Karl Donaldson insists he has no interest in the celebrity hype of Aaron Chalmers and is concentrating on making a statement to the BAMMA bosses on Friday night.
The 36-year-old Brit was called in to face the reality TV star turned MMA fighter in Chalmers’ first bout in his hometown of Newcastle.
Chalmers was fast tracked into BAMMA due to his celebrity status and is expected to attract a slew of new fans to BAMMA 33 with the backing of the Geordie Shore crew behind him.
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BAMMA will be hoping Chalmers can continue his unbeaten streak to further raise his profile, but Donaldson insists he is ready to halt the Chalmers hype train in its tracks.
‘Everyone has got a right to start out at the end of the day, time will tell if he’s up to it,’ Donaldson told Metro.co.uk.
‘A fight is a fight at the end of the day and that’s what I’ve come to do. Regardless of what anyone says.
‘I want to make a statement to BAMMA. To show them what I’m made of. Show people what I’m all about.’
Chalmers’ MMA career has attracted a lot of criticism with professional fighters like Norman Parke warning of the dangers of publicity stunts in such a dangerous sport.
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The 30-year-old has already proven he was not interested in a one-time pay off and has insisted he will continue fighting.
Donaldson said he could care less if BAMMA handpicked him as an easy opponent for Chalmers and revealed the MMA promotion had been watching him for a while.
The Londoner, who will be making his pro debut, is now seeking a better fight deal after the hype his fight with Chalmers has generated.
‘I’m negotiating because there’s been a lot of hype for this fight. It’s been blowing up [and my contract should reflect that],’ he said.
‘I signed a fight deal with BAMMA. But, we’re still negotiating now.’
He added: ‘BAMMA was looking at poaching me for a while and then obviously the chance to fight Aaron came up.
‘They’d already been watching me for a while, I didn’t get the deal because of the Aaron fight.
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‘They called me having done their homework on me.’
Donaldson was originally boxing on the amateur circuit, before deciding to switch to MMA and explained he had no specific game plan to expose Chalmers’ weakness.
‘I don’t take any notice of celebrities. I’ll focus on me. I know what I’m capable of,’ Donaldson said.
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‘I know how hard I train and my team knows me inside out. It’s a simple plan to go in there and listen to what they tell me.
‘I know what work I’ve put in over the years. I just have to go out there and get the job done.’
Donaldson will get the chance to impress against Chalmers with BAMMA confirming the Newcastle card will be shown live on ITV.
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