DENINU KU'E/FORT RESOLUTION
Michael Lafferty Jr. has an ambitious, and some people might think unusual, career goal.

Michael Lafferty Jr., a teen in Fort Resolution, has set his sights on becoming a mixed martial arts fighter. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

The 18-year-old in Fort Resolution is hoping to become a mixed martial arts fighter and has his eyes set on being a star in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

And Lafferty is not lacking in the firm belief that it will happen.

"It's just like there's something inside me, like deep inside," he said.

"It's like a God-given power that I don't think anyone else has. It's weird and it's different, and I can't explain it."

Plus, he believes he has the required athletic talent. He said he has always been good at whatever he tries - running, jumping, biking and working out.

"That's how I see myself if I were to go somewhere else," he said.

"Just keep believing in yourself. My saying is that, if you believe you're the best, then you could be the best."

His confidence is unshakable, even when asked what he would say to anyone who might think his dream of making it to the UFC is a bit unrealistic.

"I guess they're just going to have to wait and see until I'm actually in there," he replied. "Because that's what I do, I prove people wrong. I love to prove people wrong."

The Grade 12 student at Deninu School plans to head south after graduation to train to become a mixed martial arts fighter.

While his goal is the top-ranked UFC, Lafferty does concede he will probably have to first join a smaller mixed martial arts organization and build a name from there. Lafferty, who is a member of Deninu Ku'e First Nation, said he cannot train as a fighter in Fort Resolution.

"Right now, I work out with weights for more strength," he said.

He seriously began lifting weights three or four years ago. That's when he got his own weights, which are set up in the back porch of his family's home. Before that, he had lifted weights owned by his father.

Originally, he had hopes of becoming a competitive bodybuilder, before setting his sights on mixed martial arts.

"I got into UFC just about two years ago," he said. "It changed my life. It changed how I wanted to work out. I don't want to be as big anymore. I want to be faster and have more strength."

So about a year and a half ago he decided to slim down, and not be as big as a bodybuilder. Back then, Lafferty, who stands five-foot-nine-inches tall, weighed almost 180 pounds.

"I'm only at 155 right now," he said, adding he hopes to eventually fight as a lightweight or welterweight.

"You can't be too big to be a UFC fighter," he explained. "You'd just be throwing around more weight, and be faster if you're smaller. So that's why I'm smaller now."

Lafferty's first recollection of weightlifting goes back to when he was a young child and watching his father work out.

In fact, his father added two 2.5-pound weights to a stick for him so he could join in.

"Ever since then I've been just lifting," he recalled. "I was really, really small when I first started, maybe like six."

Lafferty now trains five days a week for about an hour and a half.

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