It’s a beautiful part of the human experience that, for better or worse, it only takes a single moment for something to change.
About a week ago, reports that Australian UFC featherweight Jack Jenkins was injured in the lead-up to his bout against undefeated Australian-based Moroccan Marwan Rahiki in Perthon May 2 began to surface.
With Rahiki in need of a new opponent at extremely short notice, New Zealand featherweight Ollie Schmid got a call that changed the trajectory of his mixed martial arts career.
“Eugene [Bareman, City Kickboxing head coach] rang me on Sunday night and he put it as there’s a 1% chance I could be on Perth, so start cutting weight,” Schmid recalled to the Herald.
“So that was, like, bittersweet because I was like, ‘holy s***’, you know, obviously very excited, but at the same time I couldn’t get too into it. And then on Tuesday, he gave me like the official announcement and that was like, so surreal man, that was just unbelievable.”
On Wednesday, Schmid had to race around to make sure everything was in order; signing paperwork, getting medical gets, then hopping on a plane to Perth, via Sydney, and landing on the ground to make things official.
On four days’ notice, the 25-year-old will make his debut with the sport’s top promotion when he steps into the octagon on Saturday night.
“Wednesday morning was just like appointment, appointment, appointment. I had to get doctors, bloods, eye, MRI, plane, Sydney, Perth and then we arrived [at] midnight Perth time on Wednesday. Woke up this morning, I’ve been smashing out media this whole morning and here we are.”
Schmid, who trains at Auckland’s City Kickboxing and is a co-owner of Rosedale’s Unity MMA, joins the promotion with a modest 4-2 professional record, though he has had plenty of experience as an amateur and has shown his ability as a fight finisher, including two wins by spinning backfist.
City Kickboxing-trained middleweight Cameron Rowston will also fight at UFC Perth on May 2. Photo / Photosport
With Rahiki being an all-action fighter who is willing to walk through the fire to put his opponents away, Schmid knows exactly the sort of fight he is in for when he steps inside the octagon on Saturday night.
“I think they [the UFC] came to me because I’m experienced,” Schmid said.
“I’ve been in the sport since [I was] 8 years old and you know, even in my pro career and those losses I had, like they were against tough opponents and I’m well-tested, you know, and obviously well-skilled. So, I think there’s a reason why the best coach in the world and the best team in the world gave me this opportunity.”
He will join City Kickboxing teammates Brando Pericic and Cameron Rowston on the card, with the two Auckland-based Australians looking to continue their unbeaten beginnings with the promotion.
Heavyweight Pericic will attempt to take Shamil Gaziev’s spot in the top-15 rankings after back-to-back first-round knockouts, while Rowston meets Poland’s Robert Bryczek in the middleweight division.
Rowston and Bryczek both come in after knockout wins in their last outings, and Rowston is looking to make it three from three to work towards a shot at the rankings for himself.
UFC heavyweight Brando Pericic will look to earn a spot in the top-15 rankings on Saturday night. Photo / Annaleise Shortland
“This is quite a big test that the UFC is giving me,” Rowston said.
“He’s a bit of a veteran. He’s had a lot of high-level fights on the European scene and, and coming over to the UFC, he’s basically been operating at that UFC level for a while over in the Oktagon shows in Europe and stuff like that.
“He’s going to give me a real good test, and I think I get past him and the UFC are going to be putting a little more investment in me.”
