When he steps back into the cage on June 6th, Bobby Emmons (4-4) will be in what has become a weird situation in his fighting career.
“This will be my first fight in almost three years not on short notice, so I actually had a fight camp,” Emmons said when he co-hosted The Kyote Ugly Show earlier this week. “That’s kinda weird.”
Emmons is set to venture to Northwest Indiana, where he will take on Oliver Vazquez (3-1) in a featured professional bout at Hoosier Fight Club 24.
Having taken his last four fights on a combined eight weeks worth of notice, Emmons has come to be known as a minuteman type of fighter, someone who is willing to throw down at the drop of a hat.
Despite fans (and especially promoters) loving that he’s always willing to go, Emmons’ record has taken a bit of a hit as a result, as he’s just 1-3 in those last four contests after starting his career off with a 3-1 mark.
The record isn’t as important for the 33-year-old as some would probably venture to guess, but what is important to him is facing a high level of competiton.
“If I’m going to train my ass off, I’m at least going to get in the cage every now and then,” Emmons said. “And I’m not looking to fight scrubs. If you look at my record, I fight tough guys.”
Taking a look at his record, his last four opponents have a combined record of 42-30-1, including 7-1 Tom Shoaff and 8-4 Antonio Castillo Jr.
Emmons knows that yet another stiff test awaits him on June 6th, as Vazquez is a former Division I wrestler at Northern Illinois University and he comes in riding a three-fight winning streak.
But still Emmons keeps the same mindset in being willing to fight anybody at anytime.
“I like to fight,” Emmons said. “Guys say all the time ‘I’ll fight anyone, anybody, anywhere,’ and when it comes down to it, they won’t. I will. I just love to fight. Shit, I’m 34 years old. I don’t do this full time, I do it for fun.”
Speaking of doing things for fun, Emmons will also host the inaugural “White Trash BJJ No Gi Invitational” this weekend in Indianapolis, a 16-man no gi jiu-jitsu invitational featuring some of the best grapplers from the Midwest.
Emmons said he looked for grapplers who mirror his own attacking style, as the tournament will be contested without points and features a fan-friendly submisison-only format.
It remains to be seen whether more promoting whether it be BJJ or MMA is in the future for Emmons, and the pro wrestling fan even hinted that he has at least some interest in trying out for the WWE’s “Tough Enough” reality competition for a shot at a UFC contract.
But for now he’ll just continue competing in the cage with that same mindset.
“If I’m going to fight, I want it to be a tough fight,” Emmons said. “Win or lose, I want tough fights.”