(Derry, New Hampshire) – When you meet John Benoit his strength is what greets you first.  He’s tall, rough around the edges, and his hand grips yours with a tenacity even he doesn’t feel.  You feel it.  You feel it in the pain running through your hand; you see it in his eyes which are fixed on the target at all times; and you sense it by the way he moves…no wasted motion, ever.  John Benoit is a simple guy competing in a hard sport, a blood sport, but you’d be surprised just how simple a strong right hand can make mixed martial arts (MMA).

John Benoit hails from Methuen, Massachusetts where he was a decorated high school wrestler, a sport which has prepared more than a few athletes for the rigors of life in MMA.  At Methuen High School Benoit built his reputation as a fierce competitor on the mats and a bit of wild child off them.  While no major trouble ever found its way into his life, the typical school yard scraps turned into bar room brawls and before he knew it John Benoit was “that guy”, as in you didn’t want to mess around with “that guy”.

Methuen High School is also the place where “that guy” John Benoit first crossed paths with the other local MMA stud out of Methuen, Calvin Kattar.

“I’m five years older than Calvin; I met him when I was helping to coach at Methuen.  I don’t want to say I taught the kid how to wrestle, but I drilled with him and he was terrible.  I walked right through him,” Benoit said about meeting the young Kattar.

And that’s how Benoit is, how he sees the world.  Black and white.  Benoit carries that cockiness all fighters do, they must, how else do you repeatedly put your health on the line and continue to come back time and time again?  Some would say Benoit’s distaste for the Premier Martial Arts’ up-and-coming Lightweight, Kattar, stems from a “big-fish-in-a-small-pond” syndrome, Benoit wouldn’t, he just doesn’t like the guy.

“(Kattar) used to go to school with my best friend Chris Grandmaison and his girlfriend.  (Kattar) was running his mouth saying, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t fight John or Chris because it’s a waste of my time, I’m on another level’. Well I’m anxious to see what that other level is,” Benoit said with a beguiling smile.

Truth be told Benoit’s level is extremely high.  Since turning to the Derry, New Hampshire-based MMA fight team Renzo Gracie – NH, owned by Tim Barchard, Benoit has transformed from a dominating wrestler into an all-out menace inside the cage.  Benoit is undefeated in six professional MMA fights and has showcased knockout power (dispatching Ray Bergeron in the 2^nd Round), submission prowess (tapping Justin Hammerstrom and Davin Wessinger), as well as great cardio and toughness (going the distance with the much larger Travis Lerchen).  These were the factors that led World Championship Fighting, New England’s largest MMA promotion, to make Benoit a multi-fight contract offer, a first on the local scene, and a hindrance to a fight with his nemesis Kattar.

“I’ve tried to set this fight up for a while, I know for a fact he turned me down five times,” Benoit continued, “then he finally accepted for the Combat Zone 26 card where we were going to be the Main Event, but I was under verbal contract with ‘Joe Cav’ (WCF President Joseph Cavallaro).  So I don’t know if he’s thinking that I ducked him now.”

And what would happen if the two ever met in a cage or ring?

“I don’t even think it would be a good fight, I think I’d just walk through him,” explained Benoit, “I don’t think he’s dumb enough to take me down, my Jiu-Jitsu is world’s ahead of his, I don’t see him submitting me, I don’t see him knocking me out, and if I get on top of him he better have some kind of shrimp and defense because I’ll be looking to pound his head in.”

With that Benoit’s icy stare starts to get concerning; you can see the wheels turning as he envisions the fight with Kattar; that tenacity boils to the top and another smile unfurls across the face of arguably the best Lightweight in New England.  Only one other topic elicits such passion and fervor from Benoit, becoming the WCF Lightweight champion.

“I’d like to have a local title,” Benoit exclaimed, “My Dad goes to every fight and I’d like to bring home a title for him.  Also, if I get drafted into a national show it’ll be a long time before I’m good enough to fight for a title, so being able to say I’m the WCF 155 champ would be great!”

And there’s the rub, currently the WCF does not offer titles, so would Benoit fight for another local organization for a title?

“I really can’t see myself going back to shows at Club Lido or any other small venue.  ‘Joe Cav’ and I have a personal friendship, I like fighting for him and the WCF.  Joe’s told me about plans for a title where everyone would have to qualify and stuff.  No one puts on a show like Joe and the WCF, they take care of you, give you bags of free gear and supplements at weigh-in’s.  I’m not putting all of my eggs in one basket, but I think Joe will offer me another contract and I want to stay,” Benoit said.

This Friday night, November 14^th, at the Aleppo Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington, Massachusetts John Benoit will look for win number seven against Anubis’s Bill Jones, but he’ll also be looking over his shoulder at Calvin Kattar; Kattar fights Boneyard’s Bobby Dias the same night for WCF.  The last time the two were in the same building at WCF 4, with Kattar in the audience and Benoit in the ring, Benoit took the opportunity to grab the house mic and officially call Kattar out.

“I don’t know if it was the right choice or the wrong choice,” Benoit commented, “All I know is that if someone essentially called me a (expletive) I’d definitely be in the ring, I’d step up to the plate.”

John Benoit is a simple man who speaks his mind in a straight forward manner, the same way he fights: aggressive and tenacious.  New England fight fans will see for themselves just how Benoit applies those traits inside the WCF ring this Friday night, if Benoit has his way Calvin Kattar will get to feel those traits up close and personal for WCF gold!