Mike Mathetha will make his first walk to the Octagon when he makes his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut opposite Jeremiah Wells in a UFC 271 welterweight prelim on Saturday at the Toyota Center in Houston. The 33-year-old Mathetha operates out of City Kickboxing and trains alongside defending UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who headlines the event.
The Zimbabwe native calls himself the “Blood Diamond”—a nickname he chose as a way to remember the violence his home country has endured over its precious stones. Mathetha carries a modest 3-0 record, with two of his wins coming inside the distance. Nevertheless, he has plenty of combat sports experience as a seasoned kickboxer. Many mixed martial artists started their journey in kickboxing, including Adesanya, Mark Hunt, Alistair Overeem and Gokhan Saki. Mathetha fought in some of the most prestigious competitions across the world as a kickboxer. He spent much of his career in New Zealand and China but also appeared under the Glory kickboxing banner.
Like Adesanya, Mathetha adopts a low guard, which allows him to dupe opponents into a false sense of security before they expose themselves in an attempt to catch him. However, he seems to struggle when it comes to grappling, especially with his back to the fence. In standup exchanges, Mathetha is deadly from virtually every angle and features quick, lethal shots. His favorite weapons seem to be his kicks, as he employs an array of spinning attacks that stun his adversaries.
One of the highlights of his kickboxing career involved his knockout of Harley Love. During the third tournament in the 160-pound division of the King in the Ring series on Nov. 8, 2014, “Blood Diamond” met Love in the semifinals. After absorbing a flurry of punches, Mathetha retaliated with a left head kick that found its intended mark. The effect was immediate, as Love collapsed to the canvas and could not recover in time to answer the referee’s count. It took just 13 seconds.
Mathetha took on Jo Van Duin in his professional MMA debut at Shuriken Fight Series 1 in May 2017. He finished Van Duin in the second round, where he connected with a punch in midair while the Kiwi was rushing forward. Mathetha spent more than a year on the sidelines before he faced Hyun Min Hwang at Hex Fight Series 15 on July 21, 2018. It was there that he showed he could be a threat on the mat, as he capitalized on a poorly conceived takedown, took Hwang’s back and submitted him with a rear-naked choke 3:53 into the first round.
In his most recent appearance, Mathetha’s will was tested against Dimps Tahau Tiopira Gillies at Eternal MMA 50 on Feb. 22, 2020. “Blood Diamond” struggled through the first round, as Gillies forced him to fight with his back against the cage. His situation started to change for the better in the middle stanza, where Mathetha measured his counterpart and began landing unorthodox strikes. He was forced to dig deep in the third round, where he operated on fumes. Mathetha delivered an entertaining round and went the distance for the first time, the judges awarding him a unanimous decision with 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 scores.