Chase Boutwell ready to show his best in return to MMA competition

It has been more eight weeks since Macon’s Chase Boutwell qualified for the USA National MMA team that will head to Bahrain for the IMMAF World Championships in November, but Boutwell will be back in the ring Saturday in his home state.

Boutwell will take on undefeated Hunter Thomas for the Valor Title in the 135-pound weight class in Rome. Valor represents the No. 1 MMA promotion in the state of Tennessee.

Boutwell took a week or so off after qualifying for the Bahrain competition and enjoyed living the life of a normal 18-year-old but just for a short while.

“I love to eat and not always the things I need to be eating,” said Boutwell, who admits to having an affinity for ice cream. “I probably weighed about 155 pounds by the time I started training again, but this weight cut down to 135 has probably been the best I have ever had. You don’t want to be having to sweat off a lot of pounds right before the fight, and with the help of my parents and a nutritionist, I feel like I have been able to lose the weight much easier.”

Boutwell said he has a tough test ahead of him against Thomas, who is 23.

“I know he is a little wild, and he is going come straight at me,” Boutwell said. “I mean, I have respect for him, but I am so ready to get in the ring and just show him my best. I really just want to take him out. I think that I am growing as a fighter every day, and I think I am much better than I was eight weeks ago.

“I have had a great camp, and I am ready to go.”

Boutwell’s coach, Bubby Mitchell, of Rush MMA, agrees that Boutwell is ready to fight.

“Since Chase qualified for Bahrain, he has a little more of a target on his back,” Mitchell said. “He is becoming a well-known amateur fighter, and people want to beat him to help make a name for themselves. But Chase is showing the maturity that he needs to show to continue improving. He is taking his diet much more serious, and even though he has a lot of friends here when he comes to train, he is much more serious when it is time to work. I am very happy with where he is right now.

“The training he is doing now is going to pay off when we go to nationals, but it is really one fight at a time. Right now, we are all about Saturday night.”

Rush MMA also will have Homer Mangram, Lathon Lawson, Ronshad Berry and Lindsey Jones on the Rome card.

This story was originally published July 20, 2017 at 2:17 PM with the headline "Chase Boutwell ready to show his best in return to MMA competition."