In 2016, Shelton Graves put himself on the MMA radar when he TKO’d longtime ROC heavyweight champion, Brendan Barrett. After two competitive rounds, Graves punches began to take its toll on his game opponent with the night belonging to Graves as he won via third round TKO. Winning a Ring of Combat is not an easy task and if you follow MMA, you know many ROC champions are often called up to the UFC ranks. Randy Brown, Chris Wade, Oluwale Bamgbose and Gregor Gillespie are the latest ROC alumni to enter the world’s biggest MMA promotion.

While Graves may have the UFC scouting him, his focus is solely on his rematch against Barrett, a better prepared version this time. “I’m expecting a tougher and more prepared version of what I faced last time. Guys like Brendan Barrett don’t just quit, that not how he got to the top and held it for so long. They come back stronger, so it’s my job to do the same thing.”

The top Flight MMA/ Team Lloyd Irvin protege is currently riding a three fight win streak as he enters Ring of Combat 59 and isn’t afraid prepare differently for this fight. “I’m always growing, trying new things and training to clean up some of the mistakes I make from fight to fight so things change up a bit. But I’m just blessed to have coaches at high levels to make me see my flaws and give me the wisdom to fix them.”

It was recently announced UFC boss, Dana White, is returning to Ring of Combat with his web series, Lookin For A Fight, to scout new talent. Some fighters may feel this adds a bit of pressure to have the man who sends out the fight contracts in attendance but not Graves. “Fighting itself is a rough sport, we constantly put pressure on ourselves to make weigh, learn skills, win, not mess up etc, and etc. Why add more pressure to an already over pressured filed situation, it will just cause you implode lol. This is one of those “things you can’t control” situation because if you try to hard impress you will most likely fail to do so. It only take’s a split second with heavyweights and the fight could be over so I’m good I’m just going to be me and if that’s not good enough, I’ll go back to the drawing board and figure out if or what i need to improve on.”

Fans can expect another barn burner when Graves meets Barrett at ROC 59. “I coming to win, so you can expect to see me do my best to do so whether i win or loss. I also know he will come ready to take care of business so it going to be a good fight.”

Shelton Graves would like to thank the following for their continued support in is fight career.

“I knowing everybody thanks god and their peoples and i know its sound cliche but i really decided to give my life to God some years back and it has took in a direction i didn’t even expect and for that I’m truly grateful because it has put me in a place of happiness that i could have never imagined. Has surrounded me with so me amazing people, things,  and opportunities that its hard to even imagine where i would be without him in my life. One of those people is My amazing wife Charity Graves. She is my partner in life and has made my life amazing even during the hard times. My mother has been a rock and amazing from the day i met 31 years ago. My Uncle Fred who taught me how to be a good man in this hard world…. And my coaches, teammates and friends that help and support me, without them this journey is not possible. Thank you all and i love each one of you”

ROC 59 is stacked from top to bottom with five title fights. Tickets are available online at the ROC website, the Tropicana box office or any TicketMaster outlet. ROC events have a history of selling out so get your tickets today!