Sandman Vol. 2

Fighter profile of Darsin Bleak by Outlaw Bleak

This story picks up right where it left off.  A young Darsin Bleak stepping up in competition with his third MMA organization.   Having held two different belts in two different organizations already, his confidence was at an all time high.  He introduced himself to the BBFC world with a great fight that resulted in Fight of the Night.  To that point, no fighter had made it out of the 2nd round against him, so that victory was twice as sweet.  He loved getting the TKO win in his debut, but to earn a fight of the night award for his efforts was icing on the cake. 

His next fight was against a fighter whose career had started spiraling down.  To date, it is unknown why this win led to his next title shot, but he just shook it off as his reputation and past belts giving him this honor.  So here we are, his third fight at BBFC, well, now known as Blaze Brothers, and he’s in the cage staring across at the champion, Shane MacManus.   He wanted a step up in competition, and that’s exactly what he got.  This title fight was the longest, most grueling fight to date for the Sandman.  They went back and forth for all 5 rounds, and it led to his first, and only, decision victory.  But he had won.  He had proved the doubters wrong, and as they strapped that gold belt around his waist, he was flooded with emotions of joy and excitement.

But this is where it gets hard.  Winning the belt as a relative newcomer is easier than defending the belt.  When you’re the new guy, you can be overlooked, underestimated, taken for granted.  But now, as the champion, you are the target.  And this is exactly where Bleak wanted to be.  He wants to be the best, so he knows he must fight the best and beat the best.

His first title defense he didn’t let go to the judges.  He had decided not to let that happen again.  A finish is a much better feeling, and a much more gratifying way to win.  This one made it to the third round where he went back to his old ways and locked in an armbar to secure the victory.  Now, nobody could say the judges were wrong.  Nobody could say he wasn’t the real champion.  He had earned it, and there was no doubt that Bleak was the undisputed light weight champion of Blaze.  He is now 13-0 and looking for the next challenge.  Who will bring it? That opponent would be one Marshal Mayhem, and he would gladly accept.

When Bleak and Mayhem squared off, Bleak decided he wanted to make a statement.  He wanted to inflict pain on his opponent, and that’s exactly what he did.  For the first time in his career, Darsin had inflicted enough pain on his opponent that his opponent tapped out.  He never grabbed an arm, locked in a choke, just beat him to the ground until his opponent pleaded for help.  To date, that was the most gratifying victory of his career.  He’s had three more title defenses since then, earning awards in two of them.  He now stands at an impressive 17-0 record and has a new goal in sight.  He now looks to face the grappling king of the 145 division to see if he can earn a 2nd belt in a 2nd weight class.  This will undoubtedly be the toughest fight of Bleak’s career.  Never has he faced someone who is every bit as skilled as he is in the ground, possibly even more so.  While he does have a bit of a striking advantage, Bleak has never gone to that tool kit to secure a victory.  He is what he is, and he does his thing.  It has worked out for him so far, and he will lean on that again as he tries to beat his opponent as his own game.  Last I spoke, Bleak had a message for his upcoming opponent.  “Gracie, you’re from a long line of fantastic BJJ artists.  This will be a war but make no mistake.  I’m coming for you!”

And with that, we will sit and anxiously await the next chapter to see where this fight goes, and what the future hold for young Bleak.  Will he be a two-division champion?  Will he keep and defend that belt if he does, or will he look to focus on his own division?  Bleak has already been toying with the idea of the next chapter of his career should he win this belt.  There are still so many more place he could fight some of the best the world has to offer.  But is he ready?  Is it time yet?  I guess we’ll just have to stay tuned to find out.

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