From Hockey Rink to Combate

Fighter profile of Bo Duran by Jason Swanson

 Bo Duran has not had the typical road to the top of the MMA world. Starting out on his driveway at 3 years old he worked his way up to playing Junior Hockey in his native Canada Bo was always competitive. "He always headlocked his older brother to get the last chocolate Timbit!" his mother smiled when asked. "Having an older brother toughened him up I think. We worked lots and the boys had to sort things out themselves."

While a decent hockey player, Duran got noticed even more for his abilities when he dropped the gloves. A weekend at the rink and Swanson saw all he needed to take a flyer on the kid. "He just had a fire in him. Skills you can teach, but I felt he had something that could take him to high levels in the MMA world. So I brought him in to the gym to see how he handled himself off skates." How he handled himself was embarrassing a few of the more casual members of a local MMA club, leaving them on the floor wondering how a kid that barely needed to shave put them there.

Bo had an inauspicious start to his pro career, losing his first fight before putting some more time in at the gym with Fight Founders but still not having any more success in his second outing. Two decision losses did not dampen the spirits of the young fighter though, he just felt lucky to be able to have the opportunity to make this a career. Those losses may have lit a fire under the newly minted MMA pro who proceeded to reel off an impressive nineteen wins and nine championship matches.

Bo Duran's ascention was noted by Combate and he willingly made the jump into elite level competition. Seven matches there with a single blemish on his record has moved the former hockey pugilist up to a lofty top three spot in the world pound for pound rankings. "Ah geez, I dunno if I ever thought about fighting the best in the world. I just wanna give'em a good scrap, you know?" A good scrap indeed. Things seem bright for the MMA star, and reaching his prime who knows what his future holds.

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