Eternal MMA pays tribute to its ‘Icons’ who have contributed to the growth and success of not only Eternal MMA, but Australian combat sports in its entirety. All the way from the grass roots of local martial arts education to the pinnacle of international competition, we salute those who have been vital in guiding Australian mixed martial arts in its endeavours at every level.
This week, Eternal MMA is proud to profile Callan ‘The Rockstar’ Potter. Callan is a former Eternal MMA lightweight champion who competed three times under the Eternal MMA banner, winning all three of his bouts.
Professional career record:
18-9-0
▪ 10 wins via submission.
▪ 6 wins via knockout.
▪ 2 wins via decision.
Eternal MMA record:
3-0-0
▪ 2 wins via submission.
▪ 1 win via decision.
Eternal MMA events:
Three events in total:
- • Eternal 20 vs Isaac Tisdell – Won the Eternal MMA Lightweight Championship.
- • Eternal 29 vs Brentin Mumford – Defended the Eternal MMA Lightweight Championship.
- • Eternal 40 vs B.J. Bland.
Eternal MMA achievements/accolades.
- • Eternal MMA Lightweight Championship (one time)
- ▪ One successful title defence.
Fond memory fighting for Eternal MMA:
Callan: I’ve earned plenty of great memories at Eternal. As far as sticking to the fights, going through that real ‘transition moment’ that some people have had to go through in their fights; being exhausted, being bloody, being beaten up and standing up off the stool coming into the third-round against B.J. Bland is a moment that will stick with me forever. He’s a super tough guy, and I knew that my gas tank was almost on empty and his wasn’t far above (empty) either. Just knowing that it was going to be one of those rounds was a pretty special moment.
Toughest Eternal MMA opponent:
Callan: All three of those guys were ridiculously tough. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my career, but something I pride myself on is I always try to find the toughest fights. As much as they were all tough, I really have to put Brentin (Mumford) up in that slot. I don’t think I’m alone in saying this, but during that period, Brentin was the bogeyman of the lightweight division. He was big, he was knocking people out with crazy techniques. I was always chasing tough fights, but I just knew that when that was going to get booked, that was going to be a hard fight.
Current Eternal MMA fighter you enjoy watching:
Callan: I’m huge into the local scene at the moment. I love the UFC, but more so than the UFC, I love the local scene. Obviously, Eternal is the premiere promotion on the local scene at the moment. Very easy answer – I’m loving Kaleb Rideout, the ‘Krazy Horse’. That kid has won me right over. I love the way he gets about it. He took on Kevin Jousset when no one was lining up to take that fight. He didn’t take that fight (for the sake of) being tough and taking the fight, he came out with the obvious intention to win and fought his backside off. I’m a massive fan of the Krazy Horse.
Greatest career achievement:
Callan: Obviously getting my hand raised in the UFC cage, that’s really hard to beat. (There are) two things that I really hang my hat on besides obviously taking hard fights whenever I could; one is never missing weight. Never once have I missed weight on the scales which I’m really proud of. Two, my whole Jiu-Jitsu career, every belt I’ve ever received is from the same coach from start to finish. In a sport where people are shifting and moving, trying to find a better answer here and there, I’m very proud that I’ve taken every single belt that I’ve got from Jamie Murray. I like to think that that’s a highlight of the personality and traits that I have.
Current involvement with mixed martial arts:
Callan: I deal with a lot of the evening classes (at Resilience Training Centre). We have quite stable of not only a few pro athletes, but a lot of amateur athletes coming through. We have a great coach in Dan Kelly; obviously Dan’s commitments are mixed with Australian Judo. (So), there’s myself, Sam Hayward, who’s a sensational coach, he’s very educated in the sport of MMA. Ben Sosoli is there. Between the four of us, we work quite well. We have guys that have been there a little bit longer, but we all work in unison. There are things that I learn off Ben and Dan and visa-versa. We all share our knowledge together really well.
Life outside of mixed martial arts:
I’m working with a company called ‘Wormald’ – that’s all fire protection. So, I’m working within the portables department there. That’s a full-time position. Three evenings a week – Monday, Wednesday, Friday, I go to the gym. Tuesday, Thursday I’m back home with the family. Weekends are now very open. We’ve got the caravan now and I like to spend as much time (as possible) jumping in the caravan and going out. My poor now-wife has had to spend many years being dictated by a fighter career. Now that it’s been pulled up-stumps, she’s very happy to take the lead role in what our plans are for most weekends, which I’m happy to follow.
What do you hope your legacy will be as a competitive martial artist:
Callan: Legacy is sometimes a big thing; I don’t want to say that it doesn’t mean much to me. The people that are close to me they are the ones that I worry about. The ones that have worked close to me and seen the inside battles, they’re the people whose opinions matter to me. People on the
outside are going to form their own opinions, but I hope that my body of work speaks for itself. Not (necessarily) the wins that I’ve got, the accolades I’ve achieved or the or the titles that I’ve won, but the way I’ve carried myself. Like I’ve said, I’ve never missed weight, never turned down a hard fight and sadly been put in many dubious positions in a lot of my fights that I’ve still managed to come back and win. So, I’d like to think that while I might not have been blessed with a lot of the greatest skill, I’ve shown a bit of a ‘blue-collar’ grit in my career and maybe that’s how I’ll be remembered.