While Sheldon Westcott has begun preparing for his next Ultimate Fighting Championship bout, one that will take place halfway around the world in April, much of his immediate focus is on a tragedy that hit close to home.
The UFC prospect is pitching in to contribute to a fundraiser in memory of Const. David Wynn, the 42-year-old RCMP officer, husband and father of three, who died Jan. 21, four days after he was shot while checking on a stolen vehicle at the Apex Casino in St. Albert.
Money raised through a silent and live auction, donations and more will go to Wynn’s family and to help support Aux. Const. Derek Bond, who was injured during the shooting.
Westcott, a 30-year-old native of St. Albert, said it is a privilege to have any role – big or small – in an event honouring the slain officer and his partner.
“They said, ‘I know you’re from St. Albert. I don’t know if this is something you’d want to do …’ ‘Yup.’ ‘But we haven’t told you what you’d do.’ ‘I don’t care. I’m in,’” said Westcott (9-2-1), who is scheduled to return to UFC action on April 11 versus Pawel Pawlak (10-1) in the company’s first-ever event in Poland.
Westcott was friendly with Wynn, crossing paths when Westcott worked at O’Maille’s Irish Pub in St. Albert. Wynn was one of the officers who would make a regular walk-through, ensuring everything was in order.
“There’s probably a couple nights where he had to tell me, ‘Sheldon, stop being stupid. Go home,’” Westcott said with a laugh.
“It’s one of those things, when they approached me, I literally couldn’t say yes fast enough.”
Within an hour of joining the fundraising effort, Westcott had several thousands of dollars in donations or merchandise to be auctioned off next weekend. He’s received tickets from the Edmonton Oilers, autographed boxing memorabilia, cageside tickets for a World Series of Fighting event coming to Edmonton next month. He is offering personal training sessions and a one-year membership at his gym, Complete Fitness and Martial Arts.
Westcott is one of many in the St. Albert community stepping up. A trip to Cuba and an all-inclusive voyage to Hawaii are up for grabs at the auction. A local digital imaging company has sold more than 500 mugs, at $10 a pop, honouring the RCMP, with proceeds going into the fund. A local hockey team is donating money from a 50/50 draw.
The auction is set for Feb. 7 at the St. Albert Inn. It was originally supposed to take place at the Celtic Knot Pub in St. Albert, but support for the event was so overwhelming, organizers had to find a larger venue.
“It’s something very important to me, being from St. Albert,” said Westcott.
“Any point I can do something, from being a fighter to helping somebody in my community, I’m obviously going to do it.”
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FIVE ROUNDS WITH SHELDON WESTCOTT
Almost one year to the day since his first official UFC bout, the 30-year-old Westcott returns to the octagon April 11 against Pawel Pawlak in the company’s debut in Poland. He shared his thoughts with Postmedia on bouncing back, playing the villain and overcoming a major health scare …
1. While training in Phuket, Thailand, he contracted a potentially career-threatening staph infection last August prior to a scheduled bout in Macau. Following the advice of ex-UFC fighter Roger Huerta, who lives in Thailand, Westcott found a doctor who may have saved his career.
“My foot was probably two or three times the size of my other foot. It was glowing hot, red. There was a hole in the top of my foot,” said Westcott. “The two worst places you can possibly get it are a hand or a foot because there’s no flesh there. What happens is it just starts eating away, eating away. If it gets in your bones, that’s when it starts getting seriously dangerous. It was bad.”
2. The Ultimate Fighter: Nations, a Canada-versus-Australia version of UFC’s long-running competition in which Westcott was a member of Team Canada, was nominated for Canadian Screen Awards best reality-TV program.
“That is really cool. It goes to show the staff of The Ultimate Fighter, the amazing job they did,” he said.
3. Westcott was originally expecting to fight March 7 in Windsor, Ont., at an event that was rumoured but never officially announced. When the card fell through, his return was pushed back.
“That gave me a month and a bit extra to prepare for this fight. It was a good way to jump start me getting into shape for this one,” he said. “Everything happens for a reason.”
4. Westcott lost his official UFC debut to Elias Theodorou in the final of TUF Nations. He says he is over the heartbreak from that night but won’t soon forget it.
“You can get past a fight but to get over performing that bad, for me, is something that still motivates me,” he said. “You either win or you get better. That’s what happens in this sport. I’m past that fight but those days I’m tired, I’m sore, I look back at that fight and that’s motivation.”
5. Westcott is thrilled about being cast as the villain.
“I’m going into Poland, fighting a Polish fighter, in an arena that seats 16,000 people. It’s like Rocky 4. For me, it’s awesome … I relish going there and getting just booed,” he said. “I get to hear that sound, when I finish the fight, of them going super quiet. There’s never been a show in Poland yet. It’s their very first show. I’m fighting a Polish guy in Poland. This is perfect. I love it.”
ddeibert@thestarphoenix.com
Twitter.com/davedeibert
