Heading into this past Friday night’s The Ultimate Fighter quarterfinals few people were giving Fort Worth’s James Vick a shot at advancing in the popular reality series/tournament. In fact you would have been hard-pressed to find any message board giving Vick a shot at beating his opponent Joe Proctor. Despite Vick having knocked out his previous opponent most of the MMA community was sleeping on the Phalanx MMA/Genesis Jiu-Jitsu fighter.
Of course, with only four professional fights (going 4-0 in his career to date) Vick is still in the infant stages of his professional fighting career. Having only been a pro for 11-months, the very fact that Vick is one fight away from fighting in the finale for a six-figure contract in the UFC is staggering.
In Proctor, a hard-nosed fighter from New England who carried with him a ton of talent, Vick was up against an absolute beast, yet, in typical Vick fashion he seemed to be unaware of the enormity of the fight before him. Some people are just naturally gifted fighters and that seems to be the case with Vick who at the hands of Phalanx’s Durwyn Lamb and Genesis’ Albert Hughes has blossomed from a tall lanky kid to one of the most exciting fighters to have hit the local fight circuit.
Vick’s trademark cardio and tenacity were on display early on as the bouncer-turned-fighter took the fight to Proctor in the opening round. Out-gunned early on, Proctor came out aggressive in the second round by Vick’s takedown defense and control of the pace of the fight prompted him to win on the judges’ scorecards and move one step closer to a UFC contract.
Vick was gracious in defeat saying, “That was the biggest fight of my life and I’m happy that I could come out on top. Joe’s a very tough guy. I was surprised he stood up to those punches and I wish him the best. As for me, I’m now one step closer to achieving my dream.”
UFC President Dana White seemed both amazed and impressed that Vick has gotten as far as he has given his inexperience.
“Vick did a good job of fighting his fight tonight.” explained White. “He stayed outside, used his range and used his punches. What Proctor needed to do was get him to the ground to win that fight. He never gave himself a chance to win. He didn’t really start fighting until the last 30 seconds of the last round. I had Vick winning both rounds. There’s no doubt James Vick was an underdog in this thing when he first set foot in the gym – but now no-one seems to be able to stop him.”
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