Name: Miles Anstead Age: 27 Height: 5’11 Weight Class: Welterweight Record: 6-0 Fighting Out Of: Edmonton, Alberta (Complete Fitness and Martial Arts) Biggest Influence: B.J. Penn Miles Anstead didn’t have the typical catalyst that many fighters posses prior to competing in MMA. “I was actually a gymnast” Anstead told MMAOddsBreaker. Many kids growing up would boast about the sports they participated in. Anstead kept things quiet because of all the stereotypes that go along with competing in a predominately female sport. “I kind of kept it hush-hush, a lot my buddies probably didn’t even know. I didn’t really portray myself as gymnast. My parents put me in it when I was young and kind of kept growing with it. I didn’t play too many team sports in highschool. I did a bit of BMX, skateboarding, nothing too crazy.” When he was 19-years old, the Canadian transitioned from gymnastics to Brazillian jiu-jitsu thanks to a friend. This brought him on the path to becoming a complete mixed martial artist. “I graduated [from high school] and I didn’t want to do gymnastics anymore. I had a buddy actually he was great at Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I started watching MMA and I didn’t have a desire to fight MMA. I first was just looking at something as a hobby, I started doing Gi Jiu-jitsu and I pursued that for a really long time. Eventually I transferred my focus to MMA. It kind of just sparked my attention.” Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen a handful of fighters use gymnastics training in MMA, most notably former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. Anstead says it made the transition to jiu-jistu and MMA that much easier. “A lot of people I train with me ask if I have a wrestling background because I’m heavy on my hips. If I ever have kids and they didn’t know what kind of sport they were going do when they were older I’d just put them in gymnastics. Because whatever they choose to do down the road it definitely gives them a good base. It’s also fairly low impact, it definitely benefited me for sure.” The Complete Martial Arts and Fitness product has quietly become one of the top welterweight prospects in Canada. Making his MMA debut in 2012, Anstead has amassed a perfect 6-0 record. This Friday he faces one of his toughest opponents to date, in 13-3 welterweight Brandt Dewsbery at Hard Knocks 44 in Calgary. Along with being two of the top rising stars in Canada, they’re also very familiar with one another. “Funny thing is Brandt Dewsbery and I are actually friends.” Anstead explains. “His coach Lee Mein runs Rumble in the Cage and I fought for Lee as an amateur. I’m actually good friends with a couple of their teammates at CMC. I remember when I had my amateur fight, Brant was well into his pro career. Brant and I had kind of been side by side for a long time. I actually turned fighting Brant before because I like the kid so much. But we both got offered to fight, it was a good deal and we took it out of respect to each other.” Anstead has a wealth of experience training at different gyms but now calls Complete Martial Arts and Fitness in Edmonton his home. He trains with the likes of UFC standouts Mitch Clarke and Sheldon Westcott as well as WSOF’s Mark Drummond. In addition for this camp, Anstead spent some time in Victoria, B.C. at Zuma Martial Arts, home to UFC bantamweight Sarah Kaufman. “Sarah is awesome, every camp I bounce stuff off her. I actually talked to her last night. She’s one of my good friends, she’s definitely [that] role model of an athlete that I’d like to be. Anyone that knows Sarah, loves [her].” Having an undefeated record can be pressure for most fighters. In this matchup, Anstead feels that some of the pressure has been taken off because he’s facing an exceptional opponent. “Brants got such a good record too, he’s 13-3. I’ve never fought someone with as good of a record as him. Just knowing you’re fighting someone as a higher caliber, it takes some of pressure off. [Obviously] I want to keep that zero on my record, so yeah there’s pressure. Everybody wants to snatch that from me. I just take it one fight at a time.” Stylistically, fans are in store for an exciting welterweight showdown as these fighters have a combined 16 finishes through 22 career fights. While Anstead anticipates a crowd pleasing affair, his main goal is to emerge victorious by any means necessary. “It’s hard to say [how this fight will end], Brant is relentless but I plan to come out on top. Whether it goes to a decision or there’s a finish, it’s going to be an exciting fight.” The timing couldn’t be better for this match up, with the UFC announcing this past week that it will be heading to Saskatoon for the first time on August 23rd. Anstead was born in Saskatchewan and should he earn an impressive victory Friday night, a call up to the Las Vegas promotion wouldn’t seem out of the question. But as Anstead explaines, everything will play out in due time. “I’d be lying if I said it didn’t cross my mind a little bit. I know I’m going to get to the UFC eventually, it’s a marathon not a sprint. But my number one goal right now is Brant Dewsbery.” With the new UFC Reebok sponsorship deal in place the landscape of fighter pay appears to be bleak. But for the Edmonton native, he’s has other motives for competing. “Yeah it’s tough, the pay isn’t great, but maybe that will change down the road. I’ve only got my sights set on the UFC. I didn’t get into this for the money. I got a fall back, I got a career outside of fighting. The UFC for me is the pinnacle, this is a passion sport in my view.” You can follow Miles on Twitter @MilesAnsteadMMA and he would like to thank his teams at Complete Fitness and Martial Arts, Nova Uniao, Zuma Marital Arts and his management team at Guardian Sports Group.
