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(NOV 6) Former Newberry College wrestler, Kelly Anundson, in an interview with Jake at Ringside says he expects to TKO Jackson in the 1st round. Anundson, who is 4 – 0 as an amateur MMA fighter, with all victories by referee stoppage or by submission says he will do the same thing in his upcoming bout. His last opponent succumbed within two minutes of the first round as he lay on the mat unconscious as Anundson rained blows upon his skull. Anundson says he expects to do the same thing in this fight. He says his strategy is to quickly score a takedown or a knockdown and then to go to work. Anundson described it this way; “Usually what happens is once I have my opponent on the ground it’s all she wrote. It’s usually over at that point. My opponent might not know it, but it’s over. It’s just a matter of time”. He added that he has yet to have an MMA bout where he didn’t dominate his opponent on the ground. In his last four fights he has had three early TKOs by referee stoppage as he was pummeling his opponent into unconsciousness and has had one submission by arm bar chokehold. When asked what moves he likes the best, Anundson commented, “I like whatever my opponent gives me, whatever mistake they make I will capitalize on. When I fight, my goal is simple. I work to take them down early and then to either force them to submit or to get the referee stoppage. I’ve found that my excellent conditioning, my submission grappling skills, and my intensity usually will work to my favor as the fight progresses.” Anundson learned his ferocious ground game as an amateur wrestler. He is a graduate of Newberry College where he attended on a full-ride athletic scholarship as a wrestler. Anundson says he was one of the first wrestlers to be recruited to Newberry when they kicked off their wrestling program. Newberry is a Division II school with an outstanding wrestling program. Anundson points out that Newberry has beaten most of the Division I wrestling teams in North and South Carolina and mentioned Duke, NC State, the Citadel, and Gardener Webb as Division I schools whose wrestling teams have fallen to Newberry. His record at Newberry was 87 – 33 and he qualified for the NCAA tournament three times and earned All-American status in 2008. He won the NCAA Division II East Region at 197 pounds in 2008. Anundson will also be representing the United States in the World Grappling Championships in Fort Lauderdale from December 11 – 13th. In order to improve his stand-up game Anundson works out at the White Rock Boxing gym about three days a week to work on his stand-up, punching skills. He also trains at a Jujitsu school in Greenville and also at the Columbia Martial Arts and Training Center (CMA) where he works on submission grappling and kickboxing up there. By training in the different styles Anundson says that he tries to leave no weaknesses for his opponents. Anundson says his goals are to fight as much as possible, to get as good as possible, and then to make a run at a big organization such as UFC or Strike Force sometime in the future. I want to fight locally for a while first to continue to work on my skills and to build my reputation and record, and also to fight in front of my friends and family. Anundson summed it up this way, “I want to get as good as I can but I also want to have a life and part of having a life is the chance to continue to live here and to fight here where my friends and family are.” As to the where he’s at now, Anundson commented, “I’ve trained with some of the big names in the MMA game, including Alan Belcher, Tim Crater and Vernon White. I’ve held my own with all of them. If I went to the UFC tomorrow I might not be the champion today but I’d hold my own and wouldn’t lose a lot either. But, that will come in time. I’m in no rush.” So, fight fans, get your stopwatches out! Kelly Anundson says he will knockout or force a submission out of Tyrone Jackson early in the first round in this the first-ever sanctioned MMA event in South Carolina. Get your tickets early because they are going fast! To learn more about Anundson you can visit the Newberry College athletics website where there is a profile on him – he is a volunteer wrestling coach there. You can also go to Youtube.com where there is a video interview of him that was done at the White Rock Boxing Gym. See you at the fights! |
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