Townsend to reenter octagon June 16

Published 7:21 pm Thursday, May 31, 2018

He isn’t done yet.

Local mixed martial artist, Adam Townsend, will be entering the octagon once again as he takes on Brett Cooper (25-13-0) at the Sleeman Sports Complex in Brisbane, Austrailia on June 16 during ACB 88.

“These guys I am fighting now are world-class caliber fighters,” said Townsend. “There isn’t any slouches anywhere. I don’t get the opportunity to fight someone who might be bad at jiu-jitsu or might be bad at striking which I can exploit. So the guys I am fighting now are legit.

“I think Brett Cooper is an awesome opponent for me,” added Townsend. “I think he is going to bring out a very high caliber fighter in me, and I am excited. He is a veteran. He has had 38 fights, and that is phenomenal.”

Cooper will be coming into June’s fight after defeating Andre Santos by a first-round knock out in March during ACB 82.

Townsend (18-5-0) hasn’t entered the octagon in competition since November 2017 when he took on Arbi Agujev in ACB 74, a fight Townsend lost by majority decision to end a four-fight win streak. Townsend’s break from fighting came after he decided to turn his attention to politics, running for the Carter County Register of Deeds in the Republican Primary which was held in early May. Townsend got back into training for the first time since last year shortly after losing his election bid.

“It seems like the widest gap I have had in a fight,” said Townsend. “Even the times that I took long gaps in between fights, I was still training. After my last fight, I didn’t train at all until a couple of days after the election was over.”

In preparation for his fight with Cooper, Townsend plans on branching out his training. This week, Townsend is making his way down to Florida where he plans to work with the Blackzilians and Amercian Top Team gyms.

“I got offered to come down there a while back by the owner of the gym,” said Townsend. “I just don’t have anybody that pushes me here. I have some guys that can push me in the boxing area, and I have some guy that can push me in the jiu-jitsu area. But I don’t really have anybody that is my size and my weight that handle me when it is full on MMA.”

Here recently, Townsend re-signed a four-fight contract with Absolute Championship Berkut, a fight promotion based out of Russia. Townsend’s upcoming match will be the Hampton native’s third fight with the ACB organization, and he is currently 1-1 in ACB fights after topping Husein Kushagov in ACB 70 by submission in September of last year.

“It is just a good deal all the way around,” said Townsend about his contract with ACB. “You know, I have been in this sport to make money.  It is the only reason I have done this. I have never wanted fame or any of that. I just wanted to make money doing something that I love.”

During his foray into politics, Townsend announced his retirement from MMA and even though he is putting on the gloves once again, Townsend said that he does not plan to do so for the long term.

“I am not looking to be in the game for another five or six years,” said Townsend. “I am looking at fighting one or two more years, maybe. Just going to see where it takes me. It could three more fights. It could last eight more fights. I don’t know. I feel rejuvenated, and I am happy with everything right now. But like I said, I want to make as much money as I can.”