Quebec has Georges St-Pierre and the Tristar Gym crew; Ontario has the Team Tompkins boys among a plethora of talent in the GTA; Nova Scotia has T.J. Grant; British Columbia has Rory MacDonald.
Sheldon Westcott wants to be the face of Alberta mixed martial arts.
Alberta has been rich in MMA talent for years — Jordan Mein, Nick Ring and Ryan Jimmo to name a few are top emerging UFC stars from the province — but with a win over Elias Theodorou Wednesday at The Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale in Quebec City, Westcott could emerge as the biggest name on Alberta’s MMA scene.
“I hope if I win I do get to represent Alberta MMA because I think the way I carry myself and the way I fight — in all honesty my fighting style is very, very, very blue collar and it’s a testament to Alberta,” Westcott told Sportsnet in a phone interview. “I’ll go in there toe-to-toe, ready to fight, and I’m looking to finish fights and I think that is really indicative of [Albertans].”
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Watch the live TUF Nations Finale Wednesday with a UFC Central preview at 4 p.m. EST, prelims starting at 5 p.m. EST, and the main card at 7 p.m. EST on Sportsnet 360
Westcott, who lives and trains in his hometown of St. Albert, Alta., just outside of Edmonton, is undefeated since losing his pro debut in 2007 and his performance on TUF Nations showed why.
Any fighter that makes it to the finals of a TUF tournament battles through physical pain to get there, but Westcott persevered through more than most would be able to endure.
On the second day of filming he suffered a Grade 2 tear on his MCL and two Grade 1 tears on his ACL and LCL. Luckily for him he had just over three weeks to recover before he fought in the quarterfinals. He thrashed four-time Olympic judo veteran Dan Kelly with a dominant 55-second submission win.
Following that bout, while his lower body was still not 100 percent, Westcott injured his neck. “I strained all the ligaments in my cervical spine and I had narrowing in my C-4, C-5, C-6 [vertebrae],” he explained.
Westcott was in a neck brace for seven days and there was a strong chance he would not be medically cleared to fight in the semifinals, but he did all he could to ensure he’d have another chance to compete and fulfill his dream.
“I had to sleep in it, eat in it, shower in it. Every part of me wanted to take it off and move my head around,” said Westcott, who wanted to show the UFC brass how seriously he is taking his quest to earn a spot in MMA’s premiere promotion.
Westcott did everything that was asked of him by doctors and was cleared for a tilt with Vik Grujic, a fellow explosive fighter that has a tendency to make quick work of his opponents.
It was a difficult task to improve on his win over Kelly, but Westcott did just that becoming the first fighter in UFC history to submit someone with a Von Flue choke from half guard.
“I knew I deserved to be there, but to get the finishes and to finish the fights the way it happened was more than I could ever ask. It’s my fighting style though,” said Westcott, who feels he will actually be most competitive at welterweight in the future. “I was prepared to be black and blue and hurting after all of the fights but I definitely exceeded every single one of my expectations.”
Westcott earned the respect of the TUF Nations cast and coaches, he earned his way to the finale, and now he looks to earn a permanent spot on the UFC roster. Still, as a true student and huge fan of the sport, the 29-year-old is having trouble believing the position he’s in.
“I don’t think it really has set in yet for me,” Westcott said. “The fact that it’s Michael Bisping, then the co-main event, then it’s me and Elias — I’m fighting ahead of guys that have 15 fights in the UFC…I don’t feel like I deserve to be that high on the card yet. It’s all about earning your spot and I have a chance to show I belong in that spot.”
Training out of his Complete Fitness and Martial Arts gym in St. Albert, Westcott is aided by the likes of Andrew McInnes, Guy Lefebvre, Cam Yallits, Shane Campbell and UFC veterans Victor Valamaki and Nick Penner among others. He says he is completely recovered from his injuries and looking forward to putting on a show in a clash of styles against Theodorou — Westcott does things as quick as possible, while Theodorou enjoys long battles.
“I’ve had an awesome eight-week training camp for this fight,” Westcott said. “I’m firing on all cylinders and I’m ready to fight right now.”
Some of Westcott’s family and friends will be cageside at the Colisee Pepsi, and he hopes the support he feels from loved ones in attendance is a precursor to something bigger down the road in his UFC career.
“There nothing more I’d want to do than to walk out in Rexall Place in Edmonton in front of 23,000 people and fight at home,” Westcott said. “That would be an honour to represent Canada in any facet of MMA, let alone Alberta where I’m born and raised.”
Westcott fought through injury on the show and got a taste of the pressure fighters face inside the Octagon. Now he faces the pressure of being a featured fighter on an internationally televised UFC main card. At the end of the day, Westcott wouldn’t change anything about his first UFC experience.
“I thrive in pressure situations,” Westcott said. “You put me in the UFC, two spots behind Patrick Cote and Michael Bisping, that’s the type of pressure I want. That’s the type of situation where I will be at my best. In those kind of fights, I’m a hard guy to beat.
“I was born to fight.”