Mitch “Danger Zone” Clarke is about to enter into a new zone with his fighting. He is moving down a weight class and challenging Josh Machan for the TFC Lightweight title on September 10. Title fights are nothing new for Mitch, he won his first belt in 2008, fighting as a welterweight for Evolution Fighting Championship (EFC) and successfully defended that belt again.

Mitch has always been an athlete. He has been into MMA for a long time, “when I was twelve, my cousin showed me old school UFC. The first one I watched was “The Ultimate 96” and I remember watching Don Frye. I thought he was a legitimate Bad-Ass. I still do,” says Mitch. Shortly after he joined a wrestling team and continued to wrestle through high school. He knew he was ready to take it seriously after watching the first episode of the Ultimate Fighter and immediately joined up with a number of training organizations and began to work on his skills.

This has always been one of his strong points; Mitch is a well-rounded fighter. He trains in many different areas, using his athleticism to push him to the next level. Mitch says, “I describe my fighting style as "whatever works", I like taking guys down and punching their heads in, but if I get a submission I'm happy, or if I use my boxing to KO someone I'm just as happy.”

His record is impressive. Mitch has 7 wins, no losses. He was building a strong reputation as a welterweight fighter, but he soon realized he was getting pushed around. Instead of being the small guy at 170lbs, Mitch knew he could drop and be the big guy at 155lbs. So after one fight (a victory over Brandon McArthur) at a catch weight (165lbs), Mitch is ready to dominate as a lightweight. And there is no better way to prove your ability than a title fight.

We chatted with Mitch about his upcoming fight and the training he has done to prepare.

What do you know about your opponent?

He's on a 7 fight win streak. He has good jiu jitsu and decent fundamentals in boxing. Josh comes from a good camp and always has decent conditioning but he's a smaller 155er.

And you are dropping from 170, how does that help you in the fight? How do you think the fight will play out?

I think I'm going to be a lot bigger and stronger than him and plan to use my superior wrestling and boxing to my advantage.

What is your game plan going in?

My strategy is to take the fight to Josh and slowly grind him down until I get the KO or the submission.

You have been training with the team at Hayabusa for a number of years now, how important is the gym and the team in preparing for your fight?

Iron sharpens iron, so it's important to have good training partners to improve as a fighter. Now that I'm fighting tougher competition, who I train with really makes a difference in the cage.

Where do you see your career heading after this fight?

I think this win will catapult me into the top 10 in Canada and hopefully get me one step closer to the big shows.

Thanks Mitch and good luck out there!

Tickets to TFC on September 11 can be bought from Mitch at Hayabusa or through ticketmaster.