2012-01-13
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You are your own worst enemy - Retrospect: champion Bob Jam

Fighter profile of Bob Jam by Vegard Bjorneset

You are your own worst enemy – Retrospect: champion Bob Jam.

27.06.2009 – Sydney
“I remember the lights flickering around me, I heard the small crowd rumble in the distant darkness. I was shaking, I tried to calm my nerves, but I was sick to my stomach from excitement. I was fighting Jesse Baird, who had one loss, in my mma debut. The lights came on, the crowd roared to life, even though we were both unknowns, I was scared shitless, and it showed. The fight was a disaster, I didn’t know what to do, so I took him down. I was scared of hurting him, killer instinct takes some development, but I won, by armbar”

10.01.2012
This is how Bob Jam recalls his first fight, the fight that would be a gateway into a long hard road of disappointment and depression, but also of tremendous success.

“It went upward from there” Bob recalls and smiles. Bob Jam, is currently 16-13 in his MMA career and the UMMA bantamweight champion. The former NFC bantamweight champion has had a long, hard road back to championship condition.

We meet the newly crowned champion in his home in Helsinki after he won the championship belt on the 08 of January 2012.

“I don’t know anybody here, except from some guys down at the gym” Bob says, and sips his coffee. Bob Jam recently relocated to Helsinki after a long hard journey in St.Petersburg, Russia. Bob Jam seems calm and collected, miles away from the person we saw winning NFC gold in October of 2009. After going 2-2 in Infliction, in his native Australia Bob Jam moved on to the NFC where he ended up going 6-3.

How do you recall your days in the NFC?
“NFC was good, I ended up going 6-3 there, that’s not too bad”

And you were the champ?
“ha-ha, yeah, I was.. I was”

Bob is a humble man these days. After signing with the NFC, he subbed Angel Torres in his first fight, impressing the management enough sail him up as the next big thing and contender for the title. On the 24th of October 2009 Bob Jam faced off against Urijah Fabricio for the NFC bantamweight title.

“I was 3-2, overall at that point, to me it seemed like madness. Fighting for a title, but I wanted it so bad, I was young and very hungry. Thanks to friends and family I was able to focus all my energy into training, even though my skills weren’t anything to brag about at that point I managed to pull it off. I wasn’t scared, I was hungry and I focused all my energy into taking the strap from Urijah. It was a pretty boring fight, but I wanted to sub him so bad, I preferred ground back then.”

And then you won?
“Yeah.. I did, I took home a decision, I hadn’t finished him but man it felt good, I was on top of the world that night. I knew who I was fighting next a few days after, and my adrenaline was smashing through my system from the moment I woke up to I went to bed at night, I wanted to prove I was the champion.

And Bob did by TKO in his first title defence against Jim Dougan.
“I was king of the world, I had money, a bit of fame, everything I worked for was coming alive right in front of me”

And then came River Greywar?
“yeah, he did”

Bob calms down, and leans back, rubbing his hands against his thighs.

“He took my belt from me, fair and square” Bob says, looking out the window at the subtle Helsinki snow. Bob didn’t break, after losing the title, he won two in a row to earn a shot at getting the belt back from River Greywar.
“I was so pumped, so outspoken, I thought about it day and night, how I would finish River.” And then you lost the rematch?
“mhm” Bob says, taking another sip of coffee. “I lost faith in myself, completely”

Bob won another time in the NFC, before losing to Crusty Pelican by submission and getting cut. After a short stint in KDU, going 1-2, Bob decided he needed new hunting grounds, and went as far away as possible, to the heart of Russia. Tell us about Russia.
Bob Jam looks at us with a blank stare, he knew it would come up eventually.
“Russia was shit” he finally says. “I didn’t feel like fighting, It had become a chore, I won one, lost two, won another and then another loss, I just painted by the numbers. Worked out, fought, got paid and got drunk a lot.”

He turns uncomfortably in the sofa of his simple home. “I got the money” he says “it’s just that money can’t buy you happiness, I was living the dream. Pegasi didn’t cut me if I lost, I could work out, party and fight, in retrospect, it wasn’t all that healthy”

Did you lose your will to fight?
“I did, half of my losses are decisions, there are six finishes in 29 fights, it’s like I decided not to fight for those 7 decisions, 5 of those in Russia. I just didn’t believe in myself”

But after relocating to Finland, you are 2-0 in UMMA and champion again.
“ha-ha, yeah, I am” Bob says “I'm gonna do it differently this time, I’m getting too old to do things half-assed”

Do you know who your next opponent is?
“yeah, I’ve heard rumors around the halls, from the powers that be, it’ll be tough, I can tell you that much”

Will your hand be raised the next time we see you?
Bob smiles “We’ll see, I don’t trashtalk anymore, its wasted energy. But I'll guarantee you, that I’ll bring my entire toolbox with me, it’ll be the best “Sizzle`Jam” you have ever seen”

Thank you for your time, any last words?
“Thanks to all of you that have supported me over the years, I’m back now.”

 

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