After going 1-1 in last year’s M-1 Challenge, French lightweight Maktar Gueye was viewed as as prospect to watch as the 2009 “M-1 Challenge Presented by Affliction” kicked off earlier this year. However, Gueye got off to a disappointing start after suffering a DQ loss to Jose Luis Zapater during France’s season opener this past April in Japan.
During Gueye’s appearance in Japan, he ran into fellow lightweight Ian Butlin in the hallways. Butlin, a member of Group A rival Team England, was aware that he was on track to fight Gueye in June during the scheduled best-of-five series between England and France.
“I came across my future opponent Ian Butlin in a hallway,” Gueye said during a recent interview with M-1Global.com. “He said: ‘Oh, is that you? That Frenchman I’ll be fighting next? I hope you’ll have balls to keep the fight standing.’ I replied that that’s what I need.”
Butlin’s smack talk wasn’t reserved for the hallways, as he continued the bravado during a post-fight press conference. Known for his eagerness to brawl, Butlin surprised the media by proclaiming that his ground game would be on display during his forthcoming bout vs. Gueye.
“How come? Did you learn to wrestle as well?”, quipped a journalist.
Never one to miss an opportunity to give a good quote, a laughing Butlin responded by saying “No, I’m gonna knock him down and finish him on the ground!”
The much-anticipated match between the two exciting lightweights literally ended in the blink of an eye, with the fight coming to a stop just nine seconds in due to a TKO. However, Butlin came out on the losing end in spite of his predictions. Butlin charged Gueye immediately after the bell and began to strike Gueye. But Gueye responded with a rapid fire-like chain of combination punches that floored Butlin and brought a quick end to the encounter.
“You know he didn’t lie,” Gueye began. “There was a part when the fight would hit the ground but he ended up there alone. Later on he would show me a knocked out tooth and said he’s never been beaten up that hard.”
Gueye’s fight vs. Butlin at Memorial Hall in Kansas City earlier this month marked the first time he had competed on American soil. But fighting in new locations comes with the territory of being an M-1 Challenge fighter. However, Gueye’s trip to the U.S. wasn’t without incident.
“It took us about 10 hours to get to Atlanta from Paris,” said Gueye when asked about Team France’s itinerary. “Then (it took) two hours to change the plane and two more to get to Kansas City. We touched down at 1 o’clock you know. Completely different time zone makes you think it’s still a daytime while according to the local time you need to be in bed.
“(The) next day we had an interview arranged. Next was preliminary weigh-ins at 2 p.m. I must confess – I hadn’t eaten anything one day prior to the weigh-ins but (I was still two) kilos overweight. So I had to put on every warm (piece of clothing) I could find and visit the sauna.
“One hour long I was sweating and singing. And still it wasn’t enough so I spent additional half an hour on a treadmill getting rid of the rest. It’s not the best feeling in the world running and sweating while hungry. Eventually I made the weight on time. Almost instantly I grabbed some food, that day I could eat the whole horse!”
The trip proved to be a fruitful one for both Gueye and Team France. Gueye not only delivered what will likely contend for the M-1 Challenge “Knockout of the Year” but France pulled into a first place tie with Team England following its 4-1 team victory. The convincing win over its Group A rival was great cause to celebrate.
“Yeah we did,” Gueye answered when asked if he and his teammates spent any time partying at the host Argosy Hotel & Casino. “We went to the casino and lost a lot. As far as I’m concerned, I didn’t lose much though.”
One glimpse at Gueye and his aggressive fighting style and it becomes obvious he’s not a man who is afraid to gamble. In fact, towards the end of the interview, he didn’t hesitate to put his reputation on the line and call out one of the greatest lightweight competitors in MMA history, former PRIDE lightweight champion Takanori Gomi.
“I have one dream to fight against Takanori Gomi,” he said. “He prefers to bang it out and people say I’m pretty good at it. We are in the same weight category. It would be fantastic if someone could put us in one bracket, may be in Affliction. I promise to do my best and give the fireworks and KO to the fans.”
