Oliver Enkamp: “This Fight Can’t Be Anything But Entertaining!”
At the beginning of 2020, France legalized MMA, opening the door for major organizations to enter the country and put on great cards. Due to COVID the process was pushed back, but on Saturday, Bellator will bring to Paris, France Bellator 248. One of those fighters lucky enough to be on this historic card is the Swedish welterweight, Oliver Enkamp. He will be competing in one of three main card bouts as he will take on hometown favorite Emmanuel Dawa. Enkamp has been on fire in his two bouts thus far under the Bellator banner with two first-round finishes.
The Route to Bellator MMA
Enkamp began his professional MMA career in March 2013 where he won his first bout with an inverted triangle choke. Winning his next six bouts in a row over just under four years, Enkamp received the call from the UFC. With less than a two week notice, Enkamp jumped into the Octagon with Nordine Taleb, who was 12-4 at the time, at UFC Fight Night 109. Dropping a decision, Enkamp returned to the Octagon to meet Danny Roberts, where he met his second loss in a row, the only two losses of his career. “The Future” took a lot from the experience and thus far has parlayed it into a very hot start under the Bellator banner.
In his Bellator debut, which took place at Bellator 223 in June 2019, Enkamp submitted a very seasoned veteran in Walter Gahadza. His second appearance in the Bellator cage was even more impressive, landing a spinning back fist in the first round of his bout with Lewis Long, knocking him out. Unfortunately for Enkamp, this was the last event before the COVID epidemic. “My previous fight was the last event before Bellator closed due to COVID-19, so I guess the momentum kind of died for a while. However, I view this martial arts journey as a lifetime pursuit, so I’m always looking to improve,” Enkamp told MyMMANews. “Rather than celebrating the knockout, I looked for things to learn from the fight that I could have done better. This attitude is what motivates me to go back in the gym and start grinding again!”
Return to Action Against Tough Opponent
Though Enkamp will be on enemy territory, he is looking forward to being apart of history. “It is very cool to see MMA touching new ground! I was actually hoping Bellator would land in Sweden this time, but being part of history as the first big event in France is almost as good!” Enkamp stated. Thankfully the COVID situation around the world has lightened enough to allow Enkamp and other fighters to try and train again “normally.” “We couldn’t train MMA for a few months because of the restrictions, so I did a lot of strength and conditioning instead, which has helped me build more power that then carried over to martial arts. For the past eight weeks though (which is the usual length of a fight camp) I have been able to train pretty much as I always do,” Enkamp stated.
Six of his opponent’s nine victories have come by the knockout. Enkamp knows Dawa will be a dangerous outing Saturday night on his home turf. “We are both powerful athletes with a striking background. So this fight can’t be anything but entertaining! I always aim for a three-round war, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this fight hears the final bell!” Enkamp said.
