Perth’s Jordan Gotfredsen chats to us ahead of his WBC super lightweight world title challenge this Sat
This Saturday, Perth based muay thai fighter Jordan Godtfredsen will challenge for the WBC super lightweight world title, when he takes on champion Chadd Collins at Rebellion Muay Thai 30 in Melbourne.
Godtfredsen has been training out of Perth gym Kao Sok Muay Thai since he was 14 years old, and has had over 40 professional muay thai bouts all over the world. Godtfredsen’s success has earned him the opportunity to become a world champion, a feat that is not lost on the Perth fighter.
“It’s amazing… It’s been such a long journey. I’ve been training with Darren Curovic and the rest of my gym for 17 years now… This last week’s been a big week of reflection really,” says Godtfredsen. “I’ve just been very focused on the task at hand, which is just beating the man in front of me, who’s Chad Collins, but I haven’t really put much thought into the belt. Once the fight was announced and it was locked in, that’s when I had this big rush of euphoria. This is what we’ve been waiting for.”
Although aware of the scale of fight and the benefits that come with being a champion, Gotfredsen says that he is also aware that beating Collins will not be an easy task. “As quickly as that came on, it left as well, and then the realisation that if I do not beat this man in front of me then there’s no belt, there’s no title at all.
“So, I’m very realistic in my approach to these big fights… When I beat this man and they wrap the belt around my waste, it’ll be all worth it and I can really appreciate it for what it is.”
Capturing a world title has been a career-long goal for Godtfredsen, whose eyes are firmly set on the fight this Saturday: “This isn’t just an eight-week fight camp for me, this is a 17-year fight camp. Everything has led to this moment.”
Godtfredsen was scheduled to fight for the WBC world title in 2020, however COVID lockdown protocols meant the bout was off, as the combat sports world shut down. In the following years, difficulty finding opponents has meant Godtfredsen has sat on the sidelines of competition for an extended period of time.
However, his time away from competing did not mean he was taking time away from training, as the fighter built a gym in his garage where he could train while the gyms were closed.
“It’s been three years and two of those years I was inactive. I basically couldn’t fight anyone because I was at that level where everyone that I was fighting was an interstate opponent or an international opponent…
“So I just stayed really busy, really focused, and I just kept my training up, built a home gym so I could train while the gyms were locked down and just kept chipping away… I’ve grown as a person enormously since that first opportunity and even as a fighter I’ve just gotten stronger, my fight IQ has gotten better and I’ve come back and had five fights since then, four wins.
“So I’ve just come back straight into it… I was prepared three years ago and I’m three times more prepared now, three years on.”
Godtfredsen’s last fight was on the world stage, fighting for ONE Fighting Championship earlier this year in Thailand. He took the fight on short notice, and although he came away with a split-decision loss, he said the exposure he gained from fighting in front of a global audience has been very beneficial.
“I took that fight on about four weeks’ notice, I was actually not going to fight again before my son was born at that time, but the opportunity came up, I spoke about it with my partner and she agreed it was just an amazing opportunity and something that she pushed me towards doing…
“Even though it was a split decision loss, so many good things came from it, it was such a good life experience and exposure to the international scene.”
Image Credit: Photo Eminency/Reza Goodary
Multiple international promotions have shown interest in Godtfredsen, allowing him to have some choice in the next step for his career, although, he is not looking past his fight on Saturday night.
“One championship has said I can come back whenever I’m ready, so I wanna get this fight out the way. I originally wanted to go to ONE championship as a world champion, that’s always been my goal,” he admits. “Hopefully fresh in the new year I want to go back to Bangkok and challenge myself at ONE championship and possibly even look at fighting on the RWS… So a few big things on the horizon but essentially I go the big job in front of me at the moment and that’s all I’m focused on.”
“By the time I get into that ring there’s going to be absolutely nothing that can stop me.”
Header Image Credit: @combatindustries & @slimjongil