Scottish MMA star overcomes odds and now eyeing VISION glory
By: Padraig Whelan
Mixed martial arts is a tough sport at the best of times, when you have a full camp behind you to prepare for a fight.
For the Scottish Hit Squad’s Chris Bungard, who took to the cage at the Stadium of Light for Total Combat 50, he had less than three hours to accept a fight on the card.
Having traveled down from Scotland to corner his teammate Paul Craig, who won the light heavyweight title against Paul Bradshaw at the event, fighting himself was the last thing on his mind.
However, upon arrival the welterweight discovered that Rob Kelly had pulled out of his fight with Eamon ‘The Kid’ Cramb due to personal reasons and, in true warrior spirit, Bungard stepped up and took the fight on extremely short notice, having already been on his way to 77kg for preparing for VISION’s eight-man tournament next weekend.
“Since I am in fight camp I was reasonably fit so that wasn’t an issue and upon finding out the guy was a Muay Thai fighter, I told my coach I would accept the fight although it did mean that the Nandos I had with me had to be bagged for later,” he joked.
“My plan was to take it to the ground and avoid taking much damage with future fights coming up and I thought I did that,” he said.
The ‘Bad Guy’ certainly did just that, turning in a powerful performance by scoring with two terrific takedowns and working his transitions very well on the ground, in the mould that his favourite fighter Chael Sonnen would be proud of, to come out on top with a well-deserved unanimous decision victory.
Sonnen is widely regarded as one of the best wrestlers in the MMA world and has twice fought for the UFC middleweight championship and is a man whom Bungard hails as his reason for fighting due to his skills as well as his work ethic and determination.
While his style is somewhat similar to that of the ‘American Gangster’ due to the strength of his own wrestling, although Bungard is happiest with this facet of his game, he is keen to hone all aspects of his game.
He said: “Wrestling has definitely become the best part of my game especially when I can work my ground and pound but I am still working hard on my stand up and it doesn’t really bother me where the fight takes place.”
Another impressive aspect of the fighter, who trains out of Coatbridge, and his win in Sunderland was the massive vocal backing he had from the crowd, many of whom had come south of the border to cheer their man on and he is very thankful to those who support him.
“I always have a big support and they are usually the loudest in the place and they call themselves ‘Bungard’s Barmy Army’,” he laughed. “But I am always grateful because I know it is an expensive day out.”
Having came out on top with that hugely impressive victory at the Stadium of Light, Bungard is now eyeing next weekend’s VISION tournament and he is already relishing the prospect of a win which could change his life in the event that features Scotland’s finest fighters and the best that Sweden has to offer.
The man who loves being the ‘Bad Guy’ said: “VISION is one of the biggest shows in Europe and is one of the best shows I have fought on having fought on a few of their shows and if you have never been to one, you would not be disappointed if you attended.
“My first round opponent for the tournament is Steven McReadie from Dinky Ninja Fight Team and he is a very good well rounded fighter but it is a fight I know I can win because training is going well and I hope that the hard work pays off.”
He continued: “The winner of the tournament gets a three fight pro contract and sponsorship and one of those pro fights takes place on a Swedish card so obviously I am really amped for it.”
As if Bungard’s confidence about taking on Europe’s finest welterweights and winning a fight at three hours notice was not enough, all of this is made all the more inspiring when you consider that he has only been doing the sport for three years.
Having started in his local sports centre, he made the move to the Scottish Hit Squad in Coatbridge and has gone from strength to strength since then and believes it is an exciting time to be involved in UK MMA.
“It is a great time to be involved with the sport with the amount of shows and fight teams and this can only be good for the future and hopefully we manage to get a few Scottish fighters into the big time, i.e. the UFC.”
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