Jack Shore is ready to live his mixed martial arts dream after taking his place among the world’s best fighters.
The Abertillery-born ace is intent on emulating the achievements of Irishman Conor McGregor in the Ultimate Fighting Championship where he won the featherweight and lightweight titles.
And he would love to emulate boxer Joe Calzaghe and fight in front of thousands of fellow countrymen at the Principality Stadium.
Calzaghe won in front of more than 50,000 spectators in Cardiff, winning the WBO, WBC and WBA World belts by beating Denmark’s Michael Kessler on a unanimous decision.
“It would be nice to fight at Principality one day,” says Shore. “Maybe if I can get that superstar status in the UFC we could have rugby union’s Judgement Day in the daytime and me fighting on a show in the night.”
He is ecstatic that his long-held dream of UFC status has been achieved, saying: “It means the world to me to get there, I’m a young boy from the Valleys so to be fighting on the world stage is something people talk about for a long time.
“UFC want guys who are winning and finishing fights. I’m ready now.
“I’m keen to fight in the UFC this year. I believe I can compete with anyone, whether that is guys who have just signed or guys in the top five.”
UFA officials have been watching Shore’s progress for a long time.
“They spoke to my manager when I was 3-0 about signing up, but I was too young then and didn’t have the experience needed,” added Shore.
“But now I’m a World champion, I’ve had 11 fights as a pro and 10 as an amateur. That’s a lot of experience.”
“It’s been a long time coming and all the hard work has paid off.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity and can’t wait to show that I can hang with the best guys in the world.
“Thanks to my family, friends, sponsors, coaches and teammates at Tillery Combat, and my manager, Graham Boylan.
Bantamweight Shore is the fourth Welshman to be signed by the UFC.
The 24-year-old follows in the footsteps of middleweights Jack Marshman and John Phillips plus fellow bantamweight Brett Johns
He joins the ranks of McGregor, Michael Bisping, Gegard Mousasi, Jack Marshman, Martin Kampmann, Dan Hardy, Rose Sexton, Antonio Silva and Dennis Siver as former Cage Warriors champions to make the jump to the UFC
Cage Warriors President Boylan announced Shore has signed with the Las Vegas-based promotion, saying: “Super happy to hand Jack his UFC contract,” Boylan wrote. “Such an ambassador for our sport.”
Unbeaten Shore, coached by dad Richard, claimed the vacant 135-pound CW belt with a third-round TKO of Mike Ekundayo last December. ‘Tank’ then defended the crown with a submission of Scott Malone at Cage Warriors 104 at the Viola Arena in Cardiff Bay.
It was initially indicated he would defend his title in October before announcing he had signed for the UFC.
No date has yet been announced for the Welshman’s UFC debut.