MMA fighter Kieran Joblin hopes his winning record will see him compete in the UFC. It'll be the second time New Zealand will host the pinnacle MMA event in Auckland on June 10. Joblin hopes to make it a home debut.
Joblin hoped his scheduled end-of-month match against Australia's Jack Becker would be the break he needs for a UFC debut, until a recent hit of infection.
Kieran says, "I was suppose to fight next week in Melbourne but got staph so can't really train properly on the antibiotics and all that. That would have been good to get another win for my record going into my run trying to get into the UFC but hopefully I've got enough wins in the bank and enough titles to get on there anyway."
But the No.1 ranked lightweight fighter for Australasia isn't letting his illness deter his confidence or training. "I'll still be training, I have a easier week with the infection. Just let the antibiotics do their thing and then I think the UFC is like 12 weeks away so if I don't get signed I will be training hard either way for that opportunity,' says Kieran.
Already boasting an impressive 20-7 record, the 28-year-old from Christchurch currently holds a number of NZ Shuriken, CITC and WKF Oceania Lightweight titles. His most recent achievement, defeating Korea's Sung Hwa Han to claim the XFC Australia lightweight title.
"I'll still keep going like there's still other big shows to fight on. I've got all these aussie belts and there's heaps of aussies calling me out wanting me to fight for them so I'll still be busy as. UFC I'll still be fighting so it's all good."
Joblin is taking his campaign to Facebook in the hope that it will turn UFC heads his way.