Durham native and amateur MMA fighter Bobby Sullivan is gearing up for his first ever professional bout.
Sullivan is prepping to fight Adam Dyczka, an undefeated Granby, Quebec native with a 4-0 professional record in the heavyweight division. Sullivan was asked why he wanted to finally turn pro.
"I've been fighting amateur for about 10 years and MMA amateur for 6 years. I think it's time to take a pro fight. The guys I was fighting in amateur, I was rolling through them pretty easily, so it's time to go for this and step it up and go for the best guys in the world."
Sullivan says it may be a long process but this is the first step toward being a pro fighter.
"The first step is joining TKO. TKO has a partnership with the UFC, the fights can be shown on UFCFightpass.com. With that direct partnership, I can show off as much as I can here in Canada and see if I can get the call up."
Dyczka, the first opponent in pro that Sullivan will face, has all 4 of his victories via knockout. Sullivan sized up his opponent ahead of the fight.
"He's a big guy, a little bigger than me. He's about 6'4", 260 pounds, and I think I'm a bit faster and hit a little harder than him. He's a stand-up guy but I think he's going to try to take me down when I get ahold of him and land a couple shots."
The Sullivan-Dyczka fight takes place as part of a larger fight card July 4th at the Tohu Circus Arts Hall in Montreal.