Phil De Fries is the world’s most dominant MMA champion immediately.
The KSW heavyweight titleholder seems to be to increase his reign Saturday as he goes for his twelfth straight championship protection when he takes on undefeated Arkadiusz Wrzosek at KSW 107 in Poland. And all of this was made attainable by remedy and drugs.
The identical Englishman who couldn’t hold a optimistic document within the UFC greater than a decade in the past went on to develop into a ending machine, and he’s now proud to look within the rear-view mirror and see the tortuous street he needed to navigate.
“Once I fought within the UFC I used to be type of strolling the inexperienced mile each combat,” De Fries advised MMA Preventing. “I used to be terrified. I assumed I’m gonna get beat, and I wasn’t excellent due to it, as a result of I at all times second guessed myself.”
De Fries grew to become an expert MMA fighter in 2009 and in lower than two years he was referred to as to hitch the UFC. The 7-0 teenager, then simply 25 years previous, walked out in entrance of the Birmingham crowd to win a call over Rob Broughton in his debut at UFC 138, however misplaced in simply 43 seconds to future champion Stipe Miocic shortly after. He beat fellow English heavyweight Oli Thompson months later earlier than struggling back-to-back knockouts to Todd Duffee and Matt Mitrione that put an finish to his UFC profession.
What adopted was De Fries reserving fights wherever he might within the hunt for cash and alternative. In 2015, Thomas Denham, a journeyman with a 5-6 document, defeated him by knockout, leaving De Fries in disbelief. He was coping with all kinds of points exterior the cage and all of it received worse from there.
“I didn’t even know nervousness was a situation,” De Fries stated. “I didn’t know I had a situation as a result of via my not-so-nice upbringing, I at all times had nervousness and I didn’t know I had something mistaken with me. I used to be simply so anxious. After I received kicked out of the UFC, I grew to become type of an alcoholic. I most likely did, like, on the pageant scenes, I used to be into the medication and issues, and I used to be simply beginning getting actually unhealthy.
“I used to be getting so anxious, I couldn’t depart the home. I might, like, depart the home, test the door was locked, or then I stroll 5 steps and [think], ‘Did I lock the door? Did the gasoline flip off?’ I ended up getting a digicam put in in my bed room so I might have a look at my canine after I was at work. I used to be fearful about folks stealing my canine. And other people had been like, ‘Phil, this isn’t regular conduct. You’re insane.’ I Googled ‘irrational worry of every part’ and it stated nervousness, and I used to be like, ‘I’ve heard of tension.’ And I learn the signs and I assumed, ‘You’ve received nervousness, you’ve had nervousness your entire life.’”
De Fries admits he reached a degree the place he thought he would by no means have the ability to combat once more.
Worse, that there was no level residing anymore.
“I used to be fairly depressed as effectively, you understand? I used to consider killing myself quite a bit,” De Fries stated. “I used to assume, ‘Ought to I’ve killed myself? Is it higher than simply being scared on a regular basis?’ However then I might drink, get drunk, and the nervousness would go away for a bit bit. However the subsequent the following day it’d be twice as worse. I used to be actually, actually, actually fairly unhealthy. I might have killed myself. I used to be in a really, very darkish place for very long time.”
“After I received overwhelmed within the native scene by like a journeyman form of factor, [a fight] I ought to have received and I fought terribly, I received knocked out, I type of give up for a 12 months,” he continued. “That’s after I actually began consuming loads. However there’s been like two or 3 times in my profession the place I went, ‘If I lose this combat, I’m completed.’ And it’s at all times labored out for us, you understand? And now I’m on the trajectory and it’s modified my life. I’m incomes effectively, I’m having nice large fights in large stadiums. It’s so simply might have been the opposite manner, and I might have simply surrender and went again to work. I had my unhealthy luck after I was youthful with my upbringing, however I really feel like I’ve received a greater luck now.”
The heavyweight credit remedy and drugs for his restoration, permitting him to “get pleasure from strolling into an enormous stadium, 15,000 folks there, slapping their fingers” to look at him combat one other human being contained in the locked cage. De Fries stated he hasn’t misplaced a combat since he received the prescription from a health care provider, and admits he’s afraid to let go of the tablets.
“The physician desires me to return off treatment however I’m a lot happier, my revenue is occasions by 10, I’m world champion,” De Fries stated. “I’m gonna get my profession completed, do 4 extra years perhaps, retire, then perhaps try to come off the treatment. I attempted to return off it earlier than however swiftly, increase, got here again and received me. I’m fairly scared to return off the treatment simply but. However I do know it’s one thing I wish to beat at some point, you understand? So after the combating’s completed and I don’t must combat folks anymore, my life will probably be much less tense. I’ll come off it will definitely.”
“I don’t even know why I fought folks. It was horrible,” he continued. “I didn’t just like the coaching. The fights had been terrifying. however for some purpose I assumed I at all times needed to be a fighter. However now I’ve received the nervousness dysfunction beneath management I benefit from the life. It’s nice. Sparring is nice. I’m smiling within the gymnasium. I’m smiling after I stroll the cage. It’s nonetheless scary, however I try to get pleasure from it as finest I can. However I’m fairly glad I had these days as a result of I believe it’s a bit bit scary nonetheless, however like 10 occasions higher than what it was once, you understand?”
De Fries knocked out Michal Andryszak to win the vacant KSW title in April 2018, his debut within the group, and has since overwhelmed 11 males in a row throughout Europe. The record consists of UFC veterans like Duffee, Darko Stosic and Augusto Sakai, and an unimaginable run of eight finishes in 11 title defenses.
Wrzosek, his opponent in the principle occasion of KSW 107 in Gdansk, is an area veteran with 6-0 document in MMA and in depth kickboxing profession, capped off by a knockout win over the legendary Badr Hari in GLORY. De Fries doesn’t anticipate to out-strike Wrzosek, and wonders how prepared he’s for this degree of competitors when all martial arts are mixed.
“He hasn’t been checked on the bottom but and I believe I’m the man to test him,” De Fries stated with amusing. “I haven’t received higher placing than him, however I can combat MMA higher than him. You’ll be able to faux a takedown after which can land pictures off the takedown. Appear like [Kamaru] Usman beat [Jorge] Masvidal, Johny Hendricks knocked out a great deal of strikers. They must respect the shot a lot that they’ve let their fingers down so you’ll be able to generally get them. So a knockout is feasible for me, however I will probably be taking it to the bottom the primary occasion I get.
“It’s onerous to say [how good his grappling is], no person’s seen him on the ground. I don’t know what he’s like, however the very best grapplers on the planet can’t dangle with me on the ground in MMA. If I get on high of you, it doesn’t matter who you’re, you’re having a extremely unhealthy time [laughs].”
