This weekend, two-time Featherweight Fury FC Champion Cameron \u201cCamikaze\u201d Graves will be defending his belt.<\/p>\n
A win Sunday night will further show that Graves belongs in the UFC, the pinnacle of mixed martial arts competition. While he currently lives in Houston, Texas, Graves\u2019 father Steven Graves was born and raised in Herington, Kansas.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always do damage to my opponents. Win or lose, they always walk out bleeding, limping or something. I don\u2019t have to try and hurt someone,\u201d Cameron Graves said. \u201cIt\u2019s just natural. It\u2019s going to be an honest display of martial arts violence that leads into a beautiful finish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cameron, with his second-degree black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, has earned a professional MMA record of 14-7.<\/p>\n
He began his fighting career in amateur leagues in 2012. After winning three belts in the Cage Combat amateur league and an undefeated record of 6-0, he moved onto the Fury Fighting Championship and Legacy Fighting Alliance. Both of these MMA promotions are professional level.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a force of nature that people really need to watch out for. He\u2019s truly awesome,\u201d Steven Graves said.<\/p>\n
Graves first earned the featherweight champion belt Aug. 23, 2019, against Colin Wright. That was his last fight until 2021 because the COVID-19 pandemic forced events to shut down. In his first fight after the pandemic in 2021, he defended his belt against Gabriel Mac\u00e1rio.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy goal is to retire in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) and fight on a world level,\u201d Cameron Graves said. \u201cI would love to go to Brazil and fight a Brazilian, go to Australia and fight an Australian.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite his early success, Cameron \u00baGraves has spent the last five years evolving himself into a new fighter with new goals.<\/p>\n
Two months after defending his title, he lost the belt to Fernando Padilla. He then rushed back into the octagon cage for a win two months after his bout with Padilla. He lost. The frustration of losing the title plus listening to critics and pressure to win resulted in a 1-3 record after losing the title.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really looked at myself, and I was like \u2018man, you have all the skillset, but I\u2019m not putting it together.\u2019 So that\u2019s when I really made a life decision to be like \u2018you know what, I\u2019m going to make one more run at doing this martial arts.\u2019 I really just stopped being a victim and stopped listening to people and stopped trying to get somebody to help me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since making that decision in 2022, he hasn\u2019t lost a match in Fury FC. He is currently on a four-match win streak, beating two undefeated fighters.<\/p>\n
His previous match was reclaiming the featherweight championship against Justice Torres in January this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been doing this for a long time, so I\u2019ve been trying to continue to evolve as a fighter. Every fight I\u2019m learning and applying something new,\u201d Cameron Graves said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going in there and being like, \u2018ok, if I do this, I\u2019m going to win.\u2019 There\u2019s a route to victory, you just got to find it in that moment, but you have to allow yourself not to be attached to the outcome like \u2018oh, I want to knock him out with my left hand.\u2019 Then you\u2019re limiting yourself to the possibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, Graves is ready to not only defend his featherweight title, but to enter into the UFC.<\/p>\n
Over the last six years, Graves has been close to enter the UFC cage, but never quite made it due to circumstances out of his control and missed opportunities.<\/p>\n
He was offered a UFC match after he won the featherweight title the first time in 2019, but that never happened due to the COVID-19 pandemic forcing event shutdowns nationwide. He also fought twice on the show Lookin\u2019 For a Fight hosted by Dana White, CEO and president of UFC. He lost both of those fights.<\/p>\n
Because of his current win streak, however, Graves said he is on a short-notice list. Basically, if a UFC fighter pulls out of a fight, the organization reaches out to a fighter on the list to fill the empty spot. Other fighters have been chosen over him a few times already, but Graves is holding out that he will be selected this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince those opportunities didn\u2019t happen, I\u2019m doing this out of a different place. I\u2019m not fighting to get anything. I\u2019m not fighting to get a UFC contract. I\u2019m not fighting to get money. I am just competing at martial arts because I am choosing to do it, and that feels very liberating because this is what I want to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A defining moment for Graves was winning the second match in his streak against Moses Diaz.<\/p>\n
He got the call asking to fight nine days before the match during Thanksgiving week. Despite eating Thanksgiving meals and not preparing in a fighting camp as most fighters do in the months leading up to a match, Graves accepted the invite and beat Diaz in an unanimous decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they asked me to fight on short notice and you just go do it, it\u2019s kind of you break those molds that you\u2019re in. So when I had to do it (train) in nine days, I was like \u2018oh, there\u2019s no such thing as really a training camp.\u2019 If you\u2019re going to do it, you\u2019re going to do it now.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Like UFC fighter Ronda Rousey\u2019s mother said to her daughter growing up: \u201cYou\u2019re not training to be the best in the world, you\u2019re training to be the best in the world on your worst day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI really had to believe in myself in that fight and break the idea of you\u2019re ready to go whenever you are,\u201d Graves said. \u201cThat was a really cool mindset change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cameron Graves knew he wanted to become a UFC fighter when he first watched a UFC fight at 13 years old. He chose to begin with Brazilian jiu-jitsu at the age of 14 because of the average 10 year process it takes to earn a black belt.<\/p>\n
While learning jiu-jitsu, he also took kick boxing and general MMA classes. The most difficult step in earning the black belt was learning how to pass fighter\u2019s guards to earn his purple belt.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like one of the hardest things to do in jiu-jitsu because it\u2019s a self-defense, so everyone is using their guard to protect themselves. So passing the guard is a challenge. I was six years into it and didn\u2019t know how to do it really at a high level,\u201d Graves said.<\/p>\n
For training, Graves keeps it simple by practicing his techniques, but with a twist. He practices each technique at four levels of heartbeats: resting, slightly elevated, pumping, and breakneck pace. Most people do not factor heart rate when they are developing muscle memory, he said. Practicing under different heart rate and stress levels makes him more prepared for however he feels on a match day.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people just focus on, \u2018Ok, I got to go in the red. I got to go hard and intense.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you might not feel like that when you\u2019re in the fight, like sometimes you\u2019re not always in it. Like the short notice, sometimes I feel like a civilian,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m like \u2018Man, you pulled me off the couch, like I\u2019m not a killer right now. I\u2019m just in a cage now.\u2019 So I got to apply my techniques with a lower heart rate even in a high stress level situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fun fact from Graves: the lower the hips, the more the heart rate increases.<\/p>\n
On the weekdays, Graves teaches jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, wrestling and MMA private lessons at two gyms for adults and children.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very blessed to be able to teach. I\u2019ve been doing it for such a long time. I really enjoy that aspect of martial arts,\u201d Graves said. \u201cLike, regardless of fighting, I know I can definitely impact people\u2019s lives in a positive way by being on the mat with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cameron\u2019s father Steven Graves grew up in Herington for his entire childhood. He graduated from Herington High School in 1970.<\/p>\n
Leaving Herington in 1972, he joined the Air Force in 1974. After the Air Force, he earned his masters degree in public administration.<\/p>\n
He is still in contact with those he graduated with and usually attends his class reunions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you for the support and good vibes that you\u2019ve put out,\u201d Steven Graves said to those in Herington who watch and support Cameron.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe appreciates it and I appreciate it. When I go to Herington, I get asked when Cameron\u2019s fighting, how\u2019s he doing, is his health ok, and that makes me feel so good that they\u2019re involved in my life like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cameron \u201cCamikaze\u201d Graves will be defending his Fury FC featherweight championship belt against Matheus Silva during Fury FC 109 Sept. 7.<\/p>\n
The main cards of the event begin at 4:30 p.m. and can only be watched through UFC Fight Pass.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This weekend, two-time Featherweight Fury FC Champion Cameron \u201cCamikaze\u201d Graves will be defending his belt. A win Sunday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,88747,18577,786,88748,88749,801,10280,785,85,72908],"class_list":["post-126804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-brazilian-jiu-jitsu","tag-combat-sports","tag-fighting","tag-hybrid-martial-arts","tag-individual-sports","tag-martial-arts","tag-mixed-martial-arts","tag-mma","tag-sports","tag-ultimate-fighting-championship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}