Will Chope just can’t stop fighting.
The American has racked up a staggering total of 52 professional contests in mixed martial arts (MMA), Muay Thai, kickboxing, sanda and boxing over three short years – that’s more than one bout per month – and he’s far from done.
In fact, Chope, at 23, is just getting started, and in the biggest way possible: He makes his debut for the world’s leading MMA promotion, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), on Saturday at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.
He will face Hawaiian Max Holloway as part of a regionally historic 10-bout event that includes Singapore’s first-ever UFC fighter, Royston Wee, squaring off against David Galera of the Philippines.
Already in town to finish his training camp at local gym Juggernaut Fight Club, Chope shared with Yahoo Singapore his aspirations – and they weren’t altogether typical ones.
“I want to be remembered for fighting a lot… I hope to be this generation’s Jeremy Horn, who had over 100 fights in MMA,” said the towering, 1.93m striker, believed to be the world’s tallest featherweight (66kg).
“I want to be the ultimate journeyman that ends up becoming world champion.”
Jet-set
“Journeyman” perfectly encapsulates the globetrotting Chope, whose itch to fight has drawn him to the likes of Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and more.
Yet not too long ago he was just a self-professed “super fan” by way of a father who went to school with MMA great Ken Shamrock.
When he turned 17, Chope, fresh out of high school, enlisted in the Air Force and was stationed as a civil engineer in Guam.
It was there on the tiny but fight-crazy island, home to the veteran Pacific X-treme Combat (PXC) promotion, that he finally started training in MMA.
Two years on, with his tour of duty over, Chope made the radical decision to move to Phuket, Thailand to make a living as a fighter.
“Thailand is one of the only places in the world where you can fight literally every week if you wanted,” said the man nicknamed “The Kill” because he “would rather be killed than turn down a fight”. “And out of necessity, I had to fight as many times as possible.”
“I needed the money but also the experience,” he explained. “I started when I was 19, all the others started when they were kids. My fight experience had to make up for (my lack of) training experience.”
Breadwinner
Money wasn’t always a major concern for Chope – until the journeyman became a family man too.
“I used to live in a bamboo hut,” he laughed. “I had a single lifestyle. I was content with making just a little bit.”
“But as soon as I had a family – got my girlfriend pregnant, got married – money started becoming an issue,” said Chope. “I had to fight more and take ‘smarter’ fights. If you lose the win bonus – it’s a huge impact on your wallet.”
The lanky, affable athlete met his wife in Thailand two years ago. They have a 12-month-old son – his second child after a five-year-old daughter from a previous marriage in the US.
Chope hasn’t set foot on American shores for three years now – but on hindsight, jetting off to Asia was a call that’s clearly paid off for him now.
“There’re so many American fighters … (it’s) really hard to stand out in America,” he said. “But a super tall white guy fighting in Asia, people are going to take notice – especially if I start winning a lot.”
Stepping up
That’s something that Chope has made a habit out of recently – on the back of an impressive 14-fight unbeaten streak, his MMA record stands at 19 wins and five losses, with 12 first-round finishes.
The California native has also been crowned division champion in a number of Filipino and Malaysian promotions, and shortly after his last fight in PXC, the UFC came knocking.
Chope, however, modestly put the prestigious offer down to a matter of “convenience”.
“I’m located here (in Asia) and I’ve been based here for a long time,” he said. “It’s one of those ‘right time, right place’ moments.”
“I definitely didn’t see myself getting there this fast,” he admitted. “I thought it would take me a couple more years, but when the UFC comes, you can’t say no.”
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UFC Singapore: Will Chope soldiers on in quest to be MMA’s ‘ultimate journeyman’
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