Damian Maru is a professional MMA fighter, fighting out of the Canterbury Fight Centre under famed MMA trainer Karl ‘Coach Hostile’ Webber.

Maru won the ISKA Heavyweight MMA title back in 2018 with a first-round TKO of Mika Maliefulu. He is currently 4-2 in professional MMA and is slated to fight in a four-man tournament in the upcoming Eternal 50 card in Auckland on Saturday, 22^nd February. The most experienced MMA fighter in the tournament, Maru hopes to once again become a champion – this time of a bigger promotion in Eternal, which is mostly Australia-based.

Harry Greenfield sat down with Damian to ask him a few questions after his Saturday training session at the Canterbury Fight Centre.

 ‘The Don’ – Love the nickname bro. Tell us more.

“Coach Hostile gave it to me. He said I was a boss in my own little world.”

You were the dark horse when fighting for the title against Mika. What was it like to get a New Zealand title shot so early in your MMA career?

“I was nervous going in. Everyone including the promoters told me I was gonna lose. I was just like a warm-up fight for Mika’s big comeback. They all thought it was gonna be an easy win for him, but we upset their plans haha. That’s what me and Coach Hostile always say: ‘the Don and Coach Hostile come to spoil the party’, hahaha.”

How did that feel once you were the champ?

“It was pretty unreal to get the win like that. But that’s MMA though, the upsets can come in a flash just like that!”

Damian, Coach Hostile, and CFC training partners, just after winning the ISKA title in 2018 (Photo credit: Nicole Randall RAW Photography)

Who is your toughest fight in the upcoming tournament?

“I wanna say it’s gonna be Burns from CKB. Just because he’s got good credentials, training with a good team. He won gold at the World Championships in jiu jitsu at purple belt last year, which is a bit intimidating, but I’m hoping to ground-and-pound that purple belt into his face from the top, haha.”

Describe your gym and current trainer.

“I train at the Canterbury Fight Centre in the Universal Vale Tudo team under Coach Hostile (Karl Webber). We are located in Aranui, Christchurch. We’ve had some pretty good training partners and coaches in our gym throughout the years.

“The training itself is pretty intense. Like, at the moment, in fight camp I’m in my fifth week of a seven-week camp. We train 3 hours a day, five to six days a week. That’s a mixture of jiu jitsu, kickboxing, boxing, wrestling, MMA, weights, cardio, everything. That’s what you’ve gotta do if you want to be a professional fighter; you have to treat it professionally. So that’s what I do, eh.”

Damian in the 'Shark Tank' at Canterbury fight Centre, as coach Karl Webber looks on (Photo credit: Harry Greenfield)

If you become the Eternal MMA Champion, will you be gunning for a UFC shot at some point?

“Ummm, I honestly don’t know to tell you the truth. I really wanted to get into XFC and AFC; smash a few of those guys over and take their belts. But yeah, anything goes.”

Almost certainly there will be UFC personnel in the crowd, due to the UFC Fight Night the following day.

“Hard out. But win or lose, I’m not too worried as long as I fight well. The best fight I could fight would not be like a 1-minute knockout; it would be me grinding it out with the other dude for three rounds, so I get to show the full range of my weapons and tactics throughout the fight so people can see it. So, I don’t care if I win or lose, as long as I put a good fight on for the people watching.

A lot of my fights have finished real fast, you know. I don’t have many which have gone the distance. I think I’ve only had one fight that’s gone to three rounds; the rest have been over real fast. I don’t like that, though, because people just think you’re a big dude who can only knock people out. You know, but I really wanna show my true skill.”

Also, you are known for having surprisingly good cardio for a big guy.

“Yeah that’s what Coach Hostile always says: ‘a big guy is dangerous, but a big fit guy is even more dangerous’. He knows, because he’s such an experienced coach, that a lot of the heavyweights are not fit; they can’t even go one round of five minutes. So, he makes me work so hard on cardio that it’s not a weakness it’s a strength.

That way I don’t have to worry about cardio, and I can focus more on my strategy, game-plan, and my weapons. That’s what I like about Karl.”

Will I see you at the UFC the next day?

“Definitely. If I win, we’re gonna party all night haha.”

Sweet, I’ll see you there! Thanks for the interview Damian.

You can follow Damian at his athlete Facebook page. If you’re in Auckland for the UFC, don’t miss Eternal 50 the night before! For tickets visit the Eventbrite website.