Photo credit to Zack Powell's Tapology page
Zack Powell talks SHP 56 and Contender Series
Zack Powell vs Yemi Oduwole will emanate from Faucette Brothers Activity Center in Northport, Alabama. This bout is the main event of SHP 56. The latest show from Strike Hard Productions goes down on Saturday, October 10th. Powell has been making waves with TKO and PFC with a lot of work being done in Ontario’s Niagara region as of late.
“I work at Niagara Top Team. Doing my camp there and I live at the coach’s house. So Chris Prickett, I got a room at his place…Aaron Jeffery also lives here. We’re basically roommates now. It’s awesome. A great atmosphere in the house. Couldn’t have asked for better guys to spend days with.”
Zack Powell continued, “I think I fit in very well with the team. I’ve got the work ethic to work here because it’s all guys who work hard. Everyone wants to train hard and everyone here wants to make it somewhere with the sport.”
Zack Powell
Powell has actually been disassociating himself with his native Quebec as of late. Their tight restrictions on combat sports has historically not been great and has only seemingly gotten worse as of late.
“So basically in the last, I think, two weeks they decided that combat sports would be legal again. And that people could train in little bubbles of four and stuff like that. But it took so much time. I feel like they’ve been trying to bury Jiu-Jitsu and MMA. Trying to throw us under the bridge for years. Amateur MMA isn’t even legal in Quebec. Jiu-Jitsu competitions are getting shut down left and right.”
Zack Powell continued, “I don’t feel like I want to associate with a province that doesn’t even want their guys to succeed. When my time comes, I’m going to be out here in Ontario and I’m just going to represent Ontario and not Quebec. I don’t see why I should represent a province like that that doesn’t care about their athletes.”
Since his last win in March, Powell has been chomping at the bit for an MMA contest and was even ready to go late Summer/ early Fall.
“I was staying ready for a fight. I was ready for like September. Even when AJ (Aaron Jeffery) and Jas (Jasmine Jasudavicius) fought and I was helping (Anthony) Romero get ready here, I was getting ready myself…Dodge (Sports) was already out searching for options for me. Then I got a cut on my eye so I had to heal for about two weeks. So he had to look further away. We were looking at options for CFFC, LFA, Bellator. We threw my name in there for a short notice fight at Bellator.”
Powell vs Oduwole
This Strike Hard main event offer came just a couple of weeks back from when me and Powell spoke. His opponent Yemi Oduwole’s skillset is something that Powell is familiarized with but he’s feeling supremely confident in his on skills ahead of this one.
“I watched some tape. I found his last LFA fight. Mainly watched that one. Honestly, his record’s ok but I don’t think it represents the type of fighter he is. I don’t think he’s a high profile fighter and don’t think he should be in a main event spot like this. I’m not saying this in a bad way. I’m just saying he’s not the type of dude that should be headlining shows. So it’s a good fight for me. It’s a good fight to prove myself. Eventually, win this fight and hop onto bigger things.”
SHP 56
Much like many regional MMA prospects, Powell is also checking out Dana White’s Contender Series. Getting onto that Contender Series platform is certainly a priority for Zack Powell and he has a specific opponent in mind too.
“I definitely want to get on there. Definitely want to get eyes on me especially from Dana White…I definitely want to fight Sherrard Blackledge on there. Watched his fight and I would do quick work of this guy. I don’t think he deserves to be on that spot…It’s not disrespectful…It’s more like skills-wise.”
Zack Powell already seems tapped into his laser-focused but serene mindset ahead of fights. A state of mind that also permeates through fight week plus the contest itself.
“Calm, focused, and composed. That’s how I feel before, it’s how I feel after, it’s how I feel during the fight. I’m just grateful to be healthy and be doing this. Being injured made me realize how bad I love this. There’s nothing else I’d rather do. Win or lose, this is where I want to be. I just want to give it my all and reach my full potential.”
Listen to the audio from my Zack Powell interview in the link provided!
