Athletes
Battle Tested Jamie Mullarkey Is Living His Dream
Australian Lightweight Jamie Mullarkey Eyes A Spectacular Performance At Home Against Veteran John Makdessi At UFC 293: Adesanya vs Strickland
The fight game has tested Jamie Mullarkey at every step of his UFC career thus far, but that hasn’t stopped the 29-year-old Australian lightweight from enjoying his journey.
“Up and down,” Mullarkey told UFC.com. “But I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Mullarkey’s outlook is based off the fact that he loves being a fighter. He loves that he’s doing what he’s passionate about and that he gets to live out his dream. It’s important for Mullarkey to remember that, especially in moments like he experienced after his last fight in June.
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Early in fight week, Mullarkey received notice that his original opponent Guram Kutateladze was forced to withdraw from their bout due to visa issues. He was quickly offered a new opponent, UFC newcomer Muhammad Naimov, and he accepted. In that moment, Mullarkey admits that his excitement level dropped.
He was looking forward to facing Kutateladze, but knew the show had to go on, so he agreed to face Naimov.
Naimov would go on to knock Mullarkey out. It was a devastating moment for the Aussie veteran.
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“I think the main emotion was disappointment and frustration,” Mullarkey said. “That fight wasn’t a bad performance; it was just a big lesson about not getting complacent. It was a quick TKO and I didn’t take a crazy amount of damage, so I’m healthy, I got straight back into training and getting on this card was important. I’m grateful.
“I deal with it by reminding myself that I’m living my dream. Even when I have a bad day in the gym, hurt myself, have a s*** day of training and nothing goes right and I feel like having a bit of a cry, it always brings a bit of a smile back to my face when I go back to thinking ‘You’re doing it, you’re living your dream.’”
So here we are, just a short two months since his loss to Naimov, and Mullarkey is smiling just days away from facing veteran John Makdessi on a big PPV event in his home country of Australia. It’s the perfect scenario for Mullarkey to bounce back, and his fire to win is burning bigger than ever.
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“I’ve been there before. I’ve picked myself up and dusted myself off a couple times now,” Mullarkey said. “It was a massive motivator. I think you need [setbacks] every now and then to really light a fire under you. I know it shouldn’t come to that point where you need it, but every single day that fight is in my mind and it’s burning the fire.”
Against Makdessi, Mullarkey is determined to make ‘zero mistakes’ and be technically sound from start to finish. He’s going to let the emotions of fighting in front of a home crowd fuel him and help him live up to the potential he knows he possesses every time he steps in the Octagon.
Jamie Mullarkey TKOs Devonte Smith | UFC Fight Night: Santos vs Walker
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Jamie Mullarkey TKOs Devonte Smith | UFC Fight Night: Santos vs Walker
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And although he believes that he matches up well with Makdessi, he’s confident that he’s going to control everything about their bout.
“John Makdessi is a high caliber opponent. He’s very experienced. He’s an OG in this sport and it’s pretty exciting to be fighting him. I’m looking to just beat him in every aspect of the game, and I think I will. I think I’m going to dominate every point of the fight,” Mullarkey said. “I think he will be trying to frustrate me and lead me into traps and have a distance kickboxing match. That’s what we’ve really prepped hard for. I’m ready for everything he’s going to do.”
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If things go the way that Mullarkey has envisioned, he’ll be back in the win column and UFC 293 will go down as one of the most special moments in his mixed martial arts career.
“It will be, by far, the biggest moment of my career so far,” Mullarkey said. “That’s all I’m seeing at the moment. I’m just seeing my hand getting raised and 20,000 people screaming and I’m super excited.”
UFC 293: Adesanya vs Strickland took place live from Qudos Arena in Sydney, Australia on September 9, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
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