Cam Rowston (12-3-0) may have fought just one month ago, but he has big plans for his UFC debut – and it’s bad news for his opponent – as Rowston looks to lock Andre Petroski (13-4-0) inside a “pressure cooker” for 15 minutes.
Fighting out of Sydney, Australia, Cam ‘Battle Giraffe’ Rowston is no stranger to wild scraps, technical brawls, or short-notice fights. Last August, on Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS), he scored a highlight reel KO victory against Brandon Holmes (5-1-0).
The impressive finish earned him a UFC contract and a flight to Western Australia, where he is set to make his official debut on the Fight Night card of UFC Perth: Ulberg vs Reyes.
Amid the glitz and glamour of his first UFC fight week, Cam Rowston sat down with Fight News Australia to discuss everything from his humble beginnings to his call-up to the big leagues, and even revealed what he has in store for Petroski once he enters the cage.
“I feel like we’re fire versus water. He’s very much a come forward, implement pressure, put you in the thick of it kind of guy,” Rowston said.
“I tend to do my best work when I sit back, counter and wait for people to make mistakes. I just feel our styles are going to match up well to create quite an entertaining fight.”
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Most fighters would think twice before accepting a quick turnaround bout; however, Cam Rowston leapt at the chance to compete in his home country. Coming off a dominant win, where he most likely took little to no damage, has given him unwavering confidence in himself and his ability to get the job done again.
“They say most of the injuries occur during a training camp, and the fact that I got to basically half my training camp has been amazing,” he said.
“I halved the risk of getting injured and burning myself out. Albeit, I did put in a solid ten weeks of training for the DWCS camp, and then I just basically picked up from where I left off.
“I just built on the fitness I already had, and it feels amazing. I don’t think I’ve felt as fit as I have for a fight like this.”
Although Rowston’s focus is fixed solely on Petroski and the battle that awaits this weekend, he took a moment to reflect on his emotional DWCS debut and how much Dana White’s words meant to him and his family.
“It was a really good feeling, I felt like the last three years before that, my career was up and down, not so much with wins or losses, just with uncertainty,” he said.
“I just made sure to stay in the gym and be ready to take any fight, and all that preparation over two or three years just came to a climax in the Apex.
“Fighting and then an hour later getting told I’m going to fight in Perth, that was a lot of hard work I felt just came to fruition in that whole hour.”
The City Kickboxing star could not have asked for a more poetic debut. From a first-round finish on DWCS to a UFC debut on Australian soil – the hype train has arrived, and he has no plans to stop now.
“Petroski’s a f***ing animal. He’s been in there before, he knows what to expect, and he knows how to push a hard fight for 15 minutes,” Rowston said.
“He’s not going to be easy to put away, so I’m just going to have to, at some point, bite down on the mouthpiece and go at it.
“This fight is going to be like a pressure cooker. I’m going to marinate him, I’m going to be cooking him for 15 minutes, and when I’m ready to put him on the grill, I’m just going to drop the hammer on him.”
Watch Cam Rowston make his UFC debut against MMA veteran Andre Petroski at UFC Perth: Ulberg vs Reyes on Sunday, September 28, live on Kayo and Disney+.
