It's amazing the stories you come across when you talk to a promoter about their upcoming events.
Last week, I maintained two very distinct honors, and both of them involved members of the Roufusport Fight Club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The first honor was interviewing the man himself, Jeff "Duke" Roufus, about not only some of his boys that everyone knows of very well, but also about the North American Fighting Championship's "Bad Blood" event and the guys that will be bringing it in full effect tomorrow night when the NAFC comes to the Expo Center at the Potawatomi Bingo Casino in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The conversation Duke and I had led to the second honor I maintained—interviewing a fast-rising, quick-and-hard-hitting young man who is a Roufusport prospect and very optimistic fighter. Should he win tomorrow night, we may see him working for Dana White and Company.
The gentleman's name is Chico "King" Camus, a Milwaukee-based fighter who stands professionally at 7-1 with the one loss being avenged.
I mentioned in the Duke Roufus interview that Chico was a special story, and if you ask Chico personally, he'll tell you that he never would have thought that he'd be one fight away from being in the UFC.
"I had a rough childhood," Chico said,"and I was in a gang, doing drugs and meeting Anthony, I was still into all that stuff."
In Chico's own words, the experience of getting into the sport was one that would cause his life to totally do a 360 from all the stuff he was doing.
Three years ago, Pettis finally picked Camus up to go train with him—it was on the Fourth of July, and Camus had been smoking a cigarette while waiting for "Showtime" to pick him up.
As easily as he remembers waiting for Pettis to pick him up, the exact actions that happened after stick out in Camus' mind as the moment that he knew that he wanted in on the MMA lifestyle.
"Anthony and I go to the gym, we get inside and he beats me up," Chico said, "and I thought I was a tough guy—I mean, I took a beating, but it let me know exactly who I was then. I though I was a lot tougher than I was."
It takes a tough guy to take a beating from the current WEC Lightweight Title contender, but it takes a man with heart to admit that taking that beating was a reality check that pretty much defined who Chico Camus was.
After he got his first win as a pro fighter—at the expense of Scott Blevins—Camus was stoked and excited to keep on keeping on in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts.
"I always have high expectations of myself," Chico said, "I always knew I could be good, and I see myself in the gym every day getting better and better."
In an era run by the Greg Jackson camp and Ed Soares' Black House family, it's tough for an ordinary person to see what would make a camp with Pat Barry, Alan Belcher, Anthony Pettis, Erik Koch and "Danny Boy" Downes so special.
Chico Camus isn't an ordinary person, and Roufusport isn't an ordinary team.
Even within his own camp, he knows he's not the only guy that is getting better day in and day out at Duke Roufus' gym, and it's taken him to the point where guys like Pettis and Barry are a lot like big brothers to him.
"Don't be surprised if you see Pat go for a takedown or a submission in his next fight, man," Chico said.
Now he meets former WEC Featherweight star Jameel "The Sargeant" Massouh in what will actually be a 140-pound Catchweight bout.
How did that happen?
"My opponent usually fights at 145, and to have the fight at 135 would be hard, so we agreed to fight at a Catchweight of 140 and Duke made it happen," Chico said.
Massouh is a veteran of over thirty pro fights and Chico realizes that this fight is going to be a tough one.
"He's a tall, lanky, well-rounded guy, so this should be a tough fight," Chico said about Massouh.
Duke indeed made this happen, and he also was instrumental in Chico's involvement in the NAFC, which Chico never thought would happen.
As far as a potential trip to the UFC, Chico is hopeful that he'll have earned his shot to join the UFC Bantamweight division.
"All I have to do is keep winning, put it in God's hands and he'll make something happen for me, man," Chico said.
When the man is nowhere near the gym, "King" Camus is a father to five-year-old Armani and two-year-old Isiah, and devoting time to his family, friends and his girlfriend.
The man also frequents other sports, including NCAA basketball and football, as well as the NBA and the NFL.
He had a rough life coming up, and he's shooting for the UFC now that the WEC will be no more come 2011, but he's about as hungry as any fighter you'll meet in the sport. He's as hungry as any fighter I've interviewed since I joined B/R, and I've interviewed Kendall Grove, Tim Kennedy and Toby Imada.
"I've got nobody in particular that I want to fight, but everybody's on my target," Chico concluded in regards to his future and who he'd like to face if he beats Massouh tomorrow night.
With where Chico has been in life, where he's been in his career and the places he could go if he beats Massouh tomorrow night at "Bad Blood," don't be surprised if MMA Weekly, Fanhouse MMA or MMA Junkie somehow wind up picking up word in 2011 of Chico signing with the UFC.
He's had as tough of an upbringing as any man can have, but this man's star could be shining brightly before we know it.
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