Looking at his career on paper, it&rsquo;s hard to piece together how just 6 professional fights forged McLellan into one of the most recognisable fighters in South African MMA at the time, with a suitably rabid following. Now, 4 years later, after originally claiming the EFC middleweight championship for the first time, &lsquo;&rdquo;Soldierboy&rdquo; has reached the pinnacle of the sport, making headlines around the world. It&rsquo;s only when you see him in action, or are lucky enough to meet him that you begin to understand why he commands such respect.McLellan was born in Johannesburg, but grew up in Durban, spending his formative years as a sports-mad youngster who, like many kids at the time, found himself at karate lessons, because his parents hoped some of the legendary marital arts discipline would stick. &ldquo;I started karate at age 9, and continued up until I was 19. At that stage, karate wasn&rsquo;t something I was overly serious about, but I followed the route and stuck with it throughout school, until it took a backseat to make room for my rugby career,&rdquo; McLellan said. Through his early 20s, he competed in top-flight rugby, until a serious knee injury prompted a change in direction. &ldquo;I was always a sportsman at heart, so, when I got the all-clear from the doctors, I went straight back to rugby, and got stuck in properly. I worked my way up from second division rugby at Hillcrest, to a premiership level with the Harlequins and Crusaders. I attracted the interest of the Sharks, but at the time, there were many holes in my skill set, the main issues being that I was carrying too much weight, and I was struggling with fitness. I&rsquo;d heard that MMA had a good reputation for lifting fitness, and soon my rugby conditioning coach was giving me an education in kickboxing. After getting my fitness up, my coach suggested that before I sign any contracts, I give amateur MMA a go. I was enjoying MMA and agreed to see what it had to offer. My first fight was against a guy named Shaun, and I remember it vividly. We had a three-round, all-out heavyweight war. Afterwards, I was broken and bruised, but I knew I&rsquo;d also found my future right there in the ring,&rdquo; said McLellan.From that epiphany moment, McLellan sought out Durban&rsquo;s best coaches and camps, training under Jason Vorster, Rhyne Hassan, and Kevin Thomas. He progressed quickly through the amateur ranks, through to pro-am, and finally, professional competitions. In his professional debut, he hit his first snag in Wade Henderson. According to McLellan, the fight against Henderson was a calculated risk that was supposed to jumpstart his career. Henderson was massively experienced, and had been&nbsp;a contender in multiple weight divisions. Is there a better way to make your name than defeat someone already renowned in the sport? &ldquo;I&rsquo;d seen Wade fight many times, and he&rsquo;d done quite well for himself. I knew he wasn&rsquo;t going to be a pushover, but at the same time, I felt ready. I was confident that my preparation was on track, and I was eager to face him and do business,&rdquo; McLellan said. The calculated risk never paid off in the end, when McLellan was caught off guard by Henderson&rsquo;s unorthodox style, and looping punches. Having suffered his first ever loss, McLellan was forced to make the journey back to the proverbial drawing board. &ldquo;I was disappointed, obviously. I had made major miscalculations and a few mistakes. It was a case of my inexperience showing through, but, at the same time, I felt I hadn&rsquo;t performed to the level I had in previous fights. My career was going very nicely until I stepped up to Wade. Looking back now, I view my loss as one of those that had to happen. You can&rsquo;t win everything, and the unfamiliar feeling of defeat ignited a new hunger in me, and completely changed my person. I actually view that loss as a great experience.&rdquo;McLellan&rsquo;s MMA rebirth came when he moved back to Johannesburg in 2009. Having taken up the family business, putting sport temporarily on the sidelines, his passion came flooding back when he realised how MMA-crazy South Africa was becoming. &ldquo;MMA was still beating in my heart, and I could feel its pulse all around me in Joburg. I came to the city not knowing anyone, but I had the names of a few clubs to check out. One of these happened to be Fight Fit Militia, and I instantly felt at home with their no-nonsense attitude. Of course, I had to go through certain initiations, and I had to prove I was dedicated. But once I did, I was welcomed with open arms. Chef (Norman Wessels) and Richard Quan gave me every opportunity possible, and they made me confident that I could live my dream as a professional MMA athlete.&rdquo;One aspect that has always set McLellan apart from those standing opposite him in the ring or Hexagon, is his belief in simple hard work and dedication. This belief is so strong, that it explains why others believe in him so strongly. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t look back and see a particular moment that made me realise I was made for MMA. I&rsquo;ve had an incredible journey, but I attribute it to hard work. Some people have all the talent in the world, but get nowhere due to a lack of commitment. I don&rsquo;t consider the greatest sportsman to be where they are due to talent alone; I attribute their success to extreme dedication. I&rsquo;m not saying that I lack natural MMA ability; I&rsquo;m saying that, everyone can multiply what they have a million times by working hard.&rdquo;<img src="http://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/14892/235767/598c397571ff8/1502361884542.jpg"" owidth=609 oheight=524" style="height:400px; width:465px" />The first indisputable proof that McLellan was not just another face in the horde of ambitious MMA athletes came at EFC 01, the show that changed the face of MMA on the African continent. There was no better opportunity to start crafting the Soldierboy legend, and McLellan seized his moment wholeheartedly. &ldquo;I was completely taken aback by the EFC experience. It was so&nbsp;different to what I&rsquo;d gone through with previous fights, and the buildup to facing Barry Britz was incredible. There were periods of excitement, fear, and unexpected emotions that are hard to put into words. When I walked into the arena, the way the crowd reacted was unbelievable; it&rsquo;s still difficult to understand how a person is able to captivate thousands like that. As my career has progressed, it&rsquo;s only become more humbling, knowing that so many people are behind me. It can be daunting, knowing that I have supporters out there living my fights with me. But, when I get in the cage, I&rsquo;m there to get down to business; my focus is on the fight, and I have to put aside worries about the crowd&rsquo;s reaction until afterwards. When I went up against Barry, the obvious concern was losing again. Barry was a youngster who I knew nothing about, and those are always the most dangerous opponents, because they are hungry to prove a point. I knew I had trained hard and was in good shape, so I had faith that Richie&rsquo;s game plan was all I needed to ensure success.&rdquo; McLellan was highly aggressive from the beginning of the bout, displaying his hunger for victory, and he earned himself a first-round TKO. Perhaps, more importantly, McLellan made a massive impression on the partisan crowd, and many started asking who the bearded warrior was, and how soon they could see him in action again. A part that has become inseparable from the Soldierboy brand is the facial hair that adorns the jaw of McLellan. &ldquo;I think different fighters express themselves in different ways, and the beard has become a part of my pre-fight ritual. I hope that as much as I have grown the beard, fans have grown to appreciate it as well. The way it first came about was, because of my prefight preparation for EFC 01. I was training and focusing so much on my fight that shaving simply wasn&rsquo;t&nbsp;on my mind. Next thing I knew, I had this huge beard, and it was time to fight. But it created a bit of a stir, and it was something I decided to grow for each fight. From then on, I stopped shaving after signing each fight contract, about 2-and-a-half months before a fight, and I would shave off the beard immediately after a fight,&rdquo; McLellan said. McLellan also reveals that the Soldierboy nickname was given to him as an amateur, and helped give focus to the type of fighter he wanted to become. &ldquo;A soldier faces death on the front lines. His preparation needs to be perfect, because there is no room for error, and that is a principle I apply to MMA. The &ldquo;boy&rdquo; part of the nickname reminds me that I&rsquo;m just a guy like anyone else, and it helps me laugh at myself and stay grounded.<img src="http://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/14892/235767/598c397571ff8/1502361926237.jpg"" owidth=1245 oheight=1256" style="height:600px; width:595px" />Fast forward to 2010, and McLellan is standing opposite the experienced Henderson that handed him his first ever loss in his professional debut. &ldquo;After seeing where I was, and what I had achieved, my team and I thought it was a good time to re-challenge Wade. Stylistically, it promised to be a good matchup, the crowd wanted it, and it gave me the opportunity to show my critics what I had become capable of. The fight had been hyped as a serious grudge match, but I viewed it as business as usual, and blocked myself off from Wade&rsquo;s comments. When I did face Wade again, I was in a great place, mentally and physically, and I was completely ready.&rdquo; The fight itself was a highlight of EFC 05. With so much on the line for both fighters, they gave it everything they had, with crowd support almost as heated as the battle in the Hexagon. When it was all over, McLellan found his forearm around the neck of an unconscious Henderson, and vengeance for that first loss served.Jump further along McLellan&rsquo;s illustrious career, and his hand is being raised for the 12th time, his third successful EFC title defence, since recapturing it from the ever-dangerous Jeremy Smith in their second meeting at the centre of the EFC Hexagon. Having survived an onslaught from challenger and young upstart Dricus du Plessis, McLellan showed his vast experience to calmly and systematically work towards yet another guillotine choke submission. This was the final flare to catch the attention of the world&rsquo;s biggest MMA organisation, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or more commonly referred to as UFC. This was the start of history in the making for South African MMA.His UFC debut didn&rsquo;t go the way his fans and team had hoped, having the misfortune of facing one of Poland&rsquo;s best, Bartosz Fabinski, in front of his home crowd of Krakow, Poland. He lost a three-round battle by the judge&rsquo;s decision. This was another turning point for McLellan, having reached the pinnacle of his sport; he had fallen short once again. Much like his professional debut against Henderson all those years ago, he had let the moment get to him. One thing that did work in his favour was that the crowd was appreciative of his style, heart, and of course, the famous beard displayed in the fight. He was booked once again. This time, in the highly anticipated UFC event in the capital city of Ireland&rsquo;s fighting nation. Considered by many to be the most boisterous and passionate fight fans in the world, the Irish took a liking to the South African champion, be it for his Scottish heritage, his captivating personality, that he was facing American Bubba Bush, or possibly, all of the above. Once again, like his first ever loss to Henderson, he had doubled down and stuck to his mantra of working hard, and won the fight in a nail-biting dramatic fashion.McLellan lost the first stanza, being out-wrestled for the majority&nbsp;of the round. The second round turned out to be a turning point, as his conditioning showed to be superior. Bush came out in the second round appearing to be more winded than McLellan, and everything came together for the South African. From scoring an infinitely important takedown, and controlling action for the duration of the fight, to scoring a devastating TKO in the dying seconds of the fight, McLellan captured the hearts of the Irish fans, and set the arena alight with passionate screams.Will history repeat itself for McLellan? Will he rise to the top of the UFC division, and help raise the South African profile worldwide?Only time will tell for Soldierboy. One thing stands true, no matter what, he remains grounded and thankful to all those around him that have helped him get to where he is now. &ldquo;It is impossible to thank those that have helped me get to where I am today. From my team at FFM, my wife, my family, and, of course, my sponsors who make it possible to live my dream and compete as a professional athlete at the highest of levels. Also, a massive thank you to Cairo and Graeme from EFC for giving me the opportunities in EFC to grow with the organisation. Without the platform they provided, there would be no MMA on the African continent as we know it today.&rdquo;

Soldier Boy

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