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UFC heavyweight newcomer Mark Godbeer (11-2) will make his promotional debut this Saturday evening at UFC Fight Night Belfast.



The British fighter is the former BAMMA heavyweight champion and comes into the organization having three fights on the bounce.



The 32-year-old has dominated the British heavyweight scene for the last number of years and has had a long journey to get to his UFC debut this weekend. Speaking exclusively to Flocombat earlier today, the man from Somerset, England explained what it meant to him to finally be rubbing shoulders with the world’s heavyweight elite.



“My journey to the big show hasn’t been an easy one, but I don’t think anyone’s journey to the UFC ever is,” Godbeer said. “I’ve had a bit of a rough ride, I’ve had injuries, contract issues with other promotions and there have been times financially where it’s been hard, especially bringing up family and stuff.



“But, we are here mate, we are finally here and it feels good.”



Godbeer faces American Justin Ledet who is unbeaten in all of his seven professional fights (7-0). The British heavyweight is aware of his opponent’s pedigree, but think that come Saturday night his skillset will give him the edge.



“Justin Ledet, yeah, I think it’s the perfect opponent for me—perfect,” Godbeer said. “Style wise he seems to be a standup guy. I know he’s also got a BJJ background, but so have I. We both like to keep it standing, but so I. I just think it’s the perfect opponent, perfect style.



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“He’s got very good hands, very good boxing, but I know his strong points and I also know his weak points. It’s a game of chess at this level isn’t it. I got to come up with a gameplan to do the job and I confident that gameplan will get my hand raised at the end of the night.”



The former BAMMA heavyweight champion enters a UFC heavyweight division that is currently struggling to establish contenders, Godbeer believes that with a few good performances he can quickly establish himself as a real contender.



“Obviously for me it’s about starting myself down at the bottom again and working my way up,” Godbeer said. “My end goal is to grab that title though you know. There’s no point me coming into an organization without me visualizing myself as the champion—it’d be stupid to come into any organization and not think you are good enough to be the champion.



“It’s one step at a time. One fight at a time. I got to get Justin out the way and then move on to the next and just keep plugging and then one day that’s my goal.”

While Godbeer fell short of providing a pinpoint accurate Mystic Mac like prediction, he did give any new fans who’ve not seen him fight an idea of what to expect on Saturday night.



“I hate doing predictions, but I’m confident,” Godbeer added. “I’m confident I can get a second round KO, but let’s see.”