At #BAMMA25 one of Scotland’s biggest names is set to make his debut for the promotion. Lightweight Chris “The Bad Guy” Bungard may be a more common name on the Scottish MMA scene, but after #BAMMA25 “The Bad Guy” is planning to be a name you won’t forget.
Bungard’s opportunity to be exposed to the European stage sees him compete against Xavier Sedras on the preliminary card and whilst the size and scale of the promotion will be a new experience for Bungard, he believes he was born for this.
“It feels right I have paid my dues. I am more than ready for this. I was born to fight on these big shows in front of the cameras and everyone will realise this on 14th May.”
This fight is the debut for Bungard at BAMMA, although he has tasted the running of their shows having been in the corner of his training partner and current BAMMA Light Heavyweight Champion Paul Craig. In fact it it was that experience which spurred him on to set himself a goal to get signed with the promotion.
“My goal when I started MMA was to fight for Cage Warriors if I’m honest but you know things have changed and BAMMA have really stepped their game up. I was in the corner of Paul Craig at his last fight and thought “this is where I want to be” and so I made it one of my goals.”
“My goals now are to decapitate Xavier, jump into crowd with my fans, enjoy moment and then make run at the BAMMA Title.”
Whilst Bungard may be visualising a victory come fight night, but although he is positive in his ability to get his hand raised he is by no means overlooking his opponent.
“I know he is a tough fighter and there isn’t a lot of footage of him, but you just have to look at the people he has fought to realise he is tough. He had a draw with Andre Winner and his losses are split decisions, he has an awkward style of striking and is a solid grappler.”
“But he is going to play into my game. He is going to come forward but I am pretty unpredictable. If he thinks I’ll strike, I’ll wrestle. If he thinks I’ll wrestle, I’ll strike. He will be left guessing.”
BAMMA’s Lightweight division plays host to a number of huge European names with the likes of Martin Stapleton (Champion), Jack McGann, Marc Diakese (Lonsdale Champion), Gavin Sterritt propping up the top end of the division. And Bungard is keen to get himself into that Title mix as soon as possible.
“To be honest with you I haven’t had time to look through the division. I know that Martin Stapleton is the Champion but I am really just looking at Xavier as its pointless talking about them until I get past him. Whoever has the belt is going to get it.”
The Scottish Hit Squad will play home to a majority of his training camp for this fight although, the Lanarkshire man will also be mixing up his training ahead of this fight with a stint in Dublin, Ireland. And you can take a wild guess at what gym he will be training at.
“I done some training at SBG Concorde for my last fight aswell. I love Dublin it just feels right over there. I like getting away, it puts my mind at rest and I have no worries as I prepare for battle.”
“I know my teammate Paul and Chris (Fields) have a fight coming up but I have trained with Chris in the past and he has helped me. The end of the I am a professional and I just go there to work my ass off.”
For a long time there was only really a small handful of MMA gyms in Scotland but given the recent increased popularity of the sport worldwide, a number of gyms have quickly grown to the same levels of training once only available at the Griphouse.
Bungard’s gym, The Scottish Hit Squad can certainly stake claim to being one of the best in Scotland right now and with the likes of himself, Paul Craig and Graham Turner now in the promotion, Bungard feels its only a matter of time until BAMMA venture north to debut in Scotland.
“If the local shows put on good fights then they do genuinely sell out. Shows like On Top Promotions and FFC are selling out when they put on cards so I am pretty certain that if BAMMA put on a card that had me, Paul Craig and Graham Turner on it then they would definitely sell out.”
“Scottish MMA is booming right now!”
November 2013 saw Bungard make his professional debut and now just three years later he has the opportunity to show his growth in the sport on one of Europe’s biggest stages. But just what got him interested in MMA to start with? The road to the cage for Bungard took a fairly unusual route, that being his love of professional wrestling and one superstar in particular.
“I was a huge pro-wrestling fan and my hero was Brett “The Hitman” Hart. I used to get suspended from school for putting people in a sharpshooter. I then found out my local sports centre was doing submissions and grappling and I thought I’d try it out. But I showed up and it just became an obsession. Six years down the line and here I am.”
“But no, “The Bad Guy” nickname isn’t homage to Razor Ramon. I used to get called it on the local scene by various people and it kind of just stuck.”
With just a number of weeks to go until he gets to make his debut on the biggest stage of his career, Bungard is definitely not feeling any pressure and seems to be encouraged by the support and notoriety the opportunity is bringing him. And if you have not been fortunate enough to see “The Bad Guy” in action to date, you should make sure you tune in on May 14th to see him in action at #BAMMA25!
Chris would like to thank “Bruce lawyers, Udingstone physiotherapy, hellcats graphics & the bad guy brand.”
Be sure to follow Chris on twitter @CowaBungard