Josh Kaldani is aiming to stretch his perfect record all the way to a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship
Stockton mixed martial arts fighter Josh Kaldani is aiming to stretch his perfect record all the way to a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
A solid wrestler with plenty of thunder in his hands, crowd pleaser Kaldani is unbeaten in his seven-bout MMA career, with all but two of those wins arriving inside the distance.
And the ambitious 25-year-old is eager to keep his flawless run going as he hopes to compete one day in the sport’s biggest platform, the UFC.
“I don’t want to rush it, but whichever sport you are in you want to be at the highest level possible,” he said.
“In MMA, that means the UFC. I just want to fight in the UFC and have a fan base and be exciting as well.”
Lightweight Kaldani is trained by Wing Chun and Brazilian jiu jitsu specialist Alan Orr and Peter Irving and last fought in November in Orr’s adopted homeland New Zealand, where he has opened his own gym.
Ben Te Tai became the latest opponent to feel the southpaw’s wrath as he was taken out by second round punches.
Kaldani is currently rehabbing a shoulder injury before he gets his next fight lined up.
But whoever he faces next he is sure his attack-minded philosophy is perfectly suited to shine some time in the UFC.
“My attitude is all or nothing. I want to lay it all on the line,” he said.
“I don’t want to be a boring fighter.
“I would rather have an average career and be an exciting fighter than a successful career and be a boring one.
“Even when I spar more technical people in training I tend to get the better of it, because I just seem to want it more.
“Hopefully that will to win can take me a long way.”
Looking back to his younger days, Kaldani admits he had it tough academically at Blakeston School as he struggled with dyslexia, but he has always been athletic.
He played left-back for Hartlepool United but after suffering a broken ankle his natural desire to fight led him into MMA when he was 16.
After starting out learning the fundamentals of no-gi grappling with Chris Crossan and former Cage Rage lightweight champion Abdul Mohamed on Teesside, Kaldani says he has gone from strength to strength both inside and outside the cage.
And he is looking to the future with renewed confidence.
“I was shy as a kid. I wasn’t very clever or good at reading and writing, and I didn’t mix well,” he said.
“People would have a go at me, and I used to get in lots of fights.
“MMA has made me more confident, and Alan Orr has helped me in life as well as training.
“I feel better in my full life, and because I’ve always watched in order to learn, I seem to pick things up quickly.
“I want to keep on winning and try and avoid these little injuries that I’ve got now that can hold you back.”
Kaldani’s desire to master his craft has seen him make regular visits to Nottingham to train with explosive former UFC, Strikeforce and Bellator welterweight Paul Daley.
Daley is a stand-up fighting specialist who is enjoying a successful return to his kickboxing roots with three straight knockout wins, and says Kaldani has definite UFC possibilities.
“Josh is awesome,” Daley, 31, said. “I’ve had him up at our dojo a lot helping me out sparring.
“His wrestling is phenomenal and he definitely has a lot of potential.”
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