Chris Wade enters the octagon in Boston on January 17th riding a five fight winning streak, three of which were earned inside the UFC. Originally matched-up against Russian power puncher Mairbek Taisumov, the Long Island native now faces UFC newcomer Mehdi Baghdad.
Thus far in his UFC career Wade has showcased his impressive wrestling credentials, his new opponent (like his original opponent) is known for his Muay Thai abilities. Some may label the clash a classic wrestler versus striker contest, but Wade is not one of them. "They're gonna call me the grappler who is going to just look to consistently shoot, consistently take him to the mat," Wade told Bloody Elbow. "Without a doubt, that's selling me short."
Wade has been studying kickboxing since 2009 and he relishes the opportunity to face off with a Muay Thai-orientated fighter. Like many, including UFC featherweight champ Conor McGregor, Wade believes traditional Muay Thai has design flaws that make it suspect in modern-day MMA. "[Muay Thai fighters] are too heavy on their feet," said Wade. "They don't move, they take too many shots, they start to get eaten up, and even if [they] have a little success early, eventually the wear and tear starts to beat these guys up and they just can't keep it up, they start to fade, and their careers seem to suffer.
"I think the MMA game is kinda transitioning more towards like what you see the headliners of my card doing, Dillashaw or Cruz, the footwork, the angles, the making you miss, the being elusive, feigning, not showing your opponent what you're gonna come at them with, making them think one thing, throwing another thing, whereas Muay Thai seems to be, like I said earlier; more, ‘Alright, my hands are relatively up, my chin is down, and we're just gonna bang, until somebody drops.'"
Wade comes into the fight on January 17th off a unanimous decision victory over Christos Giagos at UFC Fight Night 68 - Boetsch vs. Henderson. Wade appeared to exhaust Giagos with his pressure wrestling on route to victory. Wade was not ecstatic with his performance, but nonetheless was happy with a win over what he thought was an extremely underrated opponent. "I wasn't too down on myself," said Wade. "But I always need more [improvement], gotta get better, every time you get in there, if you're not getting better, you're getting left behind in this sport."
After the Giagos fight Wade identified that he needed to improve in his transitions between striking and wrestling techniques. "I need to be more versatile, I need to use my grappling more to set up what I can do as a striker, and vice versa, I think when that starts to really click for me, then we'll see the best Chris Wade that there is."
Doing a better job of meshing striking with wrestling has been the focal point of Wade's training since his last fight. In being able to transition from strikes to takedowns, Wade believes he will leave himself less work on the ground to get around an opponent's guard. In training Wade has also been working to maximize the impact of his athleticism, something he rates among the best in his division.
A concern of Wade is that his advancements in the gym might suffer due to how long he has to wait in between actual fights. "I've been a professional since November of 2011 and I've only been in the cage as a pro eleven times so far." Wade claims it is hard to elevate his game without getting more ‘octagon-experience'. Wade is frustrated that it has been over six months since his last fight. Despite his division being the most populated in the UFC, Wade does not advocate cutting fighters. Instead, he wishes that fighters were given an equal turnover rate within the promotion. "Sometimes you see, [the UFC] pump the same name, the same people, they get hot with them and they get in their favour and you just continue to see the same guys over and over and over again."
Wade understands there is a responsibility on the fighter to make themselves attractive enough for the UFC to book consistently and he hopes to do this in the cage on January 17th.
In preparation for the fight, which will now be fought against Mehdi Baghdad, Wade did not travel far from home. He believes everything he needs is right in Long Island, which boasts an extremely close-knit community of fighters. "During my training camps, I'll cross paths with just about all the UFC guys [in Long Island]," said Wade. "Whether it is Aljamain [Sterling] getting in there, [Gian] Villante, [Chris] Weidman, my specific teammates [Dennis] Bermudez, [Ryan] LaFlare, everyone is pulling for each other, all we are is a phone call away to go help each other spar, it's just like these bigger fight camps, but we just spread ourselves out a little more."
More to him than just somewhere to live, Wade is passionate when talking about his pride for the Island and the people who call it home. "I really believe it's one of the toughest places on the earth," claimed Wade. "With the city and the competitive nature of just everyone in business, job hunting, everything just makes for tough resilient people." Wade also loves Long Island for how connected he feels to his fellow Islanders. "All it takes is a small conversation with anyone, maybe two minutes of tossing names back and forth and you can find somebody most of the time that you both know, literally even if you haven't met each other before."
It was this pride and passion for Long Island and its people that lead Wade to starting the clothing line ‘Island Strong' with a pair of local entrepreneurs. Introduced by a mutual friend, Wade originally thought he was meeting potential sponsors. After bonding over appreciation for Long Island, the group decided to go into business together. However, what started as a plan to produce and sell clothing has since evolved into something much more ambitious. "We essentially use the clothing at this point to push the logo and the brand throughout the Island, but we're transitioning at this point to create help for the local businesses on the Island that are competing with a lot of the bigger stores."
Island Strong was launched prior to the UFC's sponsorship deal with Reebok. Though respectful of the UFC's decision, Wade was disappointed when he heard the news. "I mean, it's unfortunate," sighed Wade. "The intent was to use my position in the fight game to try and accelerate the growth of the company as much as we could - in good taste - and unfortunately with that we kinda got boxed out.
"[I'm] not happy that I'm not able to, any longer, use that spot that I get on TV, that I worked hard for to - in good taste - promote whoever it is that I feel supports me or I‘m behind as an entrepreneur, but you know it's not my call to make, it's the business, it's the UFC, I understand the nature of the beast, I get it, I truly do, I see that they are trying to legitimize it and get linked with a name that people know and respect, so I see both sides, I don't really waste any time crying over it, I kinda take it as just one of those, ‘It is what it is' type of deals."
Another step the UFC are trying to make to further legitimize the sport has Wade's full backing - the battle to lift the MMA ban in New York. Wade himself is desperate to compete at home. "It's the number one thing, besides from wanting that strap," exclaimed Wade. "I will do anything to fight [in New York]. If they announce a New York card, I'll fight anywhere on that card, I'll fight first on fight pass, I don't care, my dream is to walk into the Garden and fight in there. It has to happen, and it will happen."
The MMA ban in New York is bemoaned by many, but few have more reasons to be upset than Wade and the other fighters who live in the State. "If I was able to fight in my own backyard, I could have so much more earning potential, because [New York based fighters] would be selling tickets, [the UFC] would respect us as assets a lot more.
"It's frustrating; we don't get to reach our full potential, because we're not able to access our support. You know how many people in Manhattan as you walk around with UFC gear on, people who are just working they strike up conversation with you? ‘Oh man, when you fighting? I wanna come and see you.' And you have to explain to them that it's illegal here, that we can't, and they don't understand, they don't get it. We're missing out on the biggest market in the world."
You can follow Chris Wade on twitter @CWadeMMA
You can check out his company Island Strong here