Austin O'Connor has two NCAA wrestling championships on his resume, but he always felt his future lay in mixed martial arts (MMA).
Despite winning two titles at the University of North Carolina and becoming the school's first five-time All-American, the 26-year-old prospect planned to continue with combat sports after college. Part of that decision was driven by his love of mixed martial arts, but O'Connor was also realistic about his future in wrestling, a sport where most athletes dream of one day becoming an Olympic champion.
“There's a lot of aspects that come into play,” O'Connor told MMA Fighting. “The big one for me was the weight class. If you look at wrestling, the crowning achievement of the sport would be the Olympics. They're getting rid of the 70kg weight class in the Olympics. Yes, it's worlds. [Championships] I could lose weight and be a world champion, but I want to be an Olympic champion. I can either make 143 pounds or [pounds]65 kilograms or 74 kilograms, i.e. up to 165 kilograms [pounds]one too big, one too small, especially on weigh-in day. That was it.
“Making the U.S. team is as hard now as winning the Olympics. You might have a few good years in wrestling, but every year you're competing at home against the best wrestlers in the world. It's tough to get on that team.”
That reality, combined with his interest in trying mixed martial arts, led O'Connor to talk to coaches at the University of North Carolina about making connections in the fight business.
The two coaches, four-time All-American Coleman Scott and assistant coach Jamil Kelly, both wrestled at Oklahoma State University, which coincidentally was the same university that UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier attended, and where the three became friends.
“I asked them one day after wrestling, 'I'm thinking about getting into MMA, do you have any connections?'” O'Connor said.[My coach] Said, '[Cormier] “He actually contacted me a few weeks ago,” I said. “I wish you'd told me!” he said he'd contact DC, and we just clicked. He's been helping me out for the last three or four years now.”
Teaming with Cormier has paid off a lot more than O'Connor ever imagined.
The former two-division UFC champion has served as a mentor, coach and manager, helping to introduce O'Connor to the best trainers and teammates to make the transition from wrestling to combat sports as smooth as possible.
As O'Connor prepared for his mixed martial arts debut, he was trained by Cormier at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, which is also home to numerous champions, including current UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and current Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov.
“I think he was a great mentor,” O'Connor said of Cormier. “He made me a better mentor. [AKA] In training, he has the best partners around him. He does a great job of just being in the room and coaching me. He's a great coach. But I feel like he gets a little too excited, trying to get me out there, trying to make me fight. Sometimes I tell him to slow down and take his time, and he's very understanding. He's always in my ear saying, “Come on! Let's do it!”
“I think we're both really excited about this first fight and where my journey takes us. I'm sure he's happy to be on that journey with us. It's been great working with him.”
O'Connor is grateful that Cormier took such an interest in him because it made his path to the mixed martial arts world much easier than most unbeaten prospects might imagine.
“I love it,” O'Connor says. “DC is an amazing guy. He's helped me in every way I could ever imagine, and it's been great to have had the opportunity to develop my career under his guidance. With him by my side, I know I'll always be on the right track and doing the right things. I'm so lucky to have found DC.”
As for the future, O'Connor doesn't want to get too far ahead, preferring to take everything one day at a time.
He knows that with not only a two-time NCAA champion but also a legend like Cormier on his side, he'll attract more attention than other up-and-coming fighters.
O'Connor is determined to take it slow and easy with his fighting career, but is happy to embrace the attention he will receive now that he is making his debut. In many ways, he was already performing under intense pressure when he won his wrestling title, and he's actually enjoying experiencing that same feeling now that he's competing in MMA.
“The NCAA Tournament, the NCAA Finals, I feel like you're in a pretty bright spotlight,” O'Connor said, “and I'm used to that energy and the attention. I think my best games have been when I'm in the spotlight.”
“I've always performed well under pressure and I think it's the same in MMA. I feel ready and I welcome it.”
O'Connor will fight on the main card of Fury FC 91 on Sunday, broadcasting live on UFC Fight Pass.
