By Felix Rodriguez | Photo by Mike Calimbas
William Campuzano headed back into the UFC to compete in flyweight division
DALLAS, TX, November 6, 2013 – William Campuzano (Pro MMA, 13-4) is going back to the big show. The former Legacy FC flyweight champion is on his way to Las Vegas to sign a four-fight deal with the UFC’s brass.
A resident of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Will Campuzano is already a Zuffa veteran, having competed with the UFC and the now-defunct WEC sometimes up to two divisions above his natural weight class from 2009-2011. Needless to say the Team Mohler MMA product is excited to show the world that he’s a force to be reckoned with in his natural weight division off 125 lbs.Though he is not yet at liberty to reveal who his first opponent will be, Will “The Rattail” Campuzano wanted to let our readers know that he will be representing the state with pride in the Octagon very soon.
Campuzano’s road back to the UFC has been a challenging one. It has been close to three years since he last fought for the world’s leading MMA promotion. The perpetually angry Mexican-American has fought with a constant chip on his shoulder in promotions like Rumble Time Promotions, Vale Tudo Japan and Legacy FC since his last stint in the octagon.
The drop in weight class to flyweight has helped resurrect the Dallas-based fighter’s career. Much larger opponents are no longer able to bully Campuzano and negate his excellent striking with stifling takedowns as he feels they’ve been able to do in the past. Now when opponents try to press Campuzano against the cage their efforts are repaid with a steady diet of powerful strikes from the clinch, something Dana White & Co. have taken notice of his five consecutive wins since leaving Zuffa.
More recently his departure from Legacy FC was a controversial one, one of those cases where promoter and fighter could not agree on a suitable opponent. At the time of his departure Campuzano was in the middle of a four-fight win streak, but was not doing well financially. Splitting from Legacy was emotionally drained for him. Never forgetting the end goal, he pressed on and took a fight in Japan against Hideo Tokoro despite not feeling mentally invested in the fight. It was there in Japan, “with all the odds stacked against” him that Campuzano experienced a “spiritual awakening” and “felt the presence of God for the first time.” Campuzano took on that challenge under this new state-of-mind and took home a split decision victory in a fight where going to the judges might have meant certain defeat.
Since then Will is a changed man. Campuzano feels like he “no longer has hate in his heart” and is now committed to giving back to the less fortunate. The Rattail has teamed up with a nonprofit organization called “Hope for the Silent Voices” to raise awareness and help the most underrepresented groups of people throughout the world. Apart from acting as an ambassador for the organization and travelling with the group to Asia he will also donate a portion of his fighter purse to their cause. When asked if his newly found peace of mind would affect his nasty streak and killer instinct, Campuzano told TXMMA that not at all. He explained that before his spiritual awakening he would “always lose until he found a way to won,” but now the path to victory would be much simpler because he would no longer have to fight an opponent and himself.
In releasing this latest news for his career Campuzano wanted to thank his longtime coach Allen Mohler, his striking coach Joe Garcia (for his constant support and blood and sweat that was so important), his teammates and the fans who stuck by him during the hard times. He would also like to thank his sponsors Cryo-X and Tusk Medical Supplies for their constant support on his way back to the Octagon. If you haven’t done so already follow the Rattail on Twitter @willcampuzano.
If you’d like to learn more about the nonprofit organization that he supports visit them at http://hopeforthesilentvoices.org/ or visit this link to make a donation to help Will in his quest to feed 110 orphans for 6 months: http://hopeforthesilentvoices.org/get-involved/donate/
