One month shy of his 26th birthday, Dalton Duperreault believes the time is now to make a run in the professional ranks.
Port Coquitlam’s Duperreault (0-0) will be taking on Vancouver’s Caio Machado (1-1-1) at BFL 60 on Saturday night at the Hard Rock Casino in Coquitlam, B.C.
Following five straight finishes as an amateur, this fight will mark Duperreault’s debut as a professional.
“I’m feeling pretty switched on at this moment,” said Duperreault.
He said he feels the time is right to step into the cage as a professional after capping off his amateur career with a knockout win last November.
“I’ve felt I had the experience; I had everything that I needed from amateur and I just move forward.”
Looking towards the fight this weekend against Machado, he says he respects Machado and his camp, but he feels he has what it takes to finish the fight inside the first round.
“I think I’m going to finish this fight in the first round – I don’t think he can handle my power,” said Duperreault.
He feels not many people can deal with his striking and Machado is no different.
“I’ve knocked enough guys out in boxing and MMA to prove that,” said Duperreault.
“I see myself putting him down probably within the first three minutes of the fight.”
Duperreault said he’s been doing a lot of road work in this camp combined with more wrestling and he believes he’s really coming into his own as a fighter.
With some amateur boxing under his belt, adding to his amateur MMA record, he’s rounding the gap around 10 fights all together. This experience assures him that he’s a more advanced fighter coming into this bout.
“I feel like I’m an advanced fighter and I think I’m going to show that on Saturday for sure.”
Machado Looks to Utilize His Experience
Across the cage from Duperreault on Saturday night will be Machado, a muay thai specialist carrying a 1-1-1 record.
Machado is coming off a hard-fought five-round decision loss against BFL heavyweight champion Dustin Joynson and he’s aiming to bounce back into the win column on Saturday night.
The underlying theme in heavyweight fights is all heavyweights hit hard and Machado is intending to be the one delivering the KO.
“I believe I can get the knockout in the second or third round,” said Machado
Machado said he sees Duperreault as an aggressive fighter who wants to finish as quick as possible and he feels he can use a more technical approach to come away with the victory.
“I believe I’m a little more technical in the striking,” Machado said.
With over 17 muay thai fights to his name, he values that experience and intends to bring it into the cage with him come Saturday night.
Machado said the cage time will be a big factor coming into the heavyweight clash at BFL 60.
“My size and cage experience; it’s the first time I’ll have more experience in the cage,” said Machado
Although he would have liked to get the decision last November against Joynson, he said he values the experience he got in the five-round title fight.
“It was a great challenge and a lot of fun so I definitely want to revisit that fight.”
First things first for Machado is a tough test against Duperreault, and if all goes well he would like to stay active and fight twice more later in the year.
“I want to keep active. I’m still young and this is my career,” said Machado.
Duperreault’s Shoutouts
“My official sponsor ‘Never Tap’. Ken Tran and Nabil Salameh my main coaches at Titan MMA, Keanan Kellar and Micah Brakefield my teammates. Thanks to the guys at Checkmat for taking care of me and showing me some new things; Adam Ryan, Tristan Connelly, Arjan Bhullar, Jag Bhullar, Joe Ronsano and my ugly little brother Josh Kwiatkowski!”
Machado’s Shoutouts
“Coaches Chris Franco, Jayden Martin, Doug Corbett and Mike Mannarino and sponsor Dakota Fight Gear.”
