Michael McDaniel, a one time professional Basketball player, turned MMA fighter in 2012, has received a shock communication from UFC president Dana White in the form of a phone call last Thursday regarding UFC New Zealand. The 47 year old fighter, who originally moved to Australia from Hawaii, set his sights on getting to the UFC and now it’s becoming a reality. Hailing as the KO artist in the XFC with the fastest ever recorded history in the organisations history Dana White was impressed with the dogged determination from McDaniel and thought he was deserving of a shot for his debut.
“At first I thought it was my friends playing a joke on me. Then Dana gave me a number to call back and I was gobsmacked. When Dana picked up the phone up and asked, ” Do you believe me now? You are on the preliminary card for New Zealand!”
McDaniel is set to fight on May 20 for the XFC at the Logan Metro Centre against Integrated James Callaghan in the Welterweight division.