For 14 years Charlie Bubb has been trying to conquer the world and on Saturday night, he finally did it.
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The Orange fighter defeated Sweden's Marcus Sudin Liljedorff on April 27 in the Muay Thai League WBC Light Heavyweight world title fight on the Gold Coast.
Bubb said it was a "relief" to get his hands on the belt he'd been chasing for so long.
"For pretty much the last 14 years, it was all towards this fight," he said.
"I was out to make a statement.
"I wasn't happy with my last fight in Dubai and I really just wanted to show that I was the best fighter in the world.
"There was a sense of relief."
Throwing elbows
Much of the aforementioned relief was due to Liljedorff refusing to give up, despite copping plenty of Bubb's trademark elbows.
Despite being bloodied and bruised at the end of the second round, the Swede kept going, forcing Bubb to grit his teeth and go again.
One round later his strategy paid off.
"I normally start off a bit slow, but I came out a lot harder in round one than I normally do and I was throwing a lot at him and he was just taking everything," he said.
"So I had to swap up my game plan a little bit.
"I was going to stay away from the elbows and just really try to out strike him but he just wouldn't stop walking forward.
"So I had to change it up and throw some elbows.
"I got a good cut in the second round, above his right eye and then towards the end of the second round, I cut his left eye too.
"By the end of the third, it was too bad of a cut to keep going on.
"My last six or seven opponents I've cut so I'm known for my elbows. I always have them in my back pocket if I need to change my game plan, it came in handy."
What's next?
With a week of recuperation on the cards, Bubb will soon turn his attention to defending his crown although his ruthless victory may have made prospective challengers wary.
He has until September with his fiancee putting up a one month fight quarantine before their wedding.
"I think the way I beat him and the job that I did on his face might have turned a few people off," he said.
"Normally when someone wins the world title, you have people calling you out left and right but we haven't had any yet.
"I might have to start calling people out again next week."