One medieval throw of David Heath to the mat turned light heavyweight fighter Tim Boetsch into an overnight sensation in the UFC. Now Boetsch has the opportunity to go 2-0 in the UFC — in a span of two months — when he takes on Matt Hamill at Ultimate Fight Night 13, next Wednesday, at the Broomfield Event Center in Broomfield, Colo.
“The Barbarian” took this fight on short notice, much like he did for his Octagon debut at UFC 81: “Breaking Point,” when he stepped in for Tomasz Drwal to face Heath.
Once again, Boetsch is a replacement, stepping in for Stephan Bonnar, who was injured during training. Boetsch took the fight on eight weeks notice and believes that he will be ready to go come next Wednesday a winner.
“I don’t think it’s too soon,” Boetsch told MMAmania.com. “As long as I stay injury free, I wouldn’t mind fighting every two-three months.”
Boetsch boasts an impressive record (7-1) in MMA. In fact, his only loss was a decision to Vladimir Matyushenko at the 2007 IFL Semifinals, which took place last August.
He now looks for his second straight win and knows this is a huge opportunity against Hamill if he wants to climb the long ladder in the UFC light heavyweight division.
“I think it’s a huge opportunity. He’s got a real strong following from being on the Ultimate Fighter show,” Boetsch said. “He’s had a lot of success in the UFC already and has already improved his game from when he started. He’s a very good athlete.”
Boetsch is aware that he is the underdog coming into this fight against Hamill.
“I’m quite the underdog coming into this fight and that’s fine by me,” Boetsch said. “I’m really excited to get the opportunity and show people what I can do in there.”
Boetsch has been fighting in the sport of MMA since fall 2006. He made his debut against Demian Decorah at Madtown Throwdown — A Wisconsin-based promotion. Boetsch won the fight by submission via strikes in the third round.
After his fight with Matyushenko, Boetsch saw he had a chance to get into the UFC and took full advantage.
His first fight in the UFC was against Heath. And he wasn’t concerned about jitters of fighting for the first time inside the eight-sided cage.
“Everybody talks about those first time in the Octagon jitters and of course being in Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, you don’t get much bigger than that,” Boetsch said. “I kept my head on straight, stayed focus and didn’t get caught up in the hype. Nerves really weren’t a factor for me that first fight.”
Boetsch defeated Heath by TKO (strikes). Boetsch finished the fight by kneeing Heath and then throwing him to the mat. Boetsch was stunned, much like the rest of the fans watching at Mandalay Bay and at home that night.
“It was like, holy cow, he went down hard,” Boetsch said. “He was rocked from taking some knees and some other shots, his equilibrium was off a little bit and then on top of the big throw, his head bounced off the floor and that just sealed the deal for me.”
Boetsch does not expect to throw Hamill down, like he did with Heath.
Hamill is fighting in the UFC for the first time since his controversial decision loss to Michael Bisping at UFC 75. Boetsch expects Hamill to come out swinging and ready to go.
“I expect him to come out guns blazing, throwing heavy hands and firing some big takedowns,” Boetsch said. “I’m ready for him.”
Boetsch is on the second fight of a three fight contract. If all goes well for him next Wednesday night, Boetsch will certainly be a star in the UFC for a long while.
Especially if history can somehow repeat itself.
15 Comments »
good interview. This should be a great fight.
well i will be routing for Tim.
This should be a good fight unless its lay and pray by matt hamill. Can’t wait to see what this guy is really made of.
jeet kune do, bitches!
[quote comment="393386"]This should be a good fight unless its lay and pray by matt hamill. Can’t wait to see what this guy is really made of.[/quote]
I agree, it will either be a really good match, or it will be a bore with The Barbarian on his back the whole time. I don’t think Matt is that kind of fighter though, he seems to enjoy pounding out people on the ground.
P.S. If Tim’s wrestling is as good as he says it is, I have him taking it.
[quote comment="393389"][quote comment="393386"]This should be a good fight unless its lay and pray by matt hamill. Can’t wait to see what this guy is really made of.[/quote]
I agree, it will either be a really good match, or it will be a bore with The Barbarian on his back the whole time. I don’t think Matt is that kind of fighter though, he seems to enjoy pounding out people on the ground.[/quote]
I have only seen two of matt’s fights but neither have made me think of him being a LNP’er. He has thrown, shot and everything in between. Only fight of Tim’s I have seen was vs Heath and that was pretty impressive, though maybe not indicitive of the norm. Time will tell. Should be an interesting fight especially since both are still developing.
Boetsch will win his fight with Hamill IMO. I think Hamill’s lack of conditioning will come back to haunt him in this fight. Matt was gassed after the first round with Bisping, which judges tend to hate (cecil peoples mentioned this in an interview after the dec.)….hamill will take the first round but i think he gets outworked and outwrestled in the second and third, boetsch may even finish him. I think the wrestling will even out, Boestch was also a college wrestler who competed in a higher divsion…and he gave Vladdy Matts all he could handle in their fight, and Matyushenko is a much better wrestler than Hamill.
If Hammil decides to stand and trade to long he may very easily get caught. Yes his stand up has improved a TON, but it is still suspect. If I can see a few wholes in his stand up, fighters and trainers probably see like 10 wholes in his stand up so there will be plentty of things Boetsv can take advantage of. Hamil is still suspect of getting caught. Keep in mind, he only learned to throw a punch like a year ago, so how technically sound could he really be?
I wouldnt be shocked at all if Hamil got KO. Then again I wont be surprised if Hamil TKO Hamil into the ground. Fights like this can go a few different ways and are very hard to predict
I’ve not seen anything from Matt Hamil that particularly impressed me. His standup looks clumsy and he seems to prefer to strike than rely on his stronger suite, the ground game.
Based on his first/last fight, I predict that Boetsch PWNS Hamil. In fact, I think I’ll go with a 2nd round TKO.
[quote post="5474"]I wouldnt be shocked at all if Hamil got KO. Then again I wont be surprised if Hamil TKO Hamil into the ground. Fights like this can go a few different ways and are very hard to predict [/quote]
I would be very surprised if Hamill TKOed himself, but that just me
[quote comment="393498"][quote post="5474"]I wouldnt be shocked at all if Hamil got KO. Then again I wont be surprised if Hamil TKO Hamil into the ground. Fights like this can go a few different ways and are very hard to predict [/quote]
I would be very surprised if Hamill TKOed himself, but that just me[/quote]
To be fair, Gray Maynard knocked himself out once.
i’m really pulling for Tim to win this one. i’d like to see him get some impressive wins and stay in the UFC. these first couple fights are going to be crucial as far as his future career is concerned.
If I were Matt I would use that last bull shit decision as a motivating factor in this fight. Although he isn’t fighting Bisping at home, I would make damn sure those judges couldn’t screw me again. Both of these guys have heart so it should be a good fight. They both need this win.
Glad to see this guy interviewed. His win over Heath was a thing of beauty.