Matt Dixon looks to seize the opportunity for a UFC contract on Tuesday during Dana White's Contender Series
While there has been some eastern Oklahoma talent in the UFC over the years, there’s never been a fighter to truly put Tulsa on the map.
XFN’s Matt Dixon looks to change that on Dana White’s Contender Series.
The son of a combat sport addict, Dixon has been a UFC fan since the age of twelve. After watching Anderson Silva at his finest, it was off to the races for Dixon, who understands the art of selling a fight but refuses to budge on diluting his personality. In an odd way it makes sense that one of the most polite and respectful mixed martial artists doesn’t like people saying mean things to one another unless they’re genuinely trying to hurt the other person’s feelings.
Where Dixon does lack in his ability to taunt opponents, he has always made up for in fight style. And in a competition where simply winning isn’t enough, fighters like Dixon have always thrived.
“To tell you the truth, you’re either prepared or you’re not,” Dixon explained. “I’ve been preparing for this opportunity, so I feel like I’m ready for that contract. I don’t think it’s a matter of going in there and doing anything out of the ordinary. I know how I fight and I come in there to finish everybody so I’m not really concerned with that.”
He’s always had a knack for the finish but Dixon explained that his first eye-opening experience came in his first fight on UFC FIGHT PASS.
“Whenever I had my first fight on UFC FIGHT PASS the promoter of XFN mentioned to me that Dana White might be watching,” Dixon said. “That was the first moment that it clicked in my head about me fighting in front of him since then.”
By choosing to take the advice of Dale Cook of XFN, Dixon scored a first-round knockout and never looked back.
With a record of 9-0 with six finishes, Dixon has high expectations of himself. DWCS is made for fighters with a tendency to finish fights, and at 24 years old, there’s only room for growth. As for the outside the Octagon stuff, Dixon prefers to simply be a martial artist.
“I feel like back in the day there were a lot of martial artists who carried themselves with respect in the cage,” Dixon said. “Guys like Anderson Silva, Randy Couture, Georges St-Pierre. There were so many legends who became stars of the sport but didn’t talk a big game that wasn’t authentic to them or the real personality that was true to them.”
Taking nothing away from Dixon, it’s a long climb for anybody to put themselves in the realm of the all-time greats but if there’s anybody willing to put XFN and the city of Tulsa on their back and make it happen, it might just be “Magic” Matt Dixon.
“A lot of the guys from Tulsa had short runs in the UFC,” Dixon said. “I don’t want to be one of these guys who has made it to the UFC. I want to be one of these guys who made it to world champion.”
Catch Matt Dixon as he takes on Orion Cosce on Dana White’s Contender Series on Tuesday!
