Two paths emerged for Nate Ghareeb after the Southampton native won his fourth consecutive professional mixed martial arts fight in June. He could either fight for the Classic Entertainment and Sports (CES) World Featherweight Championship or try and earn a spot in the UFC (the world premier MMA promotion) through owner/founder Dana White’s Contenders Series.
“The more I thought about it, the more it made sense to fight for the belt, get another fight in and get some more experience,” Ghareeb said. “Winning a title fight will put you in a great position to get called up to the UFC.”
His chance will come at CES 70 on Friday at the MassMutual Center in Springfield. He’s fighting Connecticut’s Dan Dubuque, a journeyman with a three-fight losing streak. Dubuque (8-5) hasn’t won since late March 2019 and hasn’t fought since January 2020.
“We call him a gatekeeper for the UFC. He never really made it to the UFC but he’s very tough, durable,” Ghareeb said. “He’s there from Round 1 to Round 5. Never been finished before. It’s my job to go in there and finish him.”
Ghareeb, 29, has ended three of his last four fights in the first round and won the fourth in a split decision. The former Hampshire Regional wrestler turned professional in 2019 and has only lost once against Cody Law at Bellator 256 in April 2021. Bellator is one of the world’s most recognized fighting promotions, and Ghareeb (5-1) emerged from the experience with renewed focus.
He left the gym he was working out of and teamed with West Springfield’s Dan McIntyre, who he initially met at a gas station. They ran their own gym in Hatfield for a while called Kuzushi Combat Club but have since trained more informally in Ghareeb’s parents’ basement and other spaces. That includes his jiu-jitsu coach Alex Warren of Easthampton and fellow fighter Jeff Haddad of Connecticut.
“It’s just a community of people that get together and want to get better. We call ourselves the vicious killer nerds. We all wear glasses and we’re all about the science of fighting and not the brutality of it,” Ghareeb said. “In the last year it’s been ridiculous how much I’ve come to understand, how much I realized I didn’t understand at the time. It’s a game of consistently improving and changing and getting better.”
The Western Massachusetts contingent couldn’t ask for a better venue to chase a title.
“This is my time, I truly believe that. All these things have led me to this moment in my life, all this training all this time, the ups and downs, the good the bad all led me here,” Ghareeb said. “There’s a reason we’re here. There’s a reason we’re in Springfield. There’s a reason it’s for a title fight. None of this is by accident. This is all by choice. This is all by action. I’ve gotten myself to this point.”
Ghareeb made his professional debut at an event at the Big E in West Springfield and before at the MassMutual Center in August of 2021. He’s largely fought in Rhode Island and Connecticut but will likely have the home crowd behind him Friday.
“It means a lot to me, it does. I’ve had to travel a lot for fights and go out of town,” he said. “When I get the opportunity to, I’m always very grateful.”
As far as he’s come, Ghareeb still takes the time to appreciate where he’s been. He started as an above-average high school wrestler and made himself into a professional fighter.
“I certainly look back and see how I’ve come, but I know I can go a lot further. I know I have a lot more in me and a lot more I can prove,” Ghareeb said. “To win this fight would put me at the base of the mountain to get to the UFC and to climb that ladder. No one from around here has done it. No one from Western Mass. has gone to the UFC and stayed in the UFC. It’s my job to be the first guy from Western Mass. to hold the CES title.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.