If you ask Chaz Mulkey who he wants to fight next, his answer is simple."I want at whoever has got one of them green WBC belts!" is what Mulkey will answer.
Mulkey can move one step closer to getting a WBC title shot if he defeats K-1 veteran Remy Bonnel at WCK Muay Thai's upcoming event on August 28.
Mulkey moved to Las Vegas 4 years ago, and has been somewhat of a lone wolf when it came to training, that was until now. Mulkey has been training with One Kick Nick (Nick Blomgren) and Master Lookchang, and although he has been with Lookchang since his move to Las Vegas, it was more of a part time thing, which meant just hitting pads with him whenever he had a fight coming up.
"This fight I feel like someone is giving me direction" Mulkey said.
In addition to having direction now, Mulkey also has some good training partners, aside from his coaches the list includes Shawn Yarbrough, WEC's Anthony Njokuani, his brother Chidi, Scotty Leffler, Danny Davis, and his best friend Kevin Ross who just returned from Thailand.
Mulkey had no trouble his last WCK fight when he won a one sided unanimous decision over Menno Dijkstra. However, Mulkey doesn't take anything away from his previous opponent, and gives him credit for being a tough fighter, because as Mulkey will tell you he's tough as nails. Mulkey isn't quick to dismiss his upcoming opponent either, but he is confident.
"I hit that dude with everything I could and he hung in there till the end (Dijkstra)," Mulkey said. "from what I've seen on Bonnel I think the same thing with his skill, he's good but I think I'm a lot better so I guess I'll have to see how tough he is."
That confidence is something you call champions confidence, you give your opponents their due but you know your going to come out on top. When preparing Mulkey doesn't study hours of video like many do, he instead focuses on his skill set.
"I'm not someone who researches or studies my opponents, I'll watch a clip and that's about it, I just concentrate on doing my thing and let them figure out how to deal with it." Mulkey said.
Rather than go out on a limb and guarantee a knockout by double spinning back fist or some crazy method like many do, Mulkey's prediction is simple, he's going to win.
As far as his quest for the green belt, Mulkey plans on continuing to fight his way to the top, but due to the popularity of MMA, a leap into those waters is very realistic possibility. Mulkey has been training Jiu-Jitsu and already has some amateur MMA fights under his belt.
"For the longest time I've said I'll only do Muay Thai cause its where my heart is and I don't wanna sell out to MMA," Mulkey said. "I've gotten to a point in my life where I want to keep fighting but I gotta make a decent buck if I'm going to."
With the ever growing popularity of MMA, it seems many fighters are turning to the sport to continue to make a living as a fighter. Mulkey's heart is with Muay Thai, and although the sport has a huge following with it's core audience, it has yet to go mainstream. Mulkey might see venturing into MMA as selling out, and he makes a point. He has nothing against MMA but as its popularity grows you see more and more people watching the sport and not really understanding the different aspects of it.
"I could appreciate MMA being more popular if people actually realized the skill and the talent behind all aspects of the sport," Mulkey said. "Not just because it's the popular up & coming thing right now."
At MMA events you hear boos from the crowd because fighters aren't engaging recklessly and instead being more tactical, that's something you rarely see at Muay Thai shows. Most fans at Muay Thai shows have a good understanding of the tradition, culture, and technique involved with the sport.
Until that WBC title opportunity comes, Mulkey will continue to teach at The Warrior Training Center in Las Vegas, and continue to just have a good time. For Mulkey that means spending time with his girlfriend and their dogs (two Black Labs named Thunder & Jager and a 2 month old English Mastiff named Koda), as well as hanging out with his boys drinking beer, playing video games, as he put it "talking sh*t to each other", and maybe going to a bar or club once a week.
Whether Mulkey's career leads him down the MMA path or not, his goal in mind for the future is capturing one of those green WBC Muay Thai belts.
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