Photo credit to Zack Powell's Tapology page
Zack Powell on TOFC 1, Niagara Top Team, and Kurt Angle
Zack Powell takes on Lee Gaudet at the first show for Tarps Off Fight Club. This goes down on December 18th at Scotiabank Convention Centre in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
I spoke with the Niagara Top Team product ahead of his Gaudet clash. Excerpts from our chat are below.
Zack Powell
Assessments of Lee Gaudet as he heads into this fight here
“I’m just trying to not look at his record. Because I know he’s way better than what he puts out. Like he’s fought some tough guys. He’s lost some tough fights. But he always brings it, he’s always a competitor. He’s a jiu-jitsu black belt. He’s got some decent striking skills. To my thinking, it’s gonna be the same old Pow Pow going in to out-wrestle people. Using that wrestling to set up some shots on the feet or just dominate with him on the bottom. I don’t play that bottom stuff.”
“It’s gonna be the same old where wrestling’s going to be the deciding factor. That’s just gonna keep happening until I fight these guys that are actually good at wrestling. Because in Canada other than NTT, I can’t name very good fighters in Canada that have decent wrestling in MMA. I don’t see any other than the guys that train with us. So it’s gonna be the same thing until I get up to that higher level in UFC, Bellator, or wherever I end up.”
Tarps Off Fight Club
The NTT combatant getting ready to fight in his adoptive hometown of Niagara Falls
“It’s super nice. I’m probably like a two-minute drive away from where I’m fighting. So that’s cool. It’s the closest I’ve ever fought to where I live. We are allowed fans. I’m gonna have a lot of my friends here. My family’s gonna come down from Ottawa and come watch the fights. Yeah, it makes things easy. You don’t have to worry about traveling. I’ve got everything here. So it’s convenient, it’s fun. But at the end of the day, it’s still the same thing. Go and get the job done. It’s just going to get the job done in a more convenient way this time.”
Recent music choices and the WWE theme song Powell will be coming out to for this one
“Lately I’ve been doing a lot of WWE songs. I’m actually walking out to a WWE theme song for the fight. So that’s what I’ve been listening to the most lately…The hint is ‘you suck’.”
“Nah, everybody hates me. That’s the thread of it all. I’m a piece of shit in the gym. I get under a lot of people’s skin and I’ve always been that way. So the heel is really fitting…I’m a major shit talker in a gym. But it’s all banter. It gets people going. I used to play hockey and I was more of a rat-like, Brad Marchand kind of player. It’s stuck with me and I get under people’s skin. I kind of enjoy it.”
TOFC 1
Parting thoughts for Zack Powell
“If people buy tickets, use code NTT, save yourself a nice 10%. Use it on Christmas gifts or whatever you want. But definitely, we’re coming to watch the fights. It’s gonna be a good night. I feel like Tarps Off are really going to kick things off with a bang here. They’ve been talking to me a lot and I feel like going all-in on production adds back and people are going to have fun at the event. If you’re a big Jake Shields fan, he’s going to be there. There’s people there you’ll get to meet that are pretty cool and probably fun to talk to. So it’s MMA but if you want to come out and network, meet some cool people, it’s also a good event for that.”
