Dylan James Bowker

Sunny Sareen talks about being the promoter for Unified MMA, Unified MMA 33, and rebounding from the Edmonton combat sports moratorium

I was happy to have long-time Edmonton area MMA promoter Sunny Sareen on Bowks Talking Bouts #81 ahead of his Unified MMA 33 card on Friday, May 11th. 
 
We discussed a few topics including: the nightmare of the Edmonton combat sports moratorium and how damaging it was to have Unified's December card cancelled so last minute, working with a different commission ahead of this next Unified event (1:47), looking to re-book fights from the scrapped Unified card in December (3:42), breakdown of Christian Larsen vs Lee Mein and some other fights on the card (4:40), specific goals for Unified MMA in 2018 (6:30), switching up venues for Unified (7:19), prospective broadcasters for putting out the Unified product on live TV (7:45), and more!

Teddy Ash breaks down fighting Jacob Ortiz at Unified MMA 33, the Matt Hamill fight falling through, and competing for the Unified MMA Light-Heavyweight championship

I spoke with Teddy Ash on Bowks Talking Bouts #80 ahead of his main event bout with Jacob Ortiz at Unified 33 for the vacant Unified MMA Light-Heavyweight title.
 
We covered a few things including: how his training preparations went ahead of this big fight, his fight with Matt Hamill falling through when The Hammer got injured and how he doesn't let that bother him (1:45), his assessment of Jacob Ortiz heading into this relatively short notice key title bout (2:29), the scenarios he's been drilling in the gym so he can fluidly express himself on fight night (3:37), goals for after this fight should he win the Unified MMA title (4:47), the magnitude of this fight card (5:48), and more!

Carrington Banks talks about his Bellator 199 fight with Adam Piccolotti, getting his first KO after coming out to an ASAP Rocky track, and NFL Blitz

I caught up with "Jetsetter" on Bowks Talking Bouts #79 ahead of his Lightweight fight with Adam Piccolotti at Bellator 199 on Saturday, May 12th. 
 
Myself and Carrington covered a few topics such as: being 3-0 in Bellator heading into this next fight, MMA's pre-occupation with "the unbeaten record" and if perceptions around that will change in the future (1:27), his strong wrestling acumen and how satisfying it is to have his striking work well in recent bouts (3:00), training with the Blackzilians and being in the room daily with fighters of that caliber (4:41), his lengthy history in Iowa with wrestling/ MMA and his thoughts on Bellator bringing a show to Iowa at some point vs living up to his jetsetter nickname and travelling overseas to fight (6:41), loving hip hop and what music he likes to train to (9:30), getting his first KO after coming out to an ASAP Rocky track (10:38), loving Super Smash Bros and NFL Blitz but how playing too close to fight week can result in the fighters getting too fired up at one another (12:35), plus so much more!

Shane Campbell talks about his title defense against Stephen Beaumont at Unified MMA 33, the system he's been working on for 13 years, shooting a Hadouken in the cage at a WSOF event

On this BTB episode, I welcomed Unified MMA lightweight champion Shane Campbell ahead of his title defense against Stephen Beaumont at Unified MMA 33 on Friday, May 11th.
 
On Bowks Talking Bouts #78, we covered a few topics including: his mentality entering a rematch with Stephen Beaumont, the combat sports moratorium in Edmonton and how devastating it was to have his last fight pulled at the last minute, the system he's been working on for 13 years so he can coach people in a comprehensive way, shooting a Hadouken in the cage at a WSOF event and blowing up online, wanting to get back to showcasing his striking more, goals for the remainder of 2018, music he likes to jam out to while training, and more!

Javy Ayala touches on his fight with Cheick Kongo at Bellator 199, using CBD Oil for recovery after hard training, and using Post Malone for an entrance theme

On this BTB installment, I talked to Javy Ayala who fights Cheick Kongo at Bellator 199 on Saturday, May 12th. On Bowks Talking Bouts #77, I spoke to the Heavyweight competitor about a number of topics including:
 
Heading into his 9th fight with Bellator and growing alongside the promotion, the different mental processes when fighting guys he's watched for years like Roy Nelson and Sergei Kharitonov (1:17), what scenarios Javy is drilling in the gym ahead of fight night (2:29), how "Eye Candy" learns from his losses and what he learned from the Roy Nelson loss (3:16), the connotations this fight has in relation to the winner potentially sliding into the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix (3:48), Javy's future goals in the Bellator Heavyweight division (4:21), how important time with his wife and kids is to a successful fight camp (5:46), using CBD Oil for recovery after hard training (7:01), The kind of music "Eye Candy" likes to train to in the gym (7:40), using Post Malone for an entrance theme as he walks to the Bellator cage (8:33), and more!

Ron Simmons talks about becoming the first black american to win a Heavyweight title, classic APA segments, and Action Bronson's track titled "Ron Simmons"

On this episode of Bowks Talking Bouts, I welcomed my first WWE Hall of Famer on. I was happy to speak with Ron Simmons aka Faarooq on Bowks Talking Bouts #76.
 
We got to discuss a number of topics including: his big tour with Canadian Wrestling's Elite coming up and his deep seated love for Canada/ Canada's people through his time with Ottawa Roughriders/ touring WWF, almost getting into a bar fight in Red Deer alongside Bradshaw (1:43), his May 20th stop in Grande Prairie and his upcoming debut in The Swan City (2:12), his experiences in the Florida area learning from guys like Dusty Rhodes and Mike Graham (2:59), Ron's many impressive tag team runs and if he ever had a favourite team to work with (4:12), my fondness for the APA segment involving LL Cool J and if Ron ever had a favourite APA segment (5:31), Ron's thoughts on rap artist Action Bronson's track titled "Ron Simmons" (6:45), Ron's character using his real life hardships to create an authentic, inspirational presence for many (8:09), his history making win over Vader reducing many elated fans to tears and how Ron became the first black american to win a Heavyweight title (10:55), the Nation of Domination courting certain controversial subject matter and the absence of real life content in today's wrestling narratives (12:29), and more!

Brendan Kornberger discusses his fight for Marc-Andre Barriault's TKO Middleweight title, main eventing TKO 43, and concurrently being a firefighter as well as an MMA fighter

On this BTB installment, I welcomed Brendan Kornberger who vies for Marc-Andre Barriault's TKO Middleweight title in the main event of TKO 43 on Friday, May 4th. 
 
On Bowks Talking Bouts #75, we talked about a number of topics throughout including: what scenarios he's been drilling in the gym so he can be as fluid as possible for fight night, the #2 and #3 middleweights in the country going at it here and his thoughts on the fight (2:26), what future promotions he would like to compete for (3:55), getting his first submission in his last bout but how he still favours (T)KOs as being more emphatic (5:22), putting in work at Checkmat Vancouver and Ryan's MMA (6:32), being from Edmonton and his thoughts on the local combat sports moratorium being abolished (7:13), being a firefighter while he concurrently competes in MMA and how it keeps him humble (8:36), being managed by experienced Canadian fight promoter Mark Pavelich (9:47), steadily promoting his upcoming fight and the importance of that end of prize fighting (10:53), Brendan jamming out to a lot of hip hop when he's training for fights (12:10), and more!

Jesse Arnett talks about defending his Bantamweight title at TKO 43, being a black belt in sports psychology, and his specially remixed Tragically Hip theme song

I spoke with TKO Bantamweight champion Jesse "Big Cat" Arnett on Bowks Talking Bouts #74 ahead of his title defense against Sebastian Ruiz at TKO 43.  
 
The hectic process of finding an opponent for this May 4th bout after all multiple fights fell through, the work at Dunamis with guys like Jake Lee Peacock as well as Tilt MMA training with Anderson Goncalves;Bowmont Boxing Club with Devon Reti and Gwyn Lewis (4:00), being old enough to be his opponent's pappy and the mental edge he has from his wealth of championship experience (5:31), the influence of Doug Harder and Michael Short to his career (8:00), being a black belt in sports psychology and why the mindset is so crucial to his game (9:23), having a specially remixed Tragically Hip theme song for this fight here at TKO 43 (11:09), being thankful for his job in snow removal but also being thankful that the snow is finally gone (12:21), recently training with King Mo ahead of their respective fights in May (13:26), Big Cat's recent seminar teaching and how it's informed his own efforts/ perspectives as a fighter (14:03), UFC accidentally tagging him in a post and what his plans are for the future as far as the next promotion he wants to sign with (15:27), and more!