JOSH "Kuya" Culibao could still recall one of his visits back home in Punta in Sta. Ana.
As a wide-eyed 12-year-old, the Fil-Aussie kid got a dose of reality when he saw outside of their Manila home a bunch of kids his age not playing games but scrapping down the canals just to be able to buy some food.
"I remember walking down that ilog and seeing so many kids down there near the sewer picking up plastic bags and plastic bottles to recycle so they can have money to buy food. That's a massive eye-opener for me," he said.
It was a shocking sight for any child, but those harsh truths only motivated Culibao to strive harder and hope to one day serve as an inspiration not just to those kids but his fellow Filipinos as well.
"The Philippines is a third-world country, a lot of poverty and corruption as well. To be able to do what I do, representing Australia and the Philippines, it's a lot of weight on my shoulders but it's a weight I'm happy to carry," said Culibao, who's born to a Kapampangan father and a Boracaynon mother.
Culibao (8-1-1) will have the chance to continue that quest as he steps back to the Octagon on May 22 against Chinese opponent Yilan Sha (19-6) at UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Garbrandt in Las Vegas.
For the 26-year-old fighter out of Igor MMA, the fight is an opportunity to really get his breakthrough in the promotion.
He was a late replacement in February 2020 when he suffered his first career loss to Jalin Turner, while his last fight against Charles Jourdain last October ended in a controversial split decision draw.
"It's good. I'm excited to be back. It's been more than six months since I fought so I'm just excited to get back in there and show the world what I can do," he said.
Culibao, however, is firm in his plans of scoring a finish and not leave anything in doubt in his fight against Yilan.
"You guys can expect a finish. I don't expect this to go to the judges anymore. I can't trust these judges anymore. Some of these judges score some of these fights are getting out of hand how ridiculous some of these scores," he said.
"To me, I don't want to leave it to the hands of the judges and I never do, but my mindset for this fight is to not leave it to the hands of the judges. I got to take control. It's in my hands to leave it out of their hands."
A win won't just be massive for Culibao's career as he also sees his match as a starting point for more Filipinos to aim to make it to the UFC, following the footsteps of Brandon Vera, Mark Muñoz, Mark Eddiva, and Dave Galera.
"I feel like the Philippines is just a place where it's gonna breed a lot more champions," he said. "If I can lead the way and inspire more Filipinos that we can do this, then we can do this. I know in other organizations, there's a lot of good Filipino fighters. They just don't get a chance to get to the UFC. I'm truly grateful to be a part of UFC and to be able to inspire the next generations of Filipinos to come through."
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