Jesse Bull may still be competing on the amateur level, but he has a crystal-clear picture of where his MMA career is headed.
After claiming a win against Hugh Gleeson at BFL 57 on September 22, the 28-year-old Bull earned himself a title shot at the BFL amateur lightweight belt—and he views that opportunity as nothing more than the opening chapter.
"I live this every single day. I breathe it, I eat it, I dream about it," Bull told reporters during an interview.
"I picture myself standing tall as champion—not just at the amateur level, but as a professional champion."
Once he captures the amateur championship, Bull plans to make the jump into the professional ranks, where he'll set his sights on a pro title.
Though securing a professional belt would represent a major personal milestone, Bull insists his ambitions extend well beyond individual glory.
Hailing from Maskwacis—a compact First Nation settlement nestled in Alberta's Ponoka County—Bull has called this community home for most of his life. Raised in Maskwacis, once referred to as Hobbema, he watched closely the pervasive drug and gang violence plaguing the area, and he's driven to prove to local young people that they don't have to follow that same destructive path.
"I want to do this for my Maskwacis community—to inspire the young people here to become whatever they dream of becoming," Bull shared.
"Nobody from my community has ever reached this level before. I've become a role model to plenty of young boys out here, and I want that title to cement my influence on them."
Bull entered the world of MMA at age 20 when local hero Jason Zorthian organized a training program at the community recreation centre.
After shining through the program, Bull and his cousins kept pushing forward, teaching themselves new moves by poring over YouTube tutorials and searching Google for tips.
Even as he picked up techniques online, Bull never trained inside a traditional gym—he developed his craft entirely outside of one.
Over time, Bull and several fellow local athletes transformed part of their recreation centre into their very own training space dubbed Wellness Warriors.
"We installed padded walls, laid down mats, and hung up heavy bags," Bull explained.
"Basically, we customized the space to suit what we needed. That's all we've got, and that's all we're working with."
Bull's fight career got off to a rocky start—he went winless in his first three amateur bouts, a stretch that might have sent many younger fighters packing.
Since then, he's compiled three consecutive victories, and he credits much of his ability to persevere through those difficult early outings to his uncle, coach, and mentor, Taylor Bull.
"I refused to let my uncle's faith in me go to waste. He's been with me since day one, shaping me into the fighter I am right now," Bull said.
"One of the things he constantly reminded me was that those first three fights weren't defeats—they were lessons."
Taylor has always taught this philosophy to every student under his guidance: never obsess over losses, but instead harness them as fuel for future improvement.
According to Taylor, Bull embraced this mindset completely, treating amateur competition as a time to learn and absorb hard hits, and his unyielding drive has carried him through the roughest periods.
"There was zero quitting, zero backing down. He just kept showing up," Taylor recalled during an interview.
"He put in the work, and now look where it's brought him. It's finally paying off."
With each passing victory, Bull continues to attract more attention back home in Maskwacis.
Between his MMA pursuits and his daytime work as a community coordinator, Taylor believes his nephew is stepping into the role model position with grace.
"He's always under the microscope, and he carries himself with respect," Taylor noted.
"He's cultivating his own bit of celebrity within Maskwacis, and he's bringing that energy along."
