"I never thought I was going to make a career out of this." - City Kickboxing prospect Blood Diamond reflects on his unique journey ahead of his upcoming UFC debut against Jeremiah Wells in Houston.
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Blood Diamond is describing his Glory kickboxing match. Fighting in the promotion was one of the few things he said he had actively pursued, but things didn't go to plan. In the second round he was push-kicked in the knee and tore his MCL. Injured, his leg buckled a few times, but he kept going. "It was one of those fights I just could not give up. I couldn't give up."
He tells the story without hyperbole, and it's this no-fuss determination and perseverance that presents itself again and again as he relives his journey from a homeless student fuelled by a passion for combat sports, to having more than 100 fights under his belt and on the verge of making his UFC debut.
Perhaps the genesis for his fight career can be traced back to Blenheim, because if he wasn't trying to get as far away from the town as possible, he may never have chosen to live in Auckland.
His family had moved to Blenheim from Zimbabwe when he was about 13 years old, his dad working as a sparky at the Woodbourne Air Force. He describes the shock of coming from Harare, a city full of adventure and where the majority of people were Black, to a town he could walk around in one day, and where he was now the minority.
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
"Personally I just did not like it. Imagine you're trying to fit in, but people are making it so obvious to show that you're different." Even the bullying and insults were strange, nonsensical to him.
"I guess a lot of kids were just narrow-minded, closed-minded. They asked ridiculous questions. When I was in Zimbabwe I lived in a city, a proper city, and they think I lived in the bush."
So when it came to figuring out where he wanted to study architecture, he looked for a city that was multicultural, and as far away on the map from Blenheim as possible. His first year as a student saw him stretching $20 to last a week, after bills. He bought a car on overdraft, and only had gas money from giving his mates rides. He'd found a spot where he could park his car for free, and for about a year he'd drive past the City Kickboxing gym, wanting to go in, but knowing he couldn't afford it.
The next year he was earning a little more, and finally walked through the gym's doors. It's at CKB that he was given the nickname Blood Diamond or Bloods for short, the moniker he wants to be known by. He began on a free trial, thinking he could learn some basic self-defence moves, but he fell in love with learning martial arts. He told co-owner and coach Eugene Bareman he couldn't afford the gym fees and offered to clean up and do chores as payment. He suspects Bareman only agreed because he figured Bloods would eventually get tired and give up. "I never did. I never did."
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
There is a video online of the moment Blood Diamond finds out he's been officially signed to the UFC. A group of fighters and friends are gathered at City Kickboxing, and as Bareman makes the announcement he gets choked up with the emotion of it.
"It was a big moment for me and the people that have had a long history with Bloods who were there from the very start. Bloods has been fighting for the gym for more than a decade and made some tough choices in his life to pursue this career and dream, [he] went through some massive hardships."
Bareman said back then, Bloods didn't have much income and nowhere to live, so he let him stay in the gym. "It's just a big open gym, there's no rooms or anything so the one place he could stay with a little bit of privacy was under the cage. He did that for a year just until he got himself into a better financial situation."
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
"I never thought I was going to make a career out of this," said Blood Diamond, but he decided to put his studies on hold so he could get work and focus on training and fighting. Bareman helped him find a job and set him up with fights, and he moved in with his CKB training partner, Israel Adesanya. "I could actually afford proper rent, and feed myself and look after myself. That's when it all started changing, that was the year I became a pro as well."
His first pro-fight earned him about $800 thanks to a cut from the tables Bareman helped him sell for the night. He didn't win, but he got paid and that gave him a drive for more. Having a job also meant he was able to finally save and visit his grandparents in Zimbabwe. "After about nine years it would be nice to visit them. Unfortunately my granddad passed before I could get there. A devastating moment in my life." It was the gym that helped get him through.
"I remember talking to Doug [Viney], he could just see I was not right, I told him my granddad passed away. He said … "Go home, have a rest, grieve. The gym is always going to be here."
Blood Diamond said goodbye to NZ, leaving his car to Adesanya, expecting he would resume his studies in Perth where his family now lived. While there, he got a phone call from Bareman that would change those plans. "Remember when we talked about China," Bareman asked, "Are you still keen?"
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
It was in China that Blood Diamond racked up over 100 fights, fighting a minimum of twice a month, sometimes a few times a week over three years. "I think Israel [Adesanya] is probably the most experienced combat sports athlete in the UFC at the moment," said Bareman, "Well Bloods has had more fights than Israel."
Before returning to NZ, he had a stint training with Team Oyama in America, where he was encouraged to train in MMA. In New Zealand he found the popularity of MMA was growing, Dan Hooker was already in the UFC and Adesanya on his way. He was happy seeing the success of others in the gym, enjoyed going to Vegas with them for their fights, and would become a two-time King in the Ring champion like Adesanya and Carlos Ulberg, but wasn't convinced the UFC was an option for him. "Eug said, 'One day you're gonna be in the UFC eh, bro? I reckon you will man'. I didn't have that confidence."
In Vegas, while helping future featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski prepare for his first fight with Max Holloway, a guy came up to Bloods after watching him practice spinning back-kicks. He asked for a light spar, and told Bloods afterwards that he was good enough to be in the UFC. The guy was Phil Rowe, a welterweight currently fighting in the UFC. "Coming from someone I don't know, I thought, OK I guess I really can do this."
Behind the scenes, the coaches at CKB were working to secure him a position in the UFC. His lack of experience, with only three MMA fights, and the global pandemic meant opportunities were few and far between. When an opening did come up Bareman grabbed it.
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
"He hasn't had much MMA experience but combat fight experience you possibly might be looking at the most experienced combat sports athlete in the current UFC roster. That doesn't count for nothing, that counts for something. When you have over 100 fights, albeit in a slightly different sport - that can't be discounted."
"I never thought I would be in the UFC or anything," Blood Diamond reflects, "My whole journey it was just taking it as it comes. Living in the now, and keep going."
"The sport we are in, anything can happen. So I just have to enjoy the journey as it comes. That's my focus right now." He is suspending excitement until the cage is locked, and he hears announcer Bruce Buffer declare, "It's time!"
"Then I get to show off my skills. Only a handful of people know what I'm capable of. I need to let the world know what I'm capable of. Growing my legacy, that Blood Diamond legacy.
My goal right now, is the next time people google Blood Diamond, I will show up before the movie. That's the goal."
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
