UFC's Malcolm Wellmaker On Debut KO Win Over Saaiman In Kansas City, Pipe Fitter Welding Job & Anime

Kicking back with me today I've got Malcolm Wellmaker, who was victorious in Kansas City over Cameron Saaimon. What a knockout, what an incredible debut! Congratulations! 

Thank you so so much! 

So nice meeting you. I don’t know if could you have scripted yourself a better UFC debut…

No, it's incredible.I didn't even think it was going to go this great. I mean, I definitely was expecting a knockout, but the way I got it and how it happened, how fast it happened, everything just picture perfect.

You got a knockout on Contender Series, right? And that's how you got signed?

Yes, ma'am.

So now you're 9 and O, and were seven of those knockouts?

Seven of them were finishes, two of them were submissions.

Why did you think you would be able to get a knockout over Cameron? He had won some fights and he had lost some fights and he took some time off and he was trying to regroup and set some things up and this was supposed to be his comeback and then everyone's like wow! Malcolm’s got a pretty good assignment for his first time out! Why did you think you'd be able to knock him out?

Well, me and my team have a big confidence in what I'm capable of. We just know that we haven’t had the opportunity to show it. And when we watched Cameron, not just his most recent fight or not even just his losses, just all of his fights, we saw a couple of opportunities that were very, very likely to show themselves to be capitalized on and things that I'm good at countering, that right hand being one of them. And also, I just don't think he fought somebody with the kind of power I have. And we knew it would show itself, and it did.

Bantamweight is such a deep division; but when somebody shows up with knockout power, people take notice. Would you say that that, not that it's your only strength, pun intended… but that's what's going to set you apart?

Absolutely. I think I think one of the factors that make me so much different than everybody else is like just the type of reactions I get when I hit people. A lot of it is precision. But I do have that God given talent, that power to where it just shuts people down. And that was a great example of what I can do.

When did you discover you had that?

It was in kickboxing. I was hitting people with headgear and ten-ounce gloves and knocking them out. So when I made my MMA debut in the amateurs, I hit a guy with an uppercut and his body went absolutely limp. And since then, I've been swinging for the fences.

It's been working! You're from Augusta, Georgia, right? You've been doing all your training there?

Yes, ma’am. The whole time.

To make the leap up to the big leagues you couldn't have scripted a better debut. How many jitters did you have?What was it like? Because a lot of people get their debut at the Apex, which is a much safer environment, especially if you've been on Contender it feels like home. You did it under the lights. What were the jitters like for you?

This is crazy to say but I had less nerves for this fight than contender series. It wasn't that I wasn't nervous at all but it was I was so much more overwhelmed by the excitement of being there, the happiness, the contentment with how well the week went. All the people I met in the organization was so nice we hit it off so well all the other fighters treated me so good every time I was moving around my wake up went great, my mid-morning sessions were so good. Everything was just such a dream come true that I felt like I was living the dream regardless of what happened in the fight. So when I went out there, I fought free and I just felt so good. It really worked out. 

I said something at the end of the post show because it was the end of an era for us saying goodbye to Anthony Smith. But then we were saying it's the beginning of the Wellmaker era. You are, or now I guess technically were, a pipe fitter welder, right? And the whole point was that if you got the bonus the last day at work was going to be the last day at work? Is that true? You have now left that job?

Absolutely. I went in this morning and I bought biscuits on the way to work. I sat down with the guys. We talked for over an hour, they're like family to me. But I got my welding hood. I got my hard hat, my Carhart coat; and I walked out for the last time and I'm a full-time fighter now.

That's incredible. Congratulations to you. That's a big deal.

Yeah, it's huge. It's surreal being here because I've been in the piping trade for longer than I've been fighting. So to think that that's not going to be a part of my daily life now is still hard for me to believe.

But what a great thing, to know how to do that is so cool. And hopefully you never have to go back to it. But I was looking at your social media; and for those who don't know, what does that job entail? You actually have to go in the pipes, right? And weld in from inside?

Yeah, it depends. Sometimes I work on huge lines like that. One of the more recent jobs we did was a piece of forty eight inch stainless steel pipe and we were building a vessel. So I had to climb inside of it.There was welding I did from the inside of it. We built platforms and structures with steel beams and I’ve installed and broken down piping systems anywhere from the smallest quarter inch pipe all the way up to sixty inch pipe. And I've just had a ton of things I've been able to be blessed to work with over the ten years that I did spend in the trade.

That is so cool. It's wild. I'm always amazed when people have these kind of gigs. I watch on YouTube the guys that are welding underwater and building oil rigs.That's fascinating.

Yeah, it's incredible. It was so fun, all the things I got to do.You meet people from all over the country. And I really did and do love the pipe fitting trade. So if I do ever have to go back, it's not the circumstances I hoped for, but I won't be heartbroken. I got so much love there and I enjoy doing it.

That's so cool. I used to do a show called Junkyard Wars. And the whole premise of the show was that teams would come and they'd have to build something, and they'd have to run around the junkyard and get stuff. I would see people welding and making all this stuff like out of nothing. It's incredible. And that was such a cool show to work on. The stuff that you guys do, I have great respect for it. What have you thought about for your plan in terms of the UFC? Are you the kind of guy that has strategized every step you want to make? How do you see your future unfolding in the organization?

No, to be honest,I didn't strategize past this point at all. I was hoping to go out there and get a big finish and set up my career for big things. And now that that's happened, I'm really letting my management and my coaches do their job. And I know my job is to be the best fighter I can be. So I'm working on figuring out what training blocks I can implement in the free time I have now, actually getting some rest, some recovery, doing more strength training, just being the best athlete that I can be. And when the phone call comes, my manager will do his job, my coaches will do their job, and we'll go out there and win again.

I love the fact that you've still stayed true to your team. Now all of you can also access the PI and work together there. And those facilities help everybody level up so much.

Yeah, it's cool, it’s exciting. I can't wait. One of the immediate trips that we do want to make is to the PI to access those resources, because we didn't get to do it. This fight week wasn't in Vegas. When we were there for Contender Series we didn't have access. Now that we do, we're going to make a trip there and we're going to really level up the camp.

Take advantage of it. And take advantage of other fighters that are there…especially if you run into Dominic Cruz, who was in your division. Talk to Dominic Cruz, he's got a lot of knowledge. You made such a great impression and all of us on our side of what we do thought, “This kid's got a lot of potential!” And honestly, you're already doing great on the mic. It seems like you've taken into account the whole entirety of the business, which I think is really a smart approach.

I tried to invest a lot of time into my social media, learning how to talk… If you go watch my amateur fights and my interviews- Oh my goodness. It was horrendous! It's hard for me to watch now, but I've tried to work on those things to make sure that when I got to this position we could make the most of it. So I'm very happy with where we are.

What do you do when you're not fighting? Outside of the training stuff are you a gamer? What do you like to do?

Honestly, with my work schedule and my training schedule, I really didn't have a ton of free time. But I do watch anime. Me and my old lady, you know, we'll lay up sometimes and watch anime. Me and my teammates are so competitive… I love playing basketball. We'll play, and we'll get fired up. We play spike ball, stuff like that. Really active stuff for the most part. And so now that I got free time, maybe I'll get into a little bit more stuff.

My daughter is really into anime: Which ones do you watch?

Hunter X Hunter is one of my favorites.

Hunter X Hunter is awesome! She gets mad at me because I like Hisoka.

I love him!

Hisoka is the worst. And Tonpa is the worst.

If it wasn't for Hisoka, the show wouldn't be as great as it is. We all love him. We hate him, but we love him. That was one of the first I fell in love with. I'm actually rewatching it now. Everybody likes Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen. That came out recently. And it was mind-blowing how good that was. I'm a little bit of an anime head for sure.

Well, it's been great getting to know you. After a debut like that, sky's the limit. Congratulations. Really just a perfect debut, and I'm happy that you're here. Congrats on making it into the big show.

Thank you so much. It feels good to be here. It's still kind of hard for me to wrap my head around, but it's been good. I appreciate it. It's awesome.

Hopefully you're fighting soon. Are you trying to get on that card in Atlanta?

Yes, absolutely. I called for it in the cage. I already talked to Sean Shelby. As soon as I got to the back I saw him and I brought it up. And he said he was confident he could get it done. My manager's confident that they could get it done. So quick turnaround, I'm hoping, man. Hopefully you guys see me back in that cage real, real soon.