Undefeated Donovan Beard enjoying a journey he never saw coming

Undefeated welterweight prospect Donovan Beard admits he never thought he'd find himself in his current position, but he's awfully happy that he has.

"I'm not even going to lie, like, I'm just taking it all in stride and enjoying the journey as I go because I didn't even see none of this happening," Beard said. "Starting out as an amateur, I didn't see none of this. Starting out as a professional, I didn't see none of this. I'm just living through God's plan and just hoping for the best."

Beard grew up in Arkansas and enjoyed watching martial arts on television and in movies, but he never really considered training. Still, he did get a bit of practice along the way, whether or not it was actually by choice.

"I just was always boxing my cousins and people in the neighborhood or at school getting bullied, trying to fight back the best way I could," Beard said. "Nothing formally introduced. No boxing, no karate, no wrestling in high school.

"The high school wrestling, I really wish I would have done it. I wish I would have listened to my dad whenever he told me about it years ago. By the time I found out about it, it was already senior year, and I walked by and I seen them practicing in the auditorium, and I was just like, 'Well, too late for that.'"

Years later, though, Beard decided he did want to partake in some training. At first, it was just on his own, though it later turned into something a bit more professional.

"I started when I was 27, but I trained myself when I was 24, just by myself without a gym," Beard said "Years later, I found a gym through word of mouth – one of my friends that I know – and I've just been sticking with it ever since, day in and day out.

"At first, it started off as just something to do, like, 'Hey, this is martial arts. I can do this and do all the things that I always watched Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris and all those guys on TV do.' Then one day my coach asked me if I wanted a fight, and I always enjoyed sparring, and I ended up fighting after like three months of training."

Following a two-year run as an amateur, Beard (5-0) turned pro, and he's rattled off five consecutive victories to start his career. He'll look to build on that record when he takes on fellow undefeated prospect Raheam Forest (3-0) at Friday's CFFC 103, which streams live on UFC FIGHT PASS from Horseshoe Tunica Hotel & Casino in Tunica, Miss.

Forest enters the fight with three knockouts in his first three pro contests, but Beard doesn't intend to offer himself up as another victim.

"From what I've seen, he's a knockout artist, and that's pretty cool," Beard said. "Nothing to take away from his game or anything like that, but I'm not the one that you're going to be knocking out, buddy, so I'm looking to take that 0 from you and make it a 1."

While Beard's journey may have had humble beginnings, he's not setting limits on the heights it might reach. To the contrary, "The Highlight Reel" wants to make his way to the very pinnacle of the sport.

"The plan is to become the UFC welterweight and middleweight champion of the world, and to be recognized as the best that's ever done it – straight from Hot Springs, Arkansas," Beard said. "But I'm only doing it one fight at a time, so each fight Dana White or Scott Coker is watching, hey I'm that guy, and you better be watching out for me."

Whether or not that dream materializes remains to be seen, but Beard can take another step forward on Friday night. But win or lose, Beard is already satisfied with achieving more than he had ever imagined.

"This is something that I always wanted to do in the back of my mind but didn't think it was possible for me to do," Beard said. "Then once I found out that I was capable of such things, then I just said, 'The sky is the limit.'

"I'm not trying to impress anybody. I'm not trying to just gain notoriety or be like, 'Look at me, I'm an MMA fighter.' I'm not trying to do that. I'm just doing something that I am truly passionate about, that really wakes me up in the morning and that gets my blood boiling – that gives me a reason to live."