Park aims for win, UFC contract

Harvey Park hopes 13 is a very lucky number.

Park is 12-2 as a professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter, and if he gets his 13th pro victory on Aug. 6, he will earn an invite to the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

It won’t be an engraved invitation, but it may as well be. For Park, reaching the UFC has been a goal since he began training 10 years ago after leaving the Navy.

Park is fighting Venezuelan-born Omar Morales (7-0) in ‘Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series’ on Aug. 6 at Las Vegas’ UFC Apex, a bout televised by ESPN+. Park says the winner gets a contract in the UFC, of which White is the president.

Park — a Curry County sheriff’s deputy who’s originally from Downey, California but grew up in Melrose — won the Legacy Fighting Alliance’s lightweight championship on April 26 when he beat Demarques Jackson of Florida at 4:58 of Round 1 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. With that victory, Park was hoping to get a shot at the UFC instead of having to defend the LFA belt, and now he’s getting his wish.

One win away from reaching the world’s most prestigious MMA league. Heady stuff.

“I’m excited,” Park said Monday night. “It’s an opportunity I’ve been working for, so I’m excited about getting in front of the president of UFC and trying to impress him. I think it bodes well for my style of fighting.”

Park says he found out about the fight earlier in the summer, but due to a non-disclosure agreement couldn’t say anything until UFC did. The series for UFC contenders began on July 11, 2017.

“(White) finds talent that he thinks would be good to be in the UFC,” Park said. “You fight, and if you impress him he’ll sign you.”

Both Park and Morales are 33. Their latest weight shows them fairly comparable, with Morales at 155.8 pounds, Park at 153.0. Park (6’0”) is two inches taller, but Morales (74”) has a two-inch reach advantage.

As for Morales’ approach?

“I think he has more of a standup style,” Park said. “Traditional martial arts, Tae Kwon Do and what not. I’ve got guys to practice with, we’ve got really good Taekwondo guys at our gym, so it’s not anything I’ve never seen.”

Park mostly works out at Clovis’ Force of One Martial Arts, owned and operated by Eric Suan. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Park usually boxes 10 five-minute rounds in sessions that turn out to be roughly 90 minutes, including breaks and warm-ups. Afterward, he heads to the gym for running and strength training.

Thursday and Friday it’s the same as above, and then at night Park works on Jiu-Jitsu and wrestling, too.

Saturday he heads to Albuquerque for sparring and wrestling.

The hard work seems to be paying off. By next week at this time, Park may have gone from LFA Lightweight champion to up-and-coming UFC contender. All he has to do is win.

“Yeah, they’ll sign me to a UFC contract (if I win),” he said, “just like most organizations, I mean professional leagues, they have a standard contract they give to newcomers. So that’s what will happen. It’s probably going to be a three-fight contract.”

Finally, Harvey Park is getting his shot at such a contract. He’s grateful to the support that has helped put him on the brink of the UFC.

“Big thanks to the community,” he said, “and the sheriff’s office for allowing me to do this.”