Powell River’s own Michael Hill will fight in his third professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) bout on Saturday, August 20 in Vernon, BC.
Hill will square off against Nolan Clark, an experienced professional MMA fighter from Kamloops with a record of four wins and nine losses. Hill said Clark has come up against a few fighters who have gone on to fight for the Ultimate Fighter Championship (UFC). This includes Jesse Bongfeldt who trained with Hill in Kelowna before his own fight against Clark.
“He’s a very well-known fighter and a win would have a great name on my record,” said Hill. “I’m close, man.”
After six months of training since his last fight, Hill said he is ready to go in his second event with Battlefield Fight League. He has been focusing on conditioning and sparing with up-and-coming welterweight Jordan Mein, who fights for Strikeforce. Hill has also been working with a fitness instructor in Kelowna who not only helped whip Hill into great shape but gave him a job helping to train other athletes, putting Hill’s fitness and nutrition diploma to work.
Going into the fight, Hill plans on sticking to his style of fighting and relying on his conditioning and wrestling abilities to take the win. Clark fights “goofy”, with his right leg forward, something that Hill hasn’t come up against before, but he still plans to stick to what he does best.
“I’m a very strong kid, a very athletic kid, so wrestling is really helping my game out,” said Hill. “The game plan is to just fight my fight, fight a smart fight and take it where I want to go with it.”
Outside the ring Hill is starting a new charity called Little Messengers, a play on Hill’s nickname “The Messenger.” The charity is intended to help sponsor young fighters who might not have the money for equipment or training, as well as to support children who are struggling with illness or who need some guidance in life. Before every fight Hill intends to pick a “little messenger” to raise money for and to receive part of his winnings.
Hill is selling T-shirts to raise money to sponsor the first little messenger, Austin Sieling of Powell River, who is the son of a friend that Hill grew up with, and who has leukemia.
“This is something I want to do for my friend, a great mother,” wrote Hill on a Facebook note for the charity, “and one hell of a fighter named Austin.”
T-shirts can be purchased by contacting Hill through email at [email protected] or by phone at 250.718.5499.
