Later tonight, Kaleb Rideout will face Joseph Luciano in the main event of Eternal 74 on the Gold Coast, as Rideout looks to defend his welterweight title for the first time.
His first camp as champion has been a successful one, with his hunger to prove himself more present than ever, Rideout said.
โCamp was unreal this year. I worked on a lot of new things. New strikes, new wrestling, new takedowns. Iโm looking forward to showing it in the fight.โ
โIn my eyes Iโve got the title, but the belts still up for grabs. Itโs pretty much fifty-fifty so Iโve got to make sure I got that belt. If anything, it just motivates me even harder.โ
Rideout is currently on a five-fight winning streak, with a total professional record of 7-2, with four wins by KO/TKO. Rideout accredits this five-fight tear to a break he took from fighting early on in his career, where he was able to focus on his mentality surrounding fighting after going 2-2 as a pro.
โI done a lot, a lot of research on some motivational speakers. Mainly where I sat was in the military with the Navy Seals and the SAS, I was reading all their stuff, their mentality, pushing themselves to the next level, and then I sort of sat back myself and asked, โDo I wanna be the next world champion?โ and I said to myself โAlright, letโs prove it.โโ
โIf I felt like I couldnโt go any further, Iโd push myself that bit further, and then as soon as I felt I couldnโt go further Iโd push myself some moreโฆBy the time I came back Iโd reinvented myself. I feel like I fell into my true form.โ
This newfound push lead Rideout to evolve his MMA abilities, and move from being labeled as a brawler.
โI call it stage fright. You get into the cage for the first time and get hit for that first time and lose everything youโve been practicing. My whole amateur career people saw me as a brawlerโฆWhen I got comfortable in the cage, when I turned pro and came back after being 2-2, I got real comfortable in the cage and started letting my true self out.โ
Rideoutโs ultimate goal in MMA is to become a world champion, and a successful title defense at Eternal 74 could bring him closer to that goal, although Rideout says his focus is solely on Joseph Luciano.
โJoeys a really good opponent so Iโm not taking him lightlyโฆI let my management deal with that stuff, they are saying theyโve got some really good things for me in the pipeline.โ
This is the last fight on Rideoutโs Eternal contract, and if a move to the UFC isnโt in the immediate future, Rideout says heโs happy to continue to fight around Australia.
โThis is my last fight on my Eternal contract so Iโm essentially a free agentโฆHopefully [Eternal] does resign me because if [they donโt] anyone whoโs holding a welterweight belt be scared, cause Iโm coming.โ
Eternal 74 will broadcast live tonight on the UFC FightPass, starting at 9PM AEST.