‘Defending my spot' – Oban Elliott driven by fear of return to life before Dana White issued UFC deal ahead of Baku bout
OBAN ELLIOT may have established himself as a mainstay in the UFC, but the Welsh welterweight is refusing to rest on his laurels.
2024 was a year to remember for the pride of Wales, who fulfilled his lifelong dream of competing in the promised land of mixed martial arts.
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And he entered the promotion with a bang, going a perfect 3-0 in just under nine life-changing months.
Elliott, who is poised to make an assault on the top 15 this year, has come a long way from working night shift on the railways in Merthyr Tydfil and cleaning the grill at Nando's to pay the bills and supplement his training.
His feet may be firmly in the UFC door, but the fear of one day having to return to the life he worked so hard to escape is as much his driving force as winning a world title.
In an exclusive interview with SunSport, 'The Welsh Gangster' said: "I'm just so glad it worked out, man. I'm so glad.
"And just for me, it just meant that much more, you know? To get here and do it. I didn't care for anything else, I didn't.
"There was nothing else that interested me in life. And that's probably dark when you look like that, but it worked out.
"When I got that UFC contract is when I relaxed and when I could smile without something in the back of my head saying, 'Yeah, but you're not there yet.'
"And now I'm like, 'No, I'm here. I'm home. And just the fact that it all worked out, thank f***ing God. It just meant that much to me."
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The memory of working on the railways and at Nando's is still fresh for Elliott, who believes he already has a belt adorned on him as a result of all the blood, sweat and tears he's shed trying to achieve his dream.
"To be settled in and to be living this life now, it's a new challenge in itself," Elliott candidly admitted. "Because now I just think about defending it."
Brit UFC star Oban Elliot explains how working nightshift on railway tracks fortified his mindset
He continued: "I'm just thinking about defending my spot. There's a belt over my shoulder and I'm defending my belt every fight.
"Every training session, I'm defending my belt and that is it.
"And maybe somewhere along the line, Dana is gonna wrap another one around me. But I will always have my one.
"That's the way I see all of this. So it's just a case of defending this spot and defending this life that I now live."
The highlight of Elliott's UFC career came at Madison Square Garden last November in the form of a beautifully set-up third-round knockout of Bassil Hafez.
And that moment, which earned the 27-year-old a life-changing $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus, will likely only be topped when he becomes the undisputed king of the welterweights.
"To get that knockout was just the best moment ever," Elliot said. "For me, everything that I wanted in life happened in that third round.
"That little fake with my feet going outside of his right leg, throwing the shot and there he was, right in the middle of the Monster can.
it's just a case of defending this spot and defending this life that I now live."
Oban Elliot
"And I look up. The cry was going nuts, the pose. 'Who's the man in New York City, brother?'
"How lucky am I? That's how I feel. That is just unreal. Like, look at that. Jesus Christ, that happened to me.
"I've heard people say, 'You work hard for this?' People work hard for things and they fall short of their dreams and it happens to people.
"But in that moment, in the cage that night, all my hard work paid off. And I got that for the rest of my life. So I'm the proudest guy ever."
Elliott's latest outing will take place this evening in a land far, far away from Merthyr Tydfil - Baku.
Fellow Dana White 's Contenders Series contract winner Seok-hyeon Ko stands between Elliott and a four-fight win streak.
And if he notches it in similarly spectacular fashion as he did his last victory, it will put him on the precipice of tangling with the elite of the talent-rich 170lbs division.
"This guy is a tough, tough man," Elliot said of the South Korean. " And he's coming to win.
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"And he is going to come to fight. Take the UFC out and take the nonsense out of all of it, this is a man versus a man who are going to fight to the death in the cage.
"He has all my respect, all my attention and it's going to be a tough fight for both of us.
"May we get out of their cage healthy, and the better man will win.
"I think the better guy is me, so we'll see if I'm wrong."
He added: "After this fight, [I want to get] two more [fights in] hopefully and keep my imaginary belt over my shoulder.
"The belt that I had before I even put the gloves on - in my mind.
"In my mind, I've been a champion long before any of this came to light in my life.
"So I'm just [going to] keep defending my spot, keep making my family proud and keep doing my best. And if I'm doing that, I'm winning."
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