When Chad Anheliger reached the midpoint of his current seven-fight winning run, Brady Hiestand was still attending high school. Now the two are set to collide inside the Rise FC cage on Saturday night.
Calgary's Anheliger (9-5) is looking to defend his Rise FC bantamweight title for the very first time against Spokane's Hiestand (4-0) at Rise FC 5 in Chilliwack, B.C.
At 32, Anheliger ranks among the top bantamweights in Canada, riding momentum from his current win streak, and he insists he wants to show the world once more why he deserves a shot at the highest level.
"I am 100 per cent confident I'm ready to get in there with the best in the world in the UFC. I think I can beat half of those guys today," said Anheliger in an interview with MMA Empire.
"The longer I keep fighting locally, it doesn't hurt me; it just makes me better and more confident. I would love to move on and up, and if something happens right after this one, I'm most certainly ready for it. If it doesn't, it's not going to break my heart. I've been doing this a long time and I don't mind doing it a little longer."
For the 20-year-old Hiestand, this bout represents a major jump forward in his career across every dimension — competition level, stage presence, and stakes involved.
Hiestand described this moment as the start of everything he's worked toward his entire career, expressing enthusiasm at testing himself in the spotlight of a main-event title clash.
"I'm only 20, so I'm still new and still growing, but I'm excited I'm taking these steps, and every time I take a step I succeed," said Hiestand in an interview with MMA empire.
"I just hope I can keep doing that, and I'm excited to keep going. This is only the beginning and I want to keep growing as much as I can."
New Opponent, Same Mindset
Anheliger was initially scheduled to face Jamie Siraj in what was expected to be one of the most prominent all-Canadian bantamweight matchups in recent regional MMA history.
When Siraj withdrew due to injury, Anheliger admitted he felt disappointed at first, but his excitement quickly returned upon learning that Hiestand had accepted the call-up.
"Big fights get me excited; that's what I want when I fight. That's why I moved up to challenge Craig Maclean and that's why I was excited about the Jamie fight," said Anheliger.
"I have to give it up to Rise FC and Sabah Fadai because they found me an awesome opponent. The kid has won nine in a row, he's undefeated as a pro, he's young, and he's big. There was a little shock initially where I was kind of bummed about Jamie, but I still think I'm lucky to get such a good opponent on such short notice."
With five of his nine wins arriving via knockout or TKO, and Hiestand's reputation built on grappling and jiu-jitsu expertise, Anheliger says he expects to hold the significant edge on the feet.
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