ABU DHABI -- Many believe that life begins at 40. And for 41-year-old Paul Buentello -- who has now fought 50 times --that certainly seems to be the case.
Buentello, 41, picked up his 34th career win on Saturday night (Oct. 3, 2015), knocking out Rameau Thierry Sokodjou in round three in the Abu Dhabi Warriors 3 main event inside IPIC Arena.
The fight ended in a crazy sequence and the Emirati fans -- who are very much new to mixed martial arts (MMA) --absolutely ate it up. Buentello knocked down Sokoudjou early in the round, then knocked him through the ropes and almost out of the ring, before dropping him for good to earn the knockout victory at the 3:21 mark.
The crowd was on its feet throughout the whole final sequence and hit a fever pitch when he scored the knockout victory. Afterward, the 18-year veteran was out in the audience meeting fans, shaking hands and connecting with an entirely different -- and brand new -- fan base.
"It feels really great," Buentello told MMAmania.com after the fight inside Novotel Al Bustan Hotel. "It's pretty cool to walk out into the stands. People coming up to me, 'man you are Godsend.' Guys who are like 43, 44, 50 years old, 'man I feel lazy seeing you in the ring fighting so hard and you wouldn't give up, you are an inspiration.' I went forward and didn't stop and I guess that's just a warrior's spirit."
"It was like 'Rocky,'" he continued. "He was going against the wall. No one knew anything about him. Just to hear the crowd on my side. Everybody in the crowd was close to my age or over my age and they saw someone with a lot of heart."
After nearly finishing Sokoudjou in the first round, Buentello was unable to seal the deal on the ground because of his opponent going underneath the ropes and referee Yuji Shimada restarting the two Heavyweight veterans in the middle of the ring, which allowed Sokoudjou time to collect his bearings and survive the early onslaught.
"Oh yeah, he caught a big break," Buentello explained. "The first round I was throwing big strikes, big strikes, but I was hitting the rope. I was missing and wasting so much energy. That's the thing with my experience at 40 plus years old and fighting for so long -- 50-plus fights now. I could not hit him cleanly in that first round and I didn't want to waste the energy, so I took a step back. That's just the experience."
In the second, Sokoudjou -- who is 10 years younger than Buentello -- switched up his stance and began landing some solid inside low kicks that "Headhunter" was having issues adjusting to.
"Im not going to lie, when he switched stances and moved to Southpaw stance where he was doing the inside leg kick, I couldn't' adjust," he said. "It was different because his whole career I've seen him right handed and it just threw me off when he went to Southpaw.
"He was throwing a lot inside low kicks and I couldn't check it because I was off rhythm and I wasn't used to them and I was afraid for his right hand to come across. I didn't want to check it and have myself flat-footed and not able to block the right hand. I took a lot of hard shots, but I think me moving forward really broke him."
In the final frame the "Headhunter" knocked him down again, jumped on him on the ground and began teeing off. Sokoudjou looked all but done, but not only did the referee not stop it, but inexplicably called for a stand up.
"The thing, is I knew he was taking punishment and I knew I was landing heavy," he explained. "Then again the referee saw that I wasn't landing totally clearly, but I was landing a lot of heavy shots. When he stood us up I was like, 'oh he we were go again.' And I just had to move forward and put the pace on him."
The Cameroonian could barely make it to his feet and when the action restarted, Buentello knocked him down again, this time through the ropes, where he nearly fell completely out of the ring.
"When I dropped him that second time in the third, he was out on the ropes," Buentello said. "He was out laying on the side of the apron. The referees were trying to push him back in the ring. It should've been done there because it took over a minute. Over a minute to get him back in the ring. I had to get the crowd back into it. The referee was like, 'are you ready, are you ready?' I was like, 'yes I want more' and it was a good minute stand off to get him back in the ring. Once he came, my cornerman, Albert [Martinez], was like 'put the pressure on him, go, go, go.' That's all I could hear was, 'go, go, go.'"
Sokoudjou looked to be out on his feet and was barely hanging on when Buentello administered the killshot, a stiff left jab that floored "African Assassin" for the final time, as Shimada finally and mercifully waved the bout off.
"A nasty jab," said Buentello, who has fought for the Heavyweight title in UFC, Strikeforce and Bellator. "I knew when I landed that jab. I've seen that jab in my dreams the last three days in Abu Dhabi in the nice hotel they put us up in. I saw that in my dreams every day, every morning, every night that once I landed that jab he was going to fold."
Many fighters competing at his age are shopworn at this point. Several continue on not knowing when to call it a day, are hanging on by a thread because fighting is all they know and they can't stop themselves, or are simply after a pay check. But, the Amarillo, Texas, native -- who hasn't suffered a knockout loss in more than five years -- said earlier in the week that for him, everything is "icing on the cake" at this point.
Indeed, he's out to compete and have fun without any mounting pressure or worries like in his earlier years.
"It's funny how you say that and it was about the money back in the day," he said. "King of the Cage, IFC, going to smaller shows back and forth and making $2,500, $3,000, it seems like less stress on that paycheck. When you go into a bigger organizations and you are getting bigger paychecks there is more stress and more on your shoulders," Buentello explained. "To win and compete and to get the promotion to pay you the extra dollar for the performance or the knockout or the submission. And now that I'm in a position where I don't give a fuck, I'm dangerous."
At the start of the third and final round in the main event, Buentello had a noticeable bop in his step and looked like he would have no issue going another two rounds. At his age and weight, that's far from common. He explained the keys to his training camp this time around.
"I was totally ready to go for another five," said Buentello, who gave a ton of credit to his strength and conditioning gym, IB Strong, and said his sponsors Oral IV and Health Works Nutrition (Machine supplement) gave him a big edge. "The thing is I knew my body. I knew I could go the next round. I knew I could push it and push it because of my experience. But, the thing is, this last training camp all I focused on was flexibility, mobility, muscle activation. I didn't really go hard in the striking or have big sparring sessions. IB Strong totally changed my game. I should've been there like two years ago.
"Two years ago I would've dominated in UFC. Even at this age I'm at now, I think I can really compete with the guys in UFC. I can definitely, 100 percent, compete with the guys in Bellator. There's not a doubt about that. All I have to do is turn it up one more notch and I'm there. I have the heart of a lion. My body is not worn. Guys at my age now at 35, 34, even 30 have had multiple operations on their shoulders, knees. Even guys close to me. I haven't had that. So, my mental is really strong. My body is strong. My mental is even stronger."
Buentello joins other Heavyweight veterans from his generation like Andrei Arlovski and Frank Mir, who are enjoying career resurgences and continuing to have success despite their age and time in the sport. "It's all about what's in here," he said immediately after the fight pointing to my chest. The 50-fight veteran is a firm believer in that if you still have a love and passion for competing, than it will carry you forward.
"It's all about that spirit and love for the sport and just wanting to put a good show on and that's all," he explained. "You can't take that away from anybody. Especially Frank Mir, Arlovski -- all these guys -- we are still from the same generation. We've been fighting just as long. Yeah, they are on a bigger stage, but you know what it's the same exact stage when you step in that cage or that ring, it's the same stage. I proved that tonight just like the other guys. We want it more than anybody else. You can't walk away from that."
Buentello agreed to fight for Abu Dhabi Warriors before a match up was made because he wanted to travel to the Middle Eastern country and compete there. He said he was pleasantly surprised by his experience.
"That was a different aspect of the whole thing," Buentello said. "I thought people would be more different and critical of the way you walk, the way you talk," he explained. "It wasn't like that at all. It was more Americanized here than I ever thought. I had people texting me, 'bring me a shirt. Bring me this. Bring me that.' When you walk into a mall, it's like walking into a California mall. It's like walking into a Texas mall. Very westernized."
In the ring after his victory, Buentello told announcer Grant Waterman that he was hoping to be asked to come back for the next Abu Dhabi Warriors card, which is currently being planned for December. He reiterated those words and said he wishes to fight for the promotion on a regular basis.
"I definitely want to come back. I mean, it's an experience that I want to come back and enjoy again and again. And the love from all the fans was tremendous. I stayed in the audience and for a good hour after the fight and that was pretty cool."
At 41 years of age and 50 fights under his belt, the bIg Texan is enjoying his fighting career more so than ever. His current mindset and appreciation for what he has accomplished would've been great to have as he was growing in the sport, but he admits it is something that has come from getting older and wiser.
"That is something that comes with age, but yeah to not have that whole aspect of not worrying about where your next paycheck is coming from, what sponsor you are going to have," Buentello said. "Just all of the above and just fighting for the love of the sport is worth $1 million no matter how you look at it."