Despite all the theatrical trash talk and tension between himself and Dricus du Plessis leading up to EFC 62 on Saturday, middleweight champion Yannick Bahati is solely focused on his lifelong goal - making his UFC debut.
Fighting out of the Ultimate Training Centre (UTC) in England, Bahati won the EFC middleweight belt in 2016, before adding the BAMMA belt to his trophy cabinet earlier this year.
Now, following a war of words on social media and an altercation in the changing rooms at an EFC event, Bahati will look to defend his title against EFC welterweight champion Du Plessis.
In the build-up to their bout, Bahati managed to upset many South African MMA fans, especially when their face-off on Saturday ended with Bahati slapping his South African opponent.
"Everyone has treated me like a king here in South Africa. They bow to me and kiss my feet," he joked in an interview with The BigAl Podcast.
"Obviously online everyone likes to open up and talk but I'm not too concerned with that. Since I've been here, nobody has said anything to me except for Dricus' teammates.
"I've actually had a lot of support and I'm thinking a lot of people don't like Dricus. I've received a lot of messages and tweets from people thanking me for slapping Dricus."
In what could be seen as the biggest fight of his career, and what is undoubtedly the biggest fight card on the EFC roster this year, the 27-year-old said this is just another bout to improve his resumé.
"Forget about the biggest fight, for me this is the most important fight because I want to be in the UFC. I want to be the UFC world champion one day," said Bahati.
"To me, Dricus just looks good on my resumé. Obviously he's popular here [in South Africa], he's the welterweight champion and has a good record [10-1-0]. I think he will elevate me to get into the UFC. The ideal situation for me would be to fight for the light heavyweight belt against Dalcha [Lungiambula], but it didn't happen.
"In my mind I'm going to the UFC this year. There's nothing that can stop me from doing that. Right now there're two things standing in my way - I've got Dricus then I'm fighting in BAMMA in a few weeks' time."
Having spent the early part of his life in war-torn DR Congo, Bahati's road to becoming the EFC middleweight and BAMMA middleweight champion was not an easy one.
Fighting, he says, has always been a part of him, recalling fond memories he has of he and his father watching martial arts movies together.
"I've always been a fan of martial arts since my early days back in Congo. I used to watch Mike Tyson with my dad and to this day Tyson is one of my favourite boxers. I was born and raised in Congo and moved away when I was about 10 years old because of the war.
"My dad obviously wanted to give us a better living and a better place to live, so we moved up to Kenya for a year or two before ending up in England. I still speak French and Swahili but not as good anymore; I understand more than what I can speak.
As a young school boy, Bahati would sit up in front of the television watching the best scenes of Bruce Lee, and when he had the chance, he would attempt to replicate the moves.
"At school got into a lot of trouble. I wouldn't say I was the one starting trouble, but I didn't mind," said Bahati. "If someone picked a fight with me, secretly, in a way, it made me happy. I enjoy the pressure and I like the concentration.
"You know at school when you get into a fight, you usually wait for that fight until after school. So that tension, that build up, I loved it! You'll probably notice all that tension right now with this fight."