Throughout his MMA debut last Saturday, June 20, Oliver Berkland was encouraged by audience members who were chanting “530” throughout his 22-second fight that gave him the win over James Kok.
The fight took place at Mechoopda Event Center in Oroville.
The 27-year-old was surprised when family members flew out from his native Iowa to see the Grass Valley local do his thing, taking no mercy on Kok who Berkland said was a “really nice guy.”
After the victory, said Berkland: “I’m exhausted. The camp was extensive, a lot of hard work, but I’m vindicated in my team and my plan. I know that we really got something going here.”
“Camp” refers to the fight preparation, studying his opponent, minding his diet, and conditioning both mentally and physically.
Berkland didn’t get hit once throughout the bout, leaving the cage with just a scratch on his thumb.
“It went by so fast,” Berkland said. “I was ready to keep fighting.”
It was originally intended that Berkland would have his first match with Kok in March. That was scrapped after Kok suffered an injury.
Berkland has said that he has seen some violence in his life and the work he does training for MMA through Ironworks Gym in Grass Valley has given him a greater purpose.
“This is about as good as it gets for a debut,” said Berkland. “During (the fight) I honestly have no emotions, I have no feelings. I didn’t even feel happy until about 30 minutes after the fight.”
“We got a lot of big things planned, but there’s lots of stuff still up in the air,” said Berkland. “We’re gonna announce something soon.”
Berkland fights in the bantam weight division as an amateur and admits that his foray into professional fighting isn’t all by chance.
“I’m no stranger to violence,” he said. “It’s really just turning negative into positive, for lack of better words. I’ve been fighting forever. We might as well do something positive with it instead of going down the same destructive path.”
Scoring yet another win for Grass Valley was Jordan Beavers who Berkland recognized as having a “comeback” fight at 185 pounds, and considered in the professional class.
His family’s attendance made a world of difference to Berkland.
“My sweet, wonderful girlfriend (Lilly), and my amazing mama planned the best surprise I could have ever had,” said Berkland. “They flew my brother and my father out from Iowa. It’s the first time I got to spend Father’s Day with my dad in seven years, so we had a big celebration after the fight, and we just spent a lot of time together, quality family time.”
Berkland said he sees his destiny in MMA, and hasn’t even really considered a career move.
“Right now I’m really just consumed with martial arts,” he said. “I know that I want to be in this industry forever. I’ll probably go to coaching after, as far as my career in fighting. I’m riding ‘til the wheels fall off. I’m taking this as far as I can go. I fully believe that I could get into the UFC.”