One on One with the Champ

One on One with the UCA Welterweight Champion Brent Bugarin – Santa Clara Sheriff’s Department

It has been said once you become a champion you become a better fighter. Do you feel you are a better fighter physically or mentally now that you are a champion?

I believe that when you become a champion you do become a better fighter. In order to become a champion, not only do you have to learn more about the sport itself, but also more about who you are as an athlete– mentally, physical, spiritually. The lessons you learn and the sacrifices you have to endure throughout your road in becoming a champion is far greater than any other journey.

During this road in becoming a champion is where you are continuously learning. This process is what molds you as a fighter because you constantly build your repertoire. You fine tune your strengths, you learn new skills, you change your bad habits, and you improve your weaknesses. It is not always about the prize you get at the end of the road, but the experiences you learn throughout your journey to finally get there.

Do you feel that you have to workout & train even harder now that you are the champion and everyone is gunning for you?

Regardless of what anyone says, YES, you do have to work out and train harder now that you are a champion. Remember who you were BEFORE you became a champion? No one knew you or cared about you.  All you wanted to do was become that next champion, the guy on the poster, the guy who gets to fight the main event. So in order to be that guy, what did you have to do? Remember how that felt? Remember how hard you worked? How great did it feel to be named a champion?

For those champions, now you know how it feels to be a champion, but don’t forget all those other guys you DON’T know about or care about. Those guys are the ones that want to be the next champion, who want to be on the poster, who want to fight the main event– don’t forget that you used to be in their shoes; you were that guy. Just remember and understand that they are going through the same thing you put yourself through during your journey. The pressure is on the champion now not to lose because everyone wants to see the underdog succeed.

If you could call anyone out to test your skills against who would it be? Pro, UCA fighter or UCA champion

In the pros….. Mayweather. Not to test my skills, but to get PAID.

In the UCA, I would like to try out the 140 pound division. I felt more powerful and a lot faster as I began to lose weight during some previous training camps. I think the 140 pound division would be fun and interesting. I fought most of my previous fights between 143-145 pounds anyway, so losing a few more LBs wouldn’t hurt.

In all of the divisions is there anyone you would not want to fight due to their style, power, height, speed, etc?

Master’s Division: UCA Hall of Famer Tom Gaffney. His smile is intimidating and infectious.

The former UCA Light Heavyweight: Matthew Wurdinger, Santa Clara Police Dept. He and I went to the same academy during the same time. During the academy, we had a use of force training day and boxing was implemented in it. The training officers put me up with him knowing how much amateur level boxing skills he already had and at the time, I had none. It was one minute on offense, one minute on defense, and one minute freestyle. Let’s just say, I learned a lot about boxing from Matthew during that experience.

When will you be back in the ring?

To be conitnued……………