When Joel Downey-Cave stepped into the cage at the Full Contact Contender 27 event on December 19, he was fighting for more than himself, his team, or his career.
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The Goulburn native was fighting for his mother, who was then on life support in hospital.
She, Downey-Cave said, was his biggest motivation against Jonno Mears as both men looked for victory in their eighth professional fights.
Mears, a Lancastrian with a record of five wins and two losses coming in to the bout, was arguably the toughest opponent of Downey-Cave's career as they faced off in Bolton, England.
But there was little he could do to stop the Australian, who utilised a vastly-improved wrestling and ground game to scrap out a unanimous decision victory.
After Downey-Cave's hand was raised, he was relieved to have claimed his first win in over three years.
And then, in a fairytale moment to cap off an incredibly satisfying night, one of the first people to reach out was his mum.
"I won my fight, I'm stoked, and then I went to the hospital on Monday morning," Downey-Cave said.
"And then I get a Facebook message from my mum. I messaged my sister and ask who's got Mum's phone, because I thought it was her partner.
"I message Mum and say 'What's going on?' and she replied saying she had her phone back."
Having been in hospital for more than six weeks at that point with an illness that had baffled her doctors, Downey-Cave said his mother's prognosis had been extremely negative, and she was not expected to live through the ordeal.
In a state of disbelief, he called her after their initial messages, and she answered. Though she could not speak audibly because of her breathing tubes, it was enough for the 24-year-old to know that she really had woken up.
"I start speaking to her, and she's trying to respond. I can't hear what she's saying, but I can hear her breathing," Downey-Cave said.
"I just say 'Hi Mum, I'm not sure what you remember, but I'm in the UK, I fought last night, and I won.'
"I hung up, and then she messaged me and says 'Sorry you can't hear me.' I asked her how much she remembers, and she said not much.
"I said 'You've been in there for six weeks, you've had us all scared. I trained hard for you, I fought and I won for you, and I love you so much.' She replied saying 'I love you so much and I'm proud of you.'
"And then we were just texting like normal, it spun me out. It was like a fairytale."
It was the best possible conclusion to a tough period for Downey-Cave, who initially moved to Liverpool in June of 2019.
His first two fights in England did not go his way, which was as much due to disruptions outside the cage as the calibre of his opponents.
The first of Downey-Cave's overseas fights took place on November 9, 2019, which he said was "probably too soon" as he spent the first six months in the UK looking for accommodation.
After that initial loss, and a further 18 months without a bout due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Downey-Cave said he was "chomping at the bit" to get a fight.
In June last year, he got his wish with a short-notice fight against Omiel Brown in the vaunted Cage Warriors promotion.
With just seven days to prepare for the welterweight scrap (one division above his preferred lightweight division), Downey-Cave described the fight as a "Hail Mary" which didn't go his way.
Shortly after that night, his Visa came to an end and Downey-Cave returned to Australia without knowing whether or not he could return to the UK due to COVID restrictions.
"All the while I was getting ready for the fight, I was applying for Visa extensions," he said.
"I had the fight, and my Visa doesn't get extended, and so four days after the fight I use the purse to buy a flight home."
Having promised his partner that he would return to the UK in 10 weeks, Downey-Cave spent the next three months in Australia working as a labourer during the statewide lockdown in NSW before returning to England 12 weeks after he left.
During his time overseas, Downey-Cave has trained with Next Generation MMA in Liverpool, which houses a number of prominent fighters including multiple Cage Warriors champions, and current UFC fighters Paddy Pimblett and Molly McCann.
With a base in standup that he honed to a high level with the Goulburn Martial Arts Academy, his weakness was undoubtedly on the ground, as evidenced by the five submission losses on his record.
This, he said, is why Next Generation MMA was a perfect fit, as it had a reputation for producing excellent wrestlers and grapplers.
"Next Gen has some of the best grapplers in Europe, it's a grappling gym," Downey-Cave said.
"For me to go there with my striking skillset, to then raise the other aspects of my game has worked out so well. And it's not just the jiu-jitsu, it's the wrestling too. My main training partner here is a savage wrestler, so he and I are going toe-to-toe every day."
The improvements on the ground were clear to see in December, as Downey-Cave took Mears down in two of the three rounds and dominated position on the ground.
And while his improved physical skills were on clear display, less obvious but equally important was the mental acuity he had honed since his time in quarantine when he landed back in the UK.
To go three rounds for the first time in his career also boosted Downey-Cave's confidence in his fitness, which had never been tested to such a degree before.
"It felt really good," he said.
"To win the decision also gives me faith in my conditioning. I've been worried before because I've gotten tired before, but now that [win] reaffirms that 15 minutes is no problem.
"A fighter's greatest fear isn't getting hurt, it's getting tired. There's nothing worse, when you're tired it means you're defenceless - that's terrifying."
Coming off this win, he has his sights set high and hopes to be fighting in the UFC by 2023.
A five-year plan that Downey-Cave recently came up with outlines a series of goals which are ambitious, but achievable in his eyes.
"The first two goals I ticked off straight away, I wanted to get back to the UK and have a fight before the end of the year," he said.
"Now my record's three and five, in 12 months I want to have three or four fights, so that would put me at seven and five.
"At the year-and-a-half mark, halfway into 2023, if I have another two or three fights by then could put me at 10 and five, and that's my entry to the UFC. That'd be a six or seven-fight win streak and a positive record in a year-and-a-half."
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