Fighter of the Month for June 2008

Fighter of the Month - June 2008
by Greg Pomfred - Writer

When thinking about the fighters that grace local MMA, there are many adjectives that can instantly trigger the thought of a certain fighter. The word “explosive” is one of those adjectives, and it will conjure up images of Mike Campbell hurting opponents. Sporting a 6-0 record and finishing 5 of his opponents with strikes, it was his win over local veteran Rich Moskowitz that propelled him to June’s Fighter of the Month.

Campbell was coerced into joining the world of mixed martial arts by his friends three years ago. “Some friends asked me to come one day and check it out because I was pretty athletic. I got my ass kicked and didn’t like it. Came back to train and haven’t left since.” Soon enough, he made his MMA debut, winning a tight decision over mainstay Jason Dublin. That was his last fight that went the distance. From there, he took out grappling wizard Nolan Dutcher. Next, Campbell captured the Reality Fighting Welterweight Title from Justin Hammerstrum with a 3-second head kick KO. He followed that up by maing Brendan Hoxie tap from strikes.
Campbell then faced the biggest challenge of his career with top-ranked welterweight Rich Moskowitz. Moskowitz’s strong wrestling and fierce chin (he went the distance with the UFC’s Anthony Johnson) are the tools to defeat a striker like Campbell. Campbell answered with a TKO in less than two minutes. He followed that up by defeating Tim Pinney less than a month later.

Although Campbell is known for his striking and athleticism, when he trains he tends to focus more on his opponent’s strengths. ”Training for each opponent means different training camps each time. Doing this though allows me to grow and mature as a fighter.” When asked about his outlook for the future, Campbell is not shy about his goal: to hold an MMA World Title. “My biggest goal honestly is improve as a fighter and an individual every fight. The way I look at it is…if I’m improving every fight and learning from my mistakes…then a holding a world title is inevitable!”

Although Campbell doesn’t have any heroes (“My father always said, ‘Never think that you’re better than anyone, but at the same time don’t think anyone is better than you.’”) he lists his coaches as his biggest influences. He pays respect to Tom Hafers and Matt Phinney from USMMA, Tim Burrill from Burrill BJJ, Mark Dellagrotte from SitYodTong, Dave Borelli and Dave Picozzi of Borelli’s, and Rene Moyen of Next Level Fitness. “It is because of these guys I’ve even made it this far to begin with. As coaches no matter how well I was doing with my training it was never good enough and as family you’ll find no better. I give these guys who are like my brothers full credit for where I am today.”

There’s buzzing of Campbell moving on to bigger shows. No matter where he goes, his fans will continue to support him and MassMMA will be entertain by his explosive fights.