Get To Know – Dontale “Lord Kong” Mayes

Dontale Mayes (7-3) earned his much-awaited UFC contract on his third spell on ‘Dana White"s Contender Seires". Mayes first appeared on the show in 2017. Unfortunately, on that night, it wasn"t to be. He suffered a tough loss to the heavy ground and pound of Allen Crowder.

The second stint on the show came in July of 2018. This time, Mayes came back ferocious and corrected his mistakes from his previous appearance. With round two coming to a close, 11 seconds remained on the timer. Mayes secured a ground and pound victory of his own v Mitchell Sipe, who was riding a four-fight win streak previous to that. Although an impressive performance, Dana White was still reluctant to hand Mayes the contract.

The third time was definitely the charm for Dontale Mayes. His next appearance on the show came in 2019, it had to be all or nothing. Mayes was successful in securing that contract he"d been grinding all these years for and what a way to do it. With one second to spare in round one, Mayes pulls off a beautiful left cross to then finish the fight via ground and pound once again.

The contract was awarded, now it was time to showcase his skill-set on the biggest stage. Mayes made his official UFC debut at UFC on ESPN+ 20 v a tough opponent in Ciryl Gane. Gane previously had a bout under the bright lights, giving him a slight advantage to the big crowds. After a hard-fought back and forth battle, Mayes was caught in a heel hook in round three.

Interview

How did you get into fighting and is there a reason why you chose to go down this career path?

Mayes – “Fighting always came natural to me since I was a kid. I remember watching any type of fight scene growing up and would try on one my cousins"

Do you have any plans after fighting, is your plan to stay inside the industry or step away from fighting completely?

Mayes – “After it’s all said and done. I’m hoping to go legendary. I wanna open up a gym in Louisville because I feel martial arts can and should be bigger in Louisville, Kentucky."

If you never had found MMA and chased the dream, where do you think you’d be sat now or what job would you be doing?

Mayes – “I feel like everything happens for a reason. Between things I can control and things I can’t, I"ve had a lot of fork in the road type situations in life that I feel led me to spot I’m in now."

What"s your favourite martial art and why? Do you like the striking aspect of the game or the grappling?

Mayes – “I can’t think of my favourite martial art off top of my head, but if I could I’d choose and learn them all. I like seeing clean combinations land but I also like seeing someone’s will get broke on the wrestling end of things."

Have you got any fighters who have inspired you on this journey, past or present and how have they had an effect on you?

Mayes – “I remember seeing Jon Jones win the belt for the first time against Shogun. That alone inspired me. I already felt like I could and wanted to do it but after seeing Jon do that for the first time it gave me extra motivation."

What does it mean to you to have been able to represent yourself on promotions like the UFC?

Mayes – “Being in the UFC means more than a lot to me. The ultimate goal is to become the UFC heavyweight champion. To do that you have to go toe to toe with the best competition in the world."

Make sure to get behind Dontale Mayes and follow his journey in the sport. Social media links are below.

• Facebook – Dontale KING KONG MAYES
• Twitter – @lordkongmayes
• Instagram – lord_kong_mayes

Follow me on Twitter at @LGS_MMA and follow us @OT_Heroics for more great content!

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