Wes Schultz is partying on – through the highs and through the lows.
He doesn’t want sympathy or charity, but the first few days of May turned out to be a rollercoaster for the UFC middleweight.
On May 2, Schultz (9-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) picked up his first promotional win at UFC Fight Night 275 when he submitted Ben Johnston (5-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) with a third-round guillotine choke. Schultz took his show, win, and finish purses and flew back across the world from Perth.
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Approximately 48 hours later, Schultz was suddenly awoken by his girlfriend. A fire had started in the house as he snoozed on the couch.
“I would’ve, but my house actually burnt down,” Schultz told MMA Junkie, his hands covered in ash from sorting through the remnants. “I’m not in my house. This is what’s left of it. … (The) Monday night when I got back. It f*cking blows. Electrical, something crazy.”
Though losing material belongings hurts, everyone made it out safely, which is what matters most.
“It’s toast,” Schultz said. “But f*cking, what are you going to do? It’s fine. Keep on keeping on. … Everyone got out safe. I’d be f*cking toast if not for her.”
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Schultz said he lives a simple life, so it won’t be too difficult to replace many of the belongings – particularly with the county’s “dump day” coming up.
“I need no one’s charity,” Schultz said when asked if a GoFundMe would be started. “I just made a bunch of money last weekend. I live simply anyway. I need nothing. I got my car. I got my body, my hair. My suitcase survived the fire, not my passport, unfortunately. So, no international fights for a little bit. I got my mouthguard. I got the tools of my trade. I’ve got all I need.”
Even with the recent adversity, Schultz is still basking in the victory in enemy territory against Johnston. He said he thought it was the most mature performance of his career. He felt calm and composed, even going into the final round of a fight he may have been losing at that time.
“A lot of people get to the UFC,” Schultz said. “I feel like this is probably a bullsh*t number, but a lot of the Contender Series guys get to the UFC and go 0-2 and they’re out. I feel like an actual UFC fighter now that I got in and got a win. Making it to the third round, being composed, coming out of the second, my coaches were telling me, ‘We’ve never seen you so composed as on the stool. Then you came out. We all believed that oh my God, he’s going to go out there and whoop this guy’s ass.’ Then, I go out there and sit down, and I’m ready to throw, and then I just immediately get grappled. … I think I grew a lot from this experience. I can’t wait for the next one.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC fighter’s house burns down two days after Perth win
