UGP 74 BEFORE THE WALK: MASON LAMBERT
Holmes MMA and Wrestling Academy
Houston, Texas
JOHN KARTHAN: “Mason! I want you to close the distance by lateral movements! Block the kicks, come in and use elbows and knees! She’s going to be using those kicks, leg, body, and high. You will use your knees and elbows, step in every time!”
[Inside one of the cages, Mason Lambert was sparring one of the other athletes working the local circuit at the Holmes MMA and Wrestling Academy. A quick shot of the award for Gym of the Year 2025 resting on one of the panels for the achievement walls hosted with different championships, medals, and awards the camp has earned in all sports applicable. The sound of hard punches against headwear, and the stinging impact of kicks despite the shinguards were heard. Mason, in his controlled orthodox stance, was moving his front leg out of the way from leg kicks thrown to step in with a 12-to-6 elbow into the headwear countering his sparring partner.]
JOHN KARTHAN: “Yes! Venus will come forward, and mix it up! Her kicks are volume and heavy but protect yourself from hands. Neutralize her distance and she won’t be able to swarm you! Clinch! Clinch! Clinch!”
[Mason throws a forward teep kick into the abdomen of his sparring partner switching into southpaw stance. The sparring partner goes for a lead body kick but Mason blocks it and steps in to utilize the Muay Thai clinch immediately peppering him with knees. Luckily, all his knees and elbows are padded and within the clinch, he lands short elbows before the buzzer is heard.]
JOHN KARTHAN: “TIME! Good job Mason! Take a breather!”
[Another shot shows fighters such as Jordan Parker and Verona Jimenez training with different coaches and fighters in the background preparing for their bouts. It returns with Mason walking around inside the cage and then a close up angle of him sweating while leaning back against the cage.]
MASON LAMBERT: “Just another fucking day in the clinic! I got my coaches, my team and my sparring partner here.”
[The athlete comes and stands next to him and Mason pulls him in a side hug.]
MASON LAMBERT: “We don’t stop until we get the fucking job done. Let’s fucking go!!!”
[The final shot of the scene remains with Mason punching viciously on the pads held by John.]
Sylvan Beach Park
Houston, Texas
[Sunny in the day with the winds of sea breeze brushing against the crystal sands. The beach is inhabited by the locals of Houston along with their friends, family and loved ones. It invites all who want to maximize the day of land, sea, and air for whatever purpose in their lives. For Mason, he is with his friends and some of his team from the camp. In one scene of the video, Mason is doing some sprints next to the water on the coastline then crossing the finish line pretending to have won the Olympics. He embraces his friends and a close up comes to him sitting on the sand in his beach shorts, American design of course, and leaning back to enjoy the air.]
MASON LAMBERT: “I’m a simple guy. I see nature, I enjoy nature, and I work hard like any average American. I’ll be stepping into Toronto against Venus but for now, I want to sit back and enjoy life. Fuck man, I’m blessed and I’m happy. Fighting is everything but you gotta enjoy the spoils now and there.”
[After that speech, he joins a couple of his guys to place volleyball. Mason is running on the court, hitting the ball, slamming it down and the men are just enjoying their time. His striking coach, John Karthan, speaks.]
JOHN KARTHAN: “Mason is a fighter who has such a great IQ. The way his mind works in the cage is truly amazing. He’s been developing a lot of skills in his striking but we also want to involve him in Muay Thai against Venus’ kickboxing. I think what it comes down to is Mason’s timing, aggression and countering. Our gameplan is to close the distance, invoke his Muay Thai and possibly bring it to the ground as he’s been working his grappling too.”
[Right on cue, Mason tackles one of his friends into the sand and begins to wrestle him. He quickly gets into the mount and pretends to rain down punches. The friend taps but he gets up and pulls his friend to his feet. Mason runs and does a front flip where he gets a couple applauds. He looks at the camera, chest heaving but still confident.]
MASON LAMBERT: “Venus is number two but I want to be in the top three. I want that belt. I want to be middleweight champion and I’m going to beat her to get that title shot.”
[The water touches his feet as he stands on the bank. Mason has his hands on his waist and stares off into the horizon. He takes a deep breath, absorbing the sea breeze and pounds his fists on his chest hyping himself up. Mason breaks into another jog pushing the pace and showing the world he’s ready for UGP 74.]
MASON LAMBERT: “I WANT THAT BELT!!!”
Holmes MMA and Wrestling Academy
Houston, Texas
JOHN HARTMAN: “Five minutes of grappling and rolling! I want submissions!”
[On the black mats, Mason is working with more submission specialists and grappling based fighters. He starts on his feet and grapples with another middleweight fighter before tripping him down in the clinch through his Muay Thai instincts before dropping into half guard. Mason is working hard to pass his sparring partner’s guard although being denied to him framing up. Luckily, Mason shifts his body to the right and he scoots over into side control before turning his hip to the right for the high side control.]
JOHN HARTMAN: “Excellent work! Involve grappling, threaten takedowns, and the clinch. Make her work in defending because she’s a volume striker so put that fear to slow her down and you move forward with that intention!”
[The sparring partner bucks his hips forward to try and sweep him but Mason transitions into the north-south hold. He keeps his weight down on his head before moving to side control again and isolating an arm for the kimura. After torquing the arm, the fighter taps and he releases the submission just before the round ends. Both men stand, bump fists and do a quick hug before taking a break. The camera does a close up on John Hartman, the head grappling coach.]
JOHN HARTMAN: “This fight is very important. Mason has the chance to break into the top three. A win over Venus could potentially put him in title contention and we’re pushing Mason because he’s been climbing for an opportunity such as that. Mason is someone who will not stop and has this stubborn personality. I think he will put a lot of pressure on Venus.”
[John turns his attention back to the open mats. Mason is back on the grind defending takedowns, and clinch attempts although they do not make it easy for him. He shoots a double leg takedown and plants his sparring partner to the mat where in full guard, he keeps his base down and stands up before pushing his legs to the side to get back into side control then to full mount. Unfortunately, the round ends after long scrambles and transitions. Mason stands up and leans against the wall before falling down to his butt.]
MASON LAMBERT: “The one thing they always stress here is to be a mixed martial artist. I’ve never done grappling until I joined this gym and they’ve been working my ass off. Holy shit. I get beat up but it’s worth it. I guess I can try this out against Venus but I’ll be damned if I let her even get the win. Nothing’s stopping me.”
[Mason wipes the sweat off with a white towel and throws it to the camera lens.]
MEDIA DAY
Scotiabank Arena
INTERVIEWER: “Mason. Describe for us where you are on the road to UGP 74.”
[Mason sits on the stage in the conference room held by the Scotiabank Arena. Behind him in the held up banner promoting UGP 74 and he’s in front of the small table holding to the microphone sporting a plain white shirt for the cameras and journalists to see.]
MASON LAMBERT: “Yeah, I’m fucking ready. I’m fucking ready to go in there and kill Venus. She’s good but she isn’t me. She’s an excellent striker but I’ve been in with the best and every win I have is a fucking finish so it won’t be different. I’ll frustrate her, beat her in the clinch and make it a phone booth fight. She’s not used to that and then I’ll call out the champion.”
INTERVIEWER: “You expressed that you want a shot at the UGP Middleweight Championship. Does a win over Venus not only put you in the top three but put your name down in potential contenders to challenge Sasha Volkov?”
MASON LAMBERT: “Oh fuck yeah! Look, we know being in the top three means people are speaking about you. I’m right there and I don’t know how a fucking jackass like Nyles got above me but whatever. I’m glad I got Venus because she’s on a two fight win streak which means I’m ready to beat the piss out of that overgrown woman to be in title contention.”
INTERVIEWER: “Are you worried about the striking of Venus? She’s one of the top fighters in the middleweight division and has finishes across the board. What is your game plan?”
[Mason breaks into a laugh then slaps the table due to how outrages his laughter becomes. He looks at the interviewer and points at him.]
MASON LAMBERT: “You’re asking me as if you have money on Venus. You want to see my game plan? Watch Sunday and see how I win. I’m coming for blood and Venus will know what it means to have someone really turn the pressure on you! My game plan? Bring the fight and make it so suffocating she won’t have time to react and then get my arm raised so I can scream LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOO!!!”
[A lot of the journalists and media personnel jumped back from the sudden outburst. Mason stands up, puts the microphone down and walks off the stage with confidence and love. On the other hand, he looks over to the rest of people and walks through the crowd to take pictures with some of the media personnel before storming out yelling “LET’S FUCKING GO” at the top his voice.]
