MMA DIRT Exclusive: Steve Carl on facing Josh Burkman for welterweight title at WSOF 6

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Category: WSOF News

Published on Wednesday, 09 October 2013 07:00

Written by Darren Barcomb

Steve Carl has a lot on the line when he faces Josh Burkman on October 26^th at World Series of Fighting (WSOF) 6. With the Promotion’s inaugural welterweight title hanging in the balance, the 28 year old Carl, who hails from Iowa, will put his training and skills out there against a very seasoned and dangerous opponent in the form of Burkman.

Big fights are nothing new for Carl though, as he’s racked up a record of 20-3 which includes four outings with Bellator and two with the WSOF. In warrior fashion, Carl appears to be peaking though as he has won his last six outings all by way of first round submissions. Quick, effective, and deadly is the only way to describe his run; and he plans to keep the streak going at WSOF 6 as he strives to add a championship belt to his resume.

In his last outing on June 14^th at WSOF 3, he dominated Tyson Steele in what was basically a welterweight title eliminator and was gracious enough to reminisce on the experience with MMA DIRT by stating “Everything went right. For the first time in my career, I walked into the cage excited. I was really excited to just get in there in the spotlight and to put on a great show. I was a little disappointed about how fast it went and how non-engaging Tyson was; I just wanted to get in there and just mix it up.”

Mix it up he did, and the finish put him in line to battle “The People’s Warrior” Burkman, a UFC vet who sports a record of 26-9, has a five fight victory streak of his own and shocked Jon Fitch with a tidy 41 second submission of his own that same night at WSOF 3.

The unmovable object vs. the unstoppable force. Streaking fighters laying it all on the line for the coveted belt. Sounds like the World Series of Fighting has found a winning formula.

Sizing up his opponent, Carl stated “Burkman’s a great guy. He’s not the most exciting fighter, but he does have a very dangerous style. He can get ahold of you, wear you out, and put you in deep water, that’s what I see out of him. He really gets ahold of his opponent, and uses his muscle to control the fight. Yet, on the other hand, in his last couple of fights he’s really been coming out and hasn’t been engaging as much in his striking as staying on the outside of the pocket and waiting for the opponent to attack. He counters at the right time, and once your countered enough to be dazed, he comes in for the kill. He’s a very smart fight, it going to be a chess match.”

Throughout the interview with MMA DIRT, Carl seemed at ease with the mental aspects of fighting, which is something that took him time to build up to. His fight career began back in his days in the military and initially a professional fighting career was the last thing on his mind. According to Carl, “When I got back to the United States from South Korea, some of the guys in my unit took me out to a club and a guy there said “hey you like to fight?” The guy wasn’t a fighter or trainer or anything, he was just one of those guy who hung out in the gym and made up some cards, passed them out, and tried to make it look like he was a fighter. So it was by chance that one of those cards ended up in my hand. I initially went into the gym to build more confidence in myself. I wasn’t a very confident person and I had no aspirations of fighting amateur or pro in any way. I didn’t want to fight at all. Well, within two months of walking into the gym and training, I found myself standing in my first pro fight. No amateur fights or anything, but a career wasn’t something that I was looking at for my future.”

He embraced the challenge though and stated “It was like what am I doing? It’s really been a learning process from that time until now. It was building that confidence and getting rid of that fear I had. In the early part of my career I was terrified every time I got into that cage. I couldn’t just stop and hang the gloves up. I was there to overcome that fear and I have now, so why stop where I’m at?”

It appears that stopping wasn’t an option then, and certainly isn’t an option now. As the victories continued to roll in, his confidence and skills began to shine. As for what is behind his success and current streak, Carl added, “I quit worrying. Before I’d go into the cage and I was scared. I was worried about everything there was to worry about. Now, I’m just trying to walk into the cage happy and excited. No game plan, nothing going through my head, just concentrating on fighting, that’s it. It’s been working out really well.”

It sure has. Now, the big test against Burkman will grace WSOF 6 as the main event on the NBC Sports Network. Reflecting on the publicity of the event and being in the spotlight, he added that “It’s awesome for my career and everything but as a person back home it’s not a big deal. It’s not like I’m walking down the street and everyone knows who I am. Going into this fight I really am the dark horse, the unknown fighter out of me and Burkman. I have a lot to prove going into this fight.”

Indeed it will be a big night for Carl and could prove to be the most memorable fight of his career, but as of now he stated his favorite moment so far in the cage was in a spilt decision victory over Brett Cooper at Bellator 15. Discussing that bout, he stated “I’ve had several big moments in my career but obviously the next big moment is always the biggest one. I really liked my fight with Brett Cooper in my first fight for Bellator. It was a big organization, national television, main card, against a very tough and very game opponent. A lot of my fear in MMA was in standup and I was afraid to throw, which is why I have so many submissions. For the Brett Copper fight, I had convinced myself that he was a striker and the only way to beat him was to out strike him. So for most of the fight I stood and did that.”

He’s a fighter who is dangerous on the ground, but as was the case with the Cooper victory, he proved he can adapt and swing with the best of them. That’s the type of adaptability that will be needed against an opponent like Burkman, a fighter that has seen it all.

As for the Copper fight being his biggest moment, he did agree that taking home the WSOF welterweight strap would top the list.

Best wishes for a big night on October 26^th to Steve Carl, and he wanted to add some special thanks to:

“All my buddies at Hard Drive here in Cedar Rapids, Combative Sports Center in Manhattan, Kansas, Mid America Martial Arts in Omaha, Adil and Otmane Benjilany (for working on my Muay Thai) Derrick Mehmen (he’s coming off of a big KO of Rolles Gracie and has always been one of my main training partners), A-Line Iron Metals (for taking care of my expenses leading up to a fight. That really takes a load off of my mind and allows me to concentrate on the fight.), Complete Nutrition, New Life Fitness World, VA Mortgage Leader, and Paradigm Sports Management.”

WSOF 6 takes place on October 26^th at The BankUnited Center in Coral Gables, Florida.

The fight card for the night includes:

Main Card (NBC Sports Network) 9 PM ET

Josh Burkman vs. Steve Carl (Inaugural Welterweight Title)

Carson Beebe vs. Marlon Moraes

Marcelo Alfaya vs. Jon Fitch

Justin Gaethje vs. Dan Lauzon

Preliminary Card (WSOF.com) 7 PM ET

Luiz Firmino vs. Jacob Volkmann

Pablo Alfonso vs. Miguel Torres

Francisco France vs. Hans Stringer

Nick LoBosco vs. Fabio Mello

Chad Robichaux vs. Andrew Yates

Alexander Pimentel vs. Jade Porter