Beau Gavin returns to action on April 2 after almost three years out of the octagon.
The Huyton-born fighter will make his comeback appearance on the Almighty Fighting Championship show in the Liverpool Olympia.
Gavin was a hot prospect when he turned over to professional after being a two-time holder of the SMFC Lightweight belt in the amateurs.
He is driven now more than ever to reach his childhood dream of achieving world glory in the MMA world.
“Ever since I was a kid, I’ve wanted to be world champion,” he told MerseySportLive.
“I don’t think I will stop until I’ve been world champion whether its Bellator or UFC, that’s my main goal.
“I have other little goals on my way up that you will see but my main goal is being world champion.”
After making the transition to the pro ranks in 2018, he suffered a debut loss to Sweden’s David Jacobsson.
Originally, Gavin was supposed to fight an opponent from Norway but it was cancelled a week before, which left him with little time to no time to study his new opponent.
“To be honest with you, I didn’t know much about Jacobsson,” he said.
“I just thought in my head I’d fight anyone, so I just said ‘yes, no problem’. I didn’t even have a look at him and he was a very good lad for my pro debut.”
A year later he set the record straight, 1-1-0 (Win-Loss-Draw), with a first round submission win over Anthony Craney.
Despite the win, the Liverpudlian felt he was struggling to find his place.
“It was a wobbly few years to be honest, I had fights coming up and they’d pull out,” he said.
“I moved gyms, I was at Aspire. It was a great gym, brilliant gym but I was just trying to find my own feet; where I belong and what’s best for me.
“My Jiu Jitsu went through the roof whilst I was there but I felt I needed to work on my stand-up.
“Last June I had a knee injury, but even before that, the fire was going. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do this anymore.”
The 25-year-old scoped out advice from those around him who have experienced the same emotions.
“I spoke to my good mate Luke Willis, one of the best boxers in the UK in my opinion.
“He said he’s done it before, he sometimes used to lose the fire. He told me to take a month out, spend time with my family and go to the normal gym.
“I’ve always loved my fitness,” he added.
“I took his advice and after four weeks I started to feel the fire come back.
“I still had the injury with my knee meaning I couldn’t really grapple as much. So I spoke to John Gilles from 4 Corners Combat and Fitness Gym who I had known for ages. He said that I’m welcome to come down, so I did and that was it, the fire was back.”
With the motivation back, he now prepares for his upcoming fight against Abdi Farah who is travelling from Norway.
“Training has been great,” he said.
“I haven’t stopped training since September. This camp has been going really good up until now and I’m looking to progress on and it will get even better.
“We’re just over two weeks away now and the plan that we’ve got in place, I’m hoping to execute really well,” he said.
“You can expect a better version than what I used to be, just an absolute complete all round improvement. The Beau Gavin that used to be but even better.”
(Pictures courtesy of Beau Gavin)
