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Israel Adesanya's teammate Mike Mathetha, aka 'Blood Diamond', is scheduled to make his promotional debut at UFC 271. Mathetha is the newest addition to a list of talented UFC fighters representing New Zealand's City Kickboxing.
Apart from an elite kickboxing pedigree, Mathetha currently holds a 3-0 professional record in MMA. He scored a second-round TKO victory against Jo Van Duin in his MMA debut at Shuriken Fight Series-1 in May 2017.
He then went on to score a first-round submission victory over Hyun Min Hwang at Hex Fight Series 15.
In his most recent outing, Mathetha earned a unanimous decision win over Dimps Tahau Tiopira Gillies at Eternal MMA 50 in February 2020.
While Mathetha hasn't competed in MMA in almost two years, he has managed to stay active on the regional kickboxing circuit.
How 'Blood Diamond' got his monicker
When Bruce Buffer introduces Mike Mathetha on Saturday night, he'll only call out 'Blood Diamond' instead of his full name . The monicker is such an integral part of his persona that Mathetha insisted on being introduced just by his nickname.
However, Mathetha claims there is no extraordinary story behind the genesis of the moniker. According to the 33-year old, the label has stuck with him since the beginning of his fighting career. Mathetha recently told ESPN:
"My whole career I've been called Blood Diamond. It's so crazy, before my first international fight my coach was like, 'By the way, what's your name again,' because it's just been Blood Diamond and I was like, 'You know what, let's just keep it that way.'"
Mathetha believes his nickname is symbolic of his fighting style and the ensuing violence. He further said:
"So I'm going to ride that train as long as I can; it's something special to me, that is my name. If someone has a problem with it, they have to deal with it. There's no crazy story to it. It was in the way I started fighting. Staying strong, being as hard as a diamond. And my fights, they're bloody fights... I'm as hard as diamonds and I'll leave you a bloody mess."
Mathetha will make his UFC debut this weekend against Jeremiah Wells.
