Scott Hudson

Photo credit to Scott Hudson's Tapology page

Scott Hudson discusses D’Juan Owens fight at XFC 43

Scott Hudson clashes with D’Juan Owens at XFC 43. It’s happening on Wednesday, November 11th in the lightweight ranks. The fight is part of a tournament going at 155 pounds and this bout will broadcast on NBC Sports.

Handsome Scott Hudson is a titlist at 165 pounds for BTC Fight Promotions and is switching divisions for his XFC debut at Tabernacle in Atlanta, Georgia.

Below are several excerpts from my recent conversation with the BTC super lightweight champion.

The general training environment for this camp

“Training partners and my training environment isn’t ideal but we’re doing the best we can. I’m still getting good work with all my guys. Maybe a little bit less variety and that takes a little bit more planning into your training sessions. But my coaches have been doing a good job of taking care of that for me.”

Scott Hudson

 Eight-man XFC lightweight tournament 

“I heard some rumblings about it when they were putting it together but I wasn’t really sure. And they actually reached out to me about being in the welterweight tournament. And I said no to welterweight just because I was staying a little bit lighter… It’s a more beneficial weight class for me…They reached out to me with a lightweight spot. Lo and behold, one magically pops up right and that’s kind of how I got in the tournament.”

It had been three years since your last one at Lightweight against Joe Elmore

“If BTC was still gonna promote like a super lightweight division, that’s ideally where I’d like to be. Hopefully, that opens up worldwide a little bit more in the near future. I think that it’s getting to the point now where it’s not. Because lightweight is a big cut for me. And I think I’m a little bit too small to hang with some of the big boys at 170’s elite.”

“So I’m gonna go back down to 55. I was staying in pretty good shape and I was staying a little bit lighter. So it wasn’t like a big stretch for me. But I mean, I think it’s a fine weight class. I think that ’65 would be a little bit more comfortable but you gotta do what you gotta do. I chose this weight class and I’m excited to make my return.”

Scott Hudson vs D’Juan Owens

D’Juan Owens as an opponent

“He just fought up in Canada a couple of times. He fought Tristan Connelly in Tristan’s last fight before the UFC. I came close to getting that fight that Tristan got. I have like a connection with him and I knew of D’Juan. He’s fought in my country before. He’s fought arguably one of the better Lightweights in the country. So I’m paying attention. He gave him a tough fight. And I think it’s really advantageous for me. If I go out there and put D’Juan away and make it look easy, I think that does really good things for me. Given D’Juan’s most recent couple performances.”

New training partnership with Bobby Poulter

“So I partnered up with Bobby Poulter. We opened up our own spot,. Not only a place for him and I to train because we both have professional careers. But we also train clients and coach our own guys out of there as well. And so far it has exceeded my expectations. The quality of life that I’ve been leading over the past three months, two and a half months despite pandemic life has been fantastic.”

BTC 8 and his thoughts on the last fight overall

“It was fantastic. It was a good event. I was really psyched on the opponent. Jarel (Askew) is super battle-tested. He’s a good opponent, he’s tall, and I was happy with my performance. I feel like I went out there and I was dominant. I won every round, I did damage, I did what I wanted to do in there. He gave me a lot of challenges that I was able to work through. I was not feeling very good going into that fight. I had the flu. So things weren’t ideal. It meant a lot to me to go out there on sort of my worst day and handle my business. But that’s what we train for.”

XFC

Parabellum MMA’s departure for the time being

“Maybe like a month ago, my gym that I’ve been training for six or seven years more is closed down. They just decided to hunker down and not burn themselves through this pandemic anymore. People are really losing their livelihoods and there’s just no money in it. You can’t run a full martial arts school.”

“I’m still with Lyndon (Whitlock) every day and getting my work in. I’ve been going out to Niagara Top Team a couple times a week for the past like three or four months. Working with my coach Chris Prickett and his crew of fighters out there which has been fantastic. A little bit more travel, a little bit more logistics involved, but it’s okay man. I want to stay positive, I want to make the best of the situation.”

“Keep telling people that there’s way more people that are in a way worse situation than me. I can’t speak for anybody else but it hasn’t been all negative for me. So I’m just gonna roll with the punches. I’m a pretty optimistic guy. I just want to make the best of my situation and have fun training. You know, living my life.”

XFC 43

When Scott Hudson lived in a tent in the jungle

“I used to live in Thailand. In 2015, I was training. I got sponsored by Team Quest Thailand, like the gym in northern Thailand. It’s an affiliate of Team Quest; the famous gym from Portland, Oregon. So I connected with those guys. I had a really great year of training. It was fantastic. So how they had it worked out was that they covered my cost of training and my housing… The housing is at the gym. So they have like an open-air area upstairs. You can like lay down a mosquito net if you want.”

“The tent is for bugs. So technically I was under a roof, but I was living in a tent because it keeps the bugs out. It’s a crazy setup. If I ever see you, I’ll show you some pictures and stuff like that. But it was just some of the trainers. Some of the Thai boys. Some of the foreign fighters, all living upstairs in the gym. Literally, wake up in the morning, brush your teeth, go down, and train. That was life for a year…My then-girlfriend and now wife was living out there with me for a bit. We had a small apartment but nonetheless living in a tent. We used to call it tent city”

How Scott Hudson characterizes his time in that Thailand tent

“Even while I was going through it, I remember being so happy. Doing what you love every day and I still carry that same mentality. I’m happy obviously now. Financially I’m in a way better place. I don’t have to live in a tent, I can actually buy my own house. You know, that’s the name of the game out there. One thing it taught me is that you need to follow your heart because you can be really happy with very little. That was a massive, massive takeaway for me.”

author avatar
Dylan Bowker
I've been enamored with combat sports for as long as I can remember. I've hosted MMA talk shows Lights Out and Pure Fight Radio with featured guests like Jens Pulver, Roy Nelson, Miesha Tate, Mark Coleman, and more. I've been an MMA broadcaster for XFFC as well as BTC and have done play by play commentary on live pay per view on GFL as well as FITE TV. I've provided written, audio, and video content covering some of the biggest MMA promotions like Rumble in the Cage, Unified MMA, and King of the Cage. I've worked as a sports entertainment personality for over five years and given play-by-play or featured promotions of KSW, ONE Championship, TKO, and Invicta FC. My work can be found in the USA Today Sports affiliate MMA Torch, Cageside Press, MMA Sucka, and Liberty Multimedia.