the fight against Butler on the feet.
“I think he’s going to try and make it more of a grappling fight, I really do. I don’t think he’s going to want to stand with me, I think my boxing is too crisp and I think I’m too good at dealing with kicks. I think I’m going to hurt him on the feet and he’s going to be forced to shoot on me.”
Overall, he thinks there isn’t an avenue of victory for Butler.
“I don’t see anywhere he can beat me.”
