£4£ Case Study: Tony "The Wrecking Ball" Bullard

Fighter profile of Tony Bullard by

 Spencer Kilco reporting for £4£: The best for MMA News, Views and Reviews

I met with Tony the night before his EFC lightweight championship defence against Garrick Head at Executioner Get chopped last Wednesday. We at £4£ had him to win but unfortunately he lost by decision. Now with a record of 20-3 Bullard still holds the organisations welterweight championship in a division he has dominated. This is what made me interested to have a sit down and talk with Tony rather than the usual media obligation fighters pretend to enjoy.

We met at a coffee place New York is so famous for. Tony opted for a protein shake his camp had prepared and me, being a Londoner, wanted a beer but settled for coffee. I didn’t want to ask the obvious question: was he going to win? As it would have resulted in the same old answer: I’m going to beat him and I’m going to do it in this way… I wanted to start by discussing his family heritage.

You may or may not know that Bullard’s have fighting in their blood. Tony’s great grandad was a bare knuckle boxer and his father a pioneer in  the early days of MMA. Tony’s father was a great boxer putting on fights that helped put MMA on the map, all be it only ever on the lower card. And now Tony is helping kick start his brother’s, Bull Bullard (0-1), career.

Tony is defiantly not stuck in his father’s shadow, the 28 year old holds two belts in different weight classes quickly becoming one of EFC’s legends. He says ‘Two world championships has kept me hungry’ going on to say that to become a true legend in MMA he thinks he needs to hold a title in another organisation or a third weight class in EFC. With only two years left until he plans to retire Tony needs to think about making a move and dominating another company or weight class sooner rather than later.

So what really drives Tony? We talked about the championships and his goal to ‘break into the top ten [pound for pound] in my weight class’. Tony really was beaten great fighters on the EFC (Formerly WC) roster dominating the welterweights. Tony told me this is his inspiration, to win, get his arm raised and prove he is the best. With 5 fight of the night prizes it’s hard to argue ‘The Wrecking Ball’ isn’t a dominating and entertaining fighter.

Wanting to be the best is a trait Tony said his father beat in to him. With an impressive amateur record, not as impressive at his pro record, his father would push his training to make sure he’d always fightsbetter next time around. And if he didn’t fight better (or lost) his father would find a sparring partner that was a little too difficult. Tony admitted he got beat up a lot as a kid but thanks to his dad, it’s made him a better fighter today. To this day he continues to push himself, his fight camp is based in Hawaii at the elite Broom Broom Room.

I wished Tony good luke on his title fight, hope I didn’t jinx him! And finally asked why MMA and not boxing. The simple answer is that his dad was a MMA fighter. However Tony wanted a bigger challenge and to become more than just a boxer. In his own words ‘[I want to] retire as the greatest island fighter ever’ which means he must master more than the stand-up game. However currently the boxing is his biggest assent and ‘The game plan is to take the knock out whether on the counter or clinch’.

I know he was focused and getting pumped but our chat was great, I fell in love with the guy. With one belt lost I wish him all the best with the other one and whatever his future holds for him.

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