Malcolm Wellmaker remained undefeated after a well-timed right hook led to his latest victory in an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bout for the Dana White’s Contender Series in Las Vegas, on Aug. 27.
The Augusta-bred mixed martial-artist (MMA) returned home to the Garden City with plenty of fanfare, from signing autographs for young admiring locals upon landing at the Augusta Regional, to a celebrated appearance at Friday’s GreenJackets game.
“It’s back to feeling like a dream again,” Wellmaker said, recalling how the end of the fight, and its life-changing repercussions, didn’t quite feel real until the flight back to Augusta. There he was greeted by screaming fans in an airport, and received a call from the UFC. “I don’t know if it’s ever going to stop, at this point.”
Wellmaker, known as “The Machine,” defeated Adam Bramhald, an MMA fighter out of England who had a 13-2-0 record, knocking him out in the first round of a three-round match. He had to go outside of his comfort zone to counter Bramhald’s confident striking, Wellmaker said, opting to threaten, rather than defending against, takedown maneuvers.
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“It was a big shift in my approach,” he said. “I don’t know if it helped or not, but we got to knock out, so that’s all that matters.”
The fight now puts Wellmaker’s pro record at 8-0. Last year, when TAP spoke to him before his regional bout with Jacob Romano in Augusta, he noted that he had acclimated to the sport enough to engage with an undefeated opponent undaunted.
He’s retaining the focused, strategic mindset that got him through that bout, and the earlier part of his career, noting that his own currently undefeated record carries an undeniable distinction.
“With that zero still intact, it demands respect,” said Wellmaker. “It means a lot to maintain that undefeated record, to have that zero next to my name, to know that I fought guys with all different approaches, all different backgrounds, all different skill sets, and know that I’ve come out successful on the other end of all those fights. It means a lot… so I’m going to work to keep it.”
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Wellmaker had been balancing his time between his burgeoning fight career and his day job as a pipefitter. This latest win resulted in a professional UFC contract for the unbeaten bantamweight, and the 30-year-old athlete says that his team is figuring out what moves—particularly, what matches—should be next.
In the meantime, he’s enjoying the opportunity to represent Augusta, and his fans in the city, in the mixed martial arts world.
“That’s why I meant so much to me to go out there and make it to this level,” he said, expressing pride in his hometown. “I associate all my success and everything I do with the city that I’m from.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
