Ray Sefo: From milk boy to MMA boss
Link to listen to full audio interview here
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Ray "Sugarfoot" Sefo was five years old when he was gifted his first pair of boxing gloves.
Sparring was adopted almost immediately with other family members, but it was a movie night at the Sefo's home in Kingsland that saw him fall in love with mixed martial arts.
"I remember at the age of seven I think it was, my dad had rented a Bruce Lee movie and a Jackie Chan movie, one was Fist Of Fury and the Jackie Chan movie was Drunken Master," he recalled.
"I was so fascinated by what was happening you know: they were able to use their bodies, their legs, their elbows, their head - like everything just looked so coordinated and being a seven year old it just blew my mind."
Inspired to learn Wing Chun, Sefo was 12-years-old and delivering milk to pay for lessons.
He never thought he was good enough to fight professionally, but then he was given an opportunity that would open his eyes to a whole new world.
"I think I was 18. We were at a weigh-in and one of my teammates couldn't fight due to a bad case of asthma," he said.
"I never really wanted to fight. For me, fighting in the ring, I didn't really think I was good enough to do that but this guy - who was a big heavyweight - challenged me to the fight, so that's how that came about.
"In some sense, I've got to thank him for getting me into really kind of realizing what my calling was, and I truly believe that martial arts is where I was meant to be."
Early in his career, Sefo trained at Balmoral Lee Gar gym in Auckland alongside Jason Suttie, Jayson Vemoa, Doug Viney and his brother, Rony Sefo.
He went on to compile an impressive unbeaten record as an amateur and professional in the Oceania kickboxing league, but it was his match against Dutch fighter Andre Mannaart which opened the door to opportunities all over the world.
The proud Samoan is a six-time Muay Thai World Champion, eight-time K-1 World Grand Prix Finals tournament participant with more than 80 bouts over three different fighting styles, but there's one fight that follows him wherever he goes.
"Most fight in K-1 I remember every single battle I had because that's what they were, but the one fight, it doesn't matter where I travel in the world - whether I'm in Russia or I'm in France, Italy or Brazil - it doesn't matter where I go, everyone talks about the Mark Hunt fight who is another Samoan brother."
"Maybe it was because it was the way that these two crazy Samoans battled it out, like it was just a matter of 'okay lets do it, whatever happens happens' but that's the one fight that everybody talks about."
It's been eight years since he fought in the ring, before he officially announced his retirement in 2018.
Determined to never "miss" the sport, the combat sport legend was determined to turn his passion for mixed martial arts into a lifestyle.
Now, he's the president of MMA promotion Professional Fighters League (PFL), competing with the largest MMA's promotion company in the world, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
"I've had to learn so much about the executive side because you know when you're a typical Samoan that speaks his mind, I really didn't think about other things and how to approach people, how to speak to people, because I'm a straight out fighter and when something goes wrong, you fight for it.
"I had always been a leader in what I do in life and so I felt going into that...I've had to learn all these things but I thank my team because they've had a lot of input into how to evolve as a business man and to be able to move forward."
The 50-year-old does not miss being on the other side of the ring, but said he would be ready to put the gloves back on any day of the week.
"The reason why I don't miss it is because I'm still in the gym six days a week, I still spar three days a week, I coach and me and my partners run a company that's mixed martial arts and so I'm still in it," he said.
"That's one of the reasons why I wanted to start my own fight league was because I didn't want to be one of these guys that missed it so much that I ended up coming back and fighting again where once I was done I was done.
"That being said, there's so many things that have been happening lately....I've been asked a question would you fight Jake Paul and I'm like 'hell yeah' - I mean I'm in the gym every day so I think once a fighter always a fighter but for me I'm 50 and I'm in the gym sparring for example so everything is good, life is good and there's no complaints whatsoever."
Mixed martial arts is the worlds third most popular sport behind football and basketball.
Sefo said the explosion of MMA was always coming, but now he was excited to see a surge of Pasifika talent coming through the ranks.
"Fighting is in our blood so learning the different skills that makes a complete mixed martial artist takes a while and I think they're doing pretty well," he said.
"[New Zealand kickboxer and mixed martial artist of Samoan, German and Maori heritage] Genah Fabian is coming along really well. She's had some setbacks in her last fight but you know that's part of the game, that's the only way you're going to learn and of course you've got to continue to learn and evolve as a mixed martial artist otherwise you're not going anywhere in the game."
"There's a few Hawaiians like Ray Cooper who fights for me. He won the world title and a million dollars in the 2019 season (He's just won his 2nd PFL Welterweight World Title a week ago) ... Brad Tavares who fights for the UFC who I coach and then you look at Tai Tuivasa who fights out of Australia, another Samoan kid, so there's a few out there."
From being a milk boy in New Zealand to becoming the president of his own MMA business in Las Vegas, Sefo said he lived by the saying 'follow your dreams'. He said he's a product of a life he could have only ever imagined as a Samoan boy from Auckland, New Zealand, and now he's living it.
"I'm a perfect example of what following your dreams is. I was head down and just done the work," he said.
"And so for anyone, any fighters who wish to be a mixed martial artist, boxer or kickboxer, set goals and follow your dreams."