Winnipegger wins Ultimate Fighter for second time

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This article was published 21/08/2023 (978 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brad Katona’s face was battered and bruised.

Blood from a cut on his chin had dripped all over his chest.

Despite the painful makeover, the 31-year-old mixed martial artist from Winnipeg couldn’t have been happier.

After a three-round battle that saw 324 combined significant strikes — the most in UFC bantamweight history — Katona stood in the octagon with his arm raised as he earned a unanimous decision victory over Cody Gibson at UFC 292 on Saturday in Boston at the TD Garden.

The Katona-Gibson tilt was the finale of The Ultimate Fighter 31 series — a competition that rewards the winner with a six-figure UFC contract.

Katona made history back in 2018 by becoming the first Canadian to win the eight-person tournament. He made history again this time as the first two-time winner of the show.

“When I started doing jiu-jitsu at the age of 14, it was The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 and I remember watching that. And I’ve been watching The Ultimate Fighter since then. So, I always pictured myself wanting to win The Ultimate Fighter, I always pictured the trophy and pictured that moment, so when it happened the first time, it was kind of surreal,” Katona said.

“But now that it’s happened a second time, it’s just crazy to think about because I’ve been a fan of the sport for so long. It obviously feels good.”

The 31st edition featured fighters such as Katona who had prior UFC experience and who were trying to get back with the promotion. After winning the 27th season, Katona, now 15-2 in his career, went 2-2 in the UFC before getting released. He took his talents to Brave Combat Federation — which is based out of the Middle East and one of the fastest growing MMA companies in the world today — and won its bantamweight title last year. With a perfect 4-0 record in Brave, Katona landed himself back on the UFC’s radar.

The hard-hitting bout with Gibson (20-9), an Oklahoma product, was named the Fight of the Night which means both fighters were sent home with an additional US$50,000.

“I took a massive pay cut leaving the UFC. A massive pay cut. It hurt and it nearly broke me in some ways. Like the road to get back was very difficult and I don’t even know how to fully express it,” said Katona.

“One example is being asked, ‘How much longer do you think you’ll be doing this?’ And that was even being asked after I defended my Brave championship because it wasn’t the UFC, it wasn’t for a crazy amount of money. I was being successful on a four-fight win streak and I’m being asked that. There’s this implication that you should be winding it up, but I’m going, ‘I’m one of the best bantamweights in the world.’ And that was hard. You can’t blame them for saying it, but that was hard.”

Katona isn’t satisfied with just making it to the big stage. He wants to wear UFC gold around his waist.

Sean O’Malley took the UFC bantamweight championship from Aljamain Sterling with a second-round TKO in Saturday’s main event.

“In all honesty, I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think I could be the best in the world,” said Katona.

“I want to be the best fighter in the world at 135 pounds, which is an absurd statement, but I feel I do absurd things. The dedication I have to this sport is extreme.”

Katona trains in Dublin at Straight Blast Gym Ireland, the home of UFC star Conor McGregor, but returned home to Winnipeg late Monday night as he plans to enjoy some well-deserved downtime for a few weeks. His parents, John and Lisa, and girlfriend Katie Saull, a fellow MMA fighter from Winnipeg, made the trip to Boston to show their support.

Katona got his start in the sport at the Winnipeg Academy of Mixed Martial Arts under coach Curtis Brigham.

“I remember riding my bike down there in the summer. We were in the back of a book store, essentially. I spent my summers there, I spent my teen years there, and the fighters we had around us, the coach I had who pushed me to do every wrestling competition, to do every boxing competition, were fully supportive,” said Katona.

“And man, you can see the DNA of him in how I fight, and still being close to six years of training out of SBG, you can still see that Curtis Brigham DNA in there. I’m just very lucky to have found the right people to surround myself with when I was young and impressionable and here I am now because of it being able to pursue my dream at the highest level.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31