Gary Joshua is never one to shy away from challenges. You can tell by the way he fights and in his general demeanour.
The Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC) fighter likes to refer to himself as “adventurous” and one with a “daredevil spirit”.
Aside from his trade inside the EFC’s hexagon, he lives up to that wild spirit during his “day job” as a stuntman, too.
“It’s going good and I’m still very much involved in it,” says Joshua about his latest endeavours in the stuntman world.
“I truly found something else that I’m extremely passionate about and it goes along with my adventurous and daredevil spirit. I love doing crazy s***.
“I’m currently busy with a local action movie in which I’ve landed a character role - called ‘Indemnity’ produced by Gambit films and with the stunts being done by Stunteam.
“The last job I worked on was Bulletproof, season two, and Queen Sono - currently trending on Netflix.”
It is clear that the man knows his way around the sets of Mzansi and is building a strong platform for himself on the sets of movie and series productions.
So when he heard about the Fight to Fame concept the former number one flyweight contender (4-1) was open to the idea.
“I actually don’t know what it’s about, but I’ve heard about it, and it sounds interesting,” says Gary “Relentless” Joshua.
Fight to Fame is a new reality show concept designed to create Hollywood movie stars out of real-life combat sports athletes. The show which is being rolled out to 200 countries - including South Africa - will see fighters enter a reality television show where they will be subjected to several assessments including stunt work, acting training etc.
The winners from these shows will have the opportunity to earn a role in a Hollywood movie production.
“It’s a good opportunity to give fighters more exposure and a substitute income.
“In the same breath, it doesn’t mean that if you can fight you can ‘perform’, it’s two different worlds, but I’ll definitely consider it if the opportunity arises.”
Back to mixed martial arts, Joshua is hungry to feel the hexagon canvas on his feet again.
“Yes, I definitely want to get back into the cage, we were in talks but no potential opponents were mentioned at that time, I don’t care who I fight as long as I put on a good show for the fans ... ‘kill or be killed’.”
Joshua’s last fight was that incredible title fight against the then flyweight champion, Nkazimulo Zulu in which the former lost in the final round via a guillotine choke in November 2018.
“Looking forward, it all depends on what opportunities will be on offer from the EFC. I’ll discuss it with my team and we’ll make a decision.
“The bantamweight division is looking very interesting,” he says, understanding that the flyweight division has gone pretty quiet since England’s Jake Hadley took the belt from Zulu at EFC78. The division has been pretty quiet ever since, with a lack of fighters in the 56kg arena.
The bantamweight division has some interesting fighters on the roster with the likes of champion, Faeez Jacobs, Zulu, Sylvester Chipfumbu and Sindile Manengela ready to go.
“But before I lay down my gloves, I would also like to taste the foreign waters and spill their blood, it’s always been a goal
of mine to fight abroad,” he adds.
Aside from getting his fight engine going again and hitting the bright lights of the movie sets, Joshua has also embarked on the exciting journey of opening his own gym - SBG Dirty South - in Retreat.
“Pre-lockdown, I was still in the process of opening up my gym officially, however, everything had to take a back seat because of the lockdown.
“The gym offers Brazilian jujitsu, submission grappling, kickboxing and MMA classes. Private lessons and small group sessions are available.
“Once I’m up and running properly I will be adding kids classes as well.”