Dylan James Bowker

Bowks Talking Bouts #63: Deanna Bennett

I had a great talk with Deanna Bennett a few weeks out from her bout with Karina Rodriguez at Invicta FC 28.
 
We discussed her opponent's skill set as well as the feeling of being back in Invicta, her goals on getting another crack at an Invicta FC championship (2:41), having her first amateur bout seven years ago and how she initially got into MMA training just to get fit (4:40), her regular interaction with fans on social media (7:45), how DeAnna's fighting home is Utah (9:42), fighting Colleen Schneider at Bantamweight and how Court McGee helped her confidence heading into the fight (11:03), confiding in her good friend Bacon after tough losses (15:07), stories of being hangry heading into fights (18:31), how her season of The Ultimate Fighter stood out from all the others in as far as the fighters loving being in the house (20:29), referencing Iggy and the Stooges in her instagram bio as well as some other music she likes (26:03), thinking about coming out to a Tim and Eric song for a fight (28:26), and more!

Bowks Talking Bouts #61: Brad Wall

I caught up with PFA Head coach/ owner-operator Brad Wall right after XFFC 17 wrapped up.
 
We talked about how some of his PFA compatriots [Ryan O'Connor and Dakota Ruttan] did that night, plans going ahead for PFA fighters [ex: Muay Thai bouts in Calgary coming up, fighters fighting in Montana for Sparta Combat League , Kolton Menzak fighting for a pro Muay Thai title, Quinton Tait competing for the Fight Force Welterweight belt] (2:25), Brad's pick for fight of the night and fighter of the night (3:59), the rapid evolution in skill level for amateur MMA fighters (4:22), and more!

Bowks Talking Bouts #60: TJ Laramie

I spoke with TKO champion TJ Laramie ahead of his Featherweight title defence against Joao Luis Nogueira at TKO 42.
 
We talked about how the mentality doesn't differ between vying for a title or defending one, the dominant performance in his title winning effort (1:39), working with Jeremy Kennedy and Bibiano Fernandes recently (2:23), feeling supremely confident heading into his fight with Nogueira (3:21), the benefits to his mental game of being put in another main event spot (6:13), getting a lot of online hate from Quebec MMA fans lately (8:03), the plans for TKO to have further drug testing of their fighters (10:38), getting more into country music lately (12:19), living with a young puppy (13:48), why he won't have his girlfriend corner him any time soon (14:38), TJ's efforts as a barber and crazy barbershop stories (15:54), and more!

Bowks Talking Bouts #59: Jordan Graham

On this BTB installment, I spoke with rising flyweight contender Jordan Graham as he heads into a title bout against Malcolm Gordon at TKO 42.
 
 
We discussed working with Elevation Fight Team ahead of this fight (1:14), his lengthy resume at Muay Thai (2:12), how his gym teacher sparked his interest in MMA (4:09), thoughts on what Malcolm Gordon brings to the table as an opponent (4:53), competing now as a Flyweight after fighting in multiple classes (7:07), why Jordan's amateur run evens out the perceived experience advantage in pro fights Gordon has (8:20), prospective future opponents on the Canadian Flyweight landscape (10:37), his goal oriented family upbringing providing him a huge mental edge (11:57), visualizing the TKO belt being wrapped around his waist on the 16th (13:34), the buzz surrounding Graham as of late (14:20), going from jamming Slipknot to Taylor Swift while training (16:14), and more!

Bowks Talking Bouts #58: Cody Krahn

I spoke with Canadian MMA veteran Cody Krahn ahead of his co-main event bout at XFFC 17 Brawls Deep.
 
We discussed the skill set of his opponent Michael Hill, stepping back into the XFFC cage again and briefly stepping down from his commentary role with the promotion (3:38), focusing on refining and polishing the basics instead of trying out flashy new techniques (6:56), the great training camp environment among all fighters at Frank Lee's (8:38), having his toenail ripped off in a recent rolling session during jiu jitsu training (10:09), the win he picked up in his last fight over Jeff Porter to break a losing skid (12:08), this fight being a number one contender's match for the XFFC middleweight title (13:28), how he's undecided on coming out to a Run The Jewels song or a mysterious comedy track (16:16), and more!

Bowks Talking Bouts #57: Tanner Boser

On this BTB episode, I spoke with Unified MMA Heavyweight champion and top ranked ACB competitor, Tanner "Bulldozer" Boser. 
 
His early days learning Karate in Bonnyville and his initial efforts in MMA,  his win over DJ Linderman and how he's finding traction within ACB (3:34), Traveling to Dubai and finding a Tim Horton's during his travels (6:12), coming out to a stadium full of people with tigers hanging out and flames shooting in various places (13:16), the ending of the combat sports moratorium in Edmonton and who he regularly trains with on the YEG fight scene(14:44), his efforts with the online comedy group Danger Cats (18:57), MMA fans putting out ignorant stuff online disparaging fighters (23:00), our stories dealing with inept landlords (26:45), the dislike we have for "pet parents" and people who use terms like "fur baby" (27:43), the kind of music Tanner likes to listen to/ train to (29:58), why Tanner likes Dragon Ball Z strippers but not DragonBall Z rash guards (31:17), and more!
 
 

Bowks Talking Bouts #56: Rahney

I spoke with rising battle rapper and President of Talkback, Rahney aka Rahn "Bones" Jones. The Red Hat OG also took me along on his route to get more hats made. We got into quite a few topics including:
 
Rahney's first exposure to battle rap, his debut against Emotionz where his opponent fell off the rails (2:51), Rahney's writing process (3:49), unique, smaller room battle settings when he took on Human and Reverse Live (4:49), Avocado saying that Rahney's battle with Human is among his favourite battles to have ever shot (6:28), how Lush One got Rahney fired from his job working at a hotel (7:32), appearing on Freestyle Friday for Power 106.7 (10:25), his work in the TV industry (11:41), branching outside of battle rap and how the medium equipts one to transition into multiple creative endeavours (13:30), wanting to battle his arch nemesis Lexx Luthor and wanting to take the BOTZ title from Sam Kolt (16:43), the buzz around his battle with Everybody Knows and his ties to combat sports being so close in proximity to Jackson Wink MMA (19:33), chilling with Jon "Bones" Jones over the years on the Albuquerque club scene (20:57), working towards getting a Canadian visa to compete on KOTD main stages (24:59), marketing yourself in battle rap and optimizing the worth of one's brand (27:04), how fans are often the most overlooked part of the battle rap scene (31:14), and more!

Bowks Talking Bouts #55: Jesse Arnett

On this BTB episode, I had on TKO/ Fight Night/ Hard Knocks bantamweight champion (and Hard Knocks 145lb titlist) Jesse Arnett. Myself and Big Cat discussed quite a few things including:
 
Fallout from his in ring promo at the January Dekada card and wanting another pro Boxing bout in September, getting locked up in a major contract soon (1:31), his next fight with TKO and how crucial of a point this is in his career (4:29), goals to comepte in more submission grappling going ahead (6:16), how Jesse is the DDP of MMA and his heavy Pro Wrestling influence (7:18), a recap of his TKO title winning effort (9:44), the team at Dunamis and the key people who help with Jesse's improvements (10:57), being able to perform at his best on big stages in high pressure situations (12:52), his amazing effort against Bedford where Arnett won the Fight Night 135lb title (14:19), wrestling training being more difficult than MMA training (17:31), having moments of greatness as a kid but finding the necessary consistency as an adult competitor (19:54), his appreciation for Gucci Mane (21:33), and more!