At 24-years old, Dylan Cala has already become one of the brightest bantamweight prospects in mixed martial arts
For Dylan Cala, becoming the best in the world is not just a goal or a saying, it has become a way he lives his life. At 24-years of age, and only six professional fights, Cala has become one of the hottest prospects, not only in the bantamweight division, but in mixed martial arts.
“The Future” recently took home his first piece of championship gold when he defeated Roufusport product Chris Wright in the main event of Valor Fights 41 for the company’s interim bantamweight title. It is somewhat of an anomaly to see a young fighter, with less than two years professional experience, garner such attention. Cala, who is trained by primarily by Jeff Jimmo, as well as the MMA Lab, was prepared for the attention, and is taking all of it in stride.
“I’m making the best of it,” Cala said while speaking about the attention surrounding him on the SFLC Podcast. “I’ve always known this was going to come. I got started in MMA as early as I could and I’ve had a couple of setbacks, had to deal with some prior injuries from wrestling my whole life. Honestly, I thought this was a slow start for where I wanted to be. I already wanted to be halfway overtaking the UFC (bantamweight) division right now. In my mind, its a little bit behind where I wanted to be, so that’s why I want to get right back in the cage and stack these wins up, fighting these top guys.”
Cala has shown the skill-set and finishing prowess, finishing five out of six victories. Cala’s biggest attribute as it relates to success in MMA, is not the skill learned inside of the gym, but a confidence that can only be learned, and not taught. That combination may just get Cala to his goal of competing inside the UFC octagon and becoming a world champion.
“Everyone works hard at this thing,” Cala said. “Everyone says they want to be the best. It’s really a matter of, if you’re not telling yourself that you’re going to be the best at this thing, then where are you going to be? You’re a dummy for another guy, you’re just going to get your ass whipped by another dude. I train every single day in a way where that’s never going to happen. Getting better everyday is a process of course, but the overall goal is to be the best in the world.”
Confidence by athletes in the sport of mixed martial arts can usually be matched by doubt and negativity of its fans. Cala has set the bar very high for himself with zero fear of failure.
“I know at the end of the day I’m going to be a world champion,” Cala said. “I feel like you get a lot of guys who are scared to say that because if they fail, then what? Most of these guys aren’t out here doing this, most of these people in the world have never stepped in a cage, never had a fight in their life. I know what I’m doing what I need to do to be the best in the world. I just need to keep doing what I’m doing, keep putting these guys away and I know my time will come. I’ll be able to say at the end of it, ‘I told you mother fuc*ers!’”
Cala sees himself getting that potential life-changing phone call no later than 2018. In the meantime, he just wants to keep fighting all comers to continue to build his name while he waits for the phone to ring.
“If everything goes as planned and I can take a couple of these top guys out by the end of the year, then I don’t see why, by next year, I shouldn’t be fighting in the UFC.”
“When I get to the UFC, I’ll start calling out names. Right now, it doesn’t matter, these guys are just bodies. It doesn’t matter who it is, doesn’t matter if it’s a guy to get me in the UFC, or a guy who is 20-0 because he’s been fighting cans, it doesn’t matter. I just want to put these guys away, and get to fight the guys I should be, the best guys in the world.”