Rosholt leaving the country for UFC fight

ABU DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Former Sandpoint state wrestling champion and Texas resident Jared Rosholt had never traveled further than Las Vegas for the first 10 professional bouts of his mixed martial arts career.

So when Rosholt (9-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) was offered a “UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs. Nelson” bout against Daniel Omielanczuk (16-3-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) in Abu Dhabi, the former Oklahoma State University wrestler admits he was pleasantly surprised but also taken off-guard.

“I would never go to Abu Dhabi if it wasn’t going there for the fight,” Rosholt said. “That’s really cool and hopefully I’ll get to see some more places, too. It’s going to be a great experience. I can’t wait.”

Rosholt moved from Sandpoint once older brother Jake Rosholt left to wrestle at Oklahoma State. Rosholt and former Sandpoint wrestler Chris Feist are currently members of Team Takedown Fighters, based out of Arlington, Texas.

For routine-driven Rosholt, the chance to expand his horizons by traveling the world is a welcomed change of pace from the repetitive schedule generally required to prepare for a UFC bout. As a dedicated husband and father of two young children, Rosholt’s daily life doesn’t usually consist of much beyond training and family time.

“I go to work out, I go home and I spend time with my family,” Rosholt said. “I have two kids and a wife. I try to spend as much time with them as I can.”

Rosholt is motivated by teammate Johnny Hendricks’ championship and feels that the crew winning a UFC belt for the first time is validation of the system in place at Team Takedown.

“It’s always nice whenever you’re doing the same thing he’s doing and it works; it’s proven now,” Rosholt said. “It works, so we know that it does now. The way that we have it, it’s a great opportunity. Now it’s proven that we can do it at the highest level just like Johny did.”