PFC Border Wars 1 Travis Briere Interview: Evolution of the Unified MMA Champ

Border Wars: Round 1 presented by Pro Fighting Championships will be held Saturday, July 16th in Windsor at the WFCU Arena.

This will be the second event of the year held in Windsor, following the Maximum Fighting Championships in April.

Border Wars will be Pro Fighting Championships' first run at an MMA show and the card will headline Unified welterweight champion and Alberta's own Travis Briere taking on current Ringside Champion Chris Clements in a fight with heavy top-ten implications on the line. 

I caught up with Travis winding down his camp at Evolution MMA in Mississauga, Ontario, where he spent his entire training camp in preparation for Saturday's main event.

Hey, Travis. It's nice to meet you. Can you give us a bit of background on your training and how camp has gone for this fight?

"Hey, it's nice to meet you. Yeah, I was born and raised in Lethbridge, Alberta, and I live up in Grand Prairie now, and I train at The Boxing Club in Grand Prairie now. I do like to travel around a bit before my fights and get in good camps and mix it up with different fighters. This time I stayed here at Evolution MMA in Mississauga for my entire camp. They set up a great camp for me."

"I feel good, I'm excited and I can't wait for Saturday night."

Your background is more of a striker or vicious ground-and-pounder, would you agree?

"Well, I like to stand and bang for sure. I mean, all fights start on the feet, and I like to put on a good show for the fans. But I'm ready and willing to go wherever the fight takes me. I do like to stand, though."

Travis has had some very entertaining fights to date, and his title fight with Ricky Goodall was highly touted as "Fight of The Year" in Canada in 2010 and saw action and pace everywhere around the cage.

Is there a fighter or a style of fighter that you look up to or pattern yourself around?

"Not really pattern myself around, but of course I look up to guys like GSP, guys who have experienced everything in this sport and are great in every area."

Attention then turned to Saturday night's main event and veteran opponent Chris Clements.

"Chris has definitely fought a lot of bigger-name guys, he is coming off a huge win over Jonathan Goulet, who is a huge star here, so I do see this as a big fight for me."

"I'm expecting everything from Chris. I'm sure he is gonna come and try to take my head off. I know he likes to knock people out so bring it, you know I'm welcoming that because it will be a great fight for the fans. But I'm sure he is ready to go in all areas as well."

Where do you see yourself in the mix of Canadian 170 pounders?

"I believe I am a Top 10 guy or close to it. I hear I am just out of the Top 10, so with a W against Chris I will put myself right in the mix."

It never ceases to amaze me, meeting and speaking with the fighters at the top of this sport. In watching him last night, Travis was no different. I watched him for ten minutes effectively and ferociously batter a heavy bag, only to turn a switch and speak with such humility and calm.

"I would like to thank everybody here at Evolution MMA for giving me a great camp. Brian, Rory, Gerald, Paul and everyone. My sponsors The Zone Sports Grill, Vicious Clothing, Submit Gear, Lions Den Pub, Jake's Down South, Predator OilField Rentals and The Basement Sports Bar and Hangout"

This 27-year-old martial artist has a bright future in this sport, and I look forward to Saturday night.

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Dwight Wakabayashi is a Feature Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA (also a correspondent for MMACanada.net).

Catch him on Twitter @wakafightermma .