Norway Finds Its Star: An Interview with Emil 'Valhalla' Meek

Photo by Fabio Barbieri

Emil "Valhalla" Meek made headlines across the world after taking just 45 seconds to beat the infamous Rousimar "Toquinho" Palhares on Saturday night.

The definition of the English word "meek" produces numerous connotations that simply cannot be associated with the nickname Valhalla. Walking out to the Venator FC cage wielding a battle-axe, Meek was visibly pumped up to take on the biggest challenge of his career in Palhares—who not only had inflicted many injured to his opponents over the years, but who is comfortably among the best welterweights in the world and arguably the greatest outside of the UFC.

Meek was always confident in his ability to beat Palhares despite the bookmakers suggesting his chances were highly unlikely. This was thanks, in part, to having the best training camp of his career. "You know, people always tell everybody how they've never felt better or they're in the best shape they've ever been in ahead of a fight," said Meek. "But, this time it really was the case and I honestly felt the best I've ever felt. I felt really, really good ahead of the fight—I felt so sharp in my padwork. I hit like a bull and was moving fast and perfectly. I trained Monday to Thursday ahead of my fight and I'm usually a bit off during my weight cut, but I killed every session I had leading up to Palhares on Saturday."

It was that aforementioned sharpness which became clear in the mere 45 seconds it took Meek to dispatch Palhares. After a pensive opening 30 seconds with each man sizing each other up in the obligatory "feeling out" process at the start of any fight, Palhares suddenly dived down to seize the leg of Meek—a tactic which has been successful throughout Toquinho's career.

It didn't work, though. Despite the craziness of an adrenaline-fuelled MMA fight, Meek remembers every step towards his now-famous victory. "I noticed he wasn't moving well," opined Valhalla. "He kicked my leg and I came over with an overhand before landing a left hook—no one has said anything about this left hook but I feel that's why Palhares shot in for the takedown.

"I didn't get the instant sprawl but I got my elbows down under his chest. I soon sprawled and stood up against the cage and that's where I'm dangerous—I've bothered and finished my last two opponents from that position so it was perfect for me. I landed a few elbows and I noticed his grip loosened after the third elbow and I took his back and finished the fight just like I did in my last fight, too. I felt him give in on the third elbow. When you drop down like that, you're out—maybe not out cold—but he was out of it and you could see it too. His hands were down on his knees and he wasn't protecting himself."

By request. — caposa (@GrabakaHitman)May 22, 2016

Evidenced by his highly-shareable post-fight celebrations, this fight was a big deal for the Norwegian upstart. But, Meek cannot explain what his celebratory moves were all about. "I just felt the purest form of happiness when the referee waved off the fight. It's the feeling I strive to feel every day and to just enjoy that moment is truly special to me."

No one on the European MMA scene wanted to accept the fight against Palhares due to his extensive rap sheet of allegedly holding onto submission holds for too long on purpose—an accusation which has seen him banned from fighting in the USA for two years. Valhalla didn't accept the fight—he asked for it.

"I didn't feel any different towards him than any other opponent, really. I will admit it was special to stare at him from across the cage, though. I always talk to myself before the fight and this time I kept saying 'don't respect him' and 'now!' over and over again."

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The popularity of Norway's Cecilia Brækhus helped usher in national reform to help boxing become a legal sport in the country once again. But, MMA remains outlawed in Norway despite the sport's ever-growing popularity in neighbouring Sweden. In our first interview, Meek quipped that he wanted to be Norway's Conor McGregor figure—or MMA's Brækhus equivalent, if you will—and be the guy that helps MMA become a recognized sport in Norway.

Ever the optimist, Meek thinks he's well on his way to do just that. "I think I am already Norway's Conor McGregor figure, or at least the closest thing to it. I don't quite have his reach just yet, but after this I think I'm definitely getting there. I've been doing a lot of media today and I already feel bad for my girlfriend as she's had to wake up early and listen to me talk shit all day. For me, I love the media and they're making it possible for me to earn sponsors and get my name out there.

"I got a lot of attention for this fight in Norway and I was always asked 'why are you taking this fight?'. But, now that I've won it's exploding over here. I've always said I wanted to be the face of Norwegian MMA and help make a path for Norway's amateur fighters and any future fighters and become the pioneer of my era. I don't want to stop fighting until everyone in Norway knows about MMA and the fact the country has some great athletes representing them."

The case of Brækhus is a good comparison. It was Norway's attitude of actively supporting their athletes which drummed up enough interest to have the country's boxing ban overturned. Meek clarified Norway's attitude and the extent of the Norwegian people's national pride: "Norway is great at supporting their own people.

"There is a famous chess player named Magnus Carlsen, who is a world champion. When he first won his chess championship, all of the stores across Norway ran out of chessboard stock as the people were buying them overnight. Norwegians really get behind their guy.

"I proudly represent Norway every time I fight—even if my country's government do not really support me. The people and the media are very good to me over here so, over time, I don't think the government will be able to withstand public pressure if I gain even more popularity. I'm not into politics at all and I don't really care about it. But, I'm certain the law prohibiting MMA will be abolished as soon as there's a new generation of politicians who have grown up with the sport."

The support Meek found from the Norwegian people was evidenced on Saturday night. Around 60 members of Meek's "Valhalla Army" flew over to Milan, Italy, to support the Norwegian welterweight. As a media member who covered Conor McGregor's UFC debut in Sweden, I can attest that there were less than 60 Irishmen who travelled to Stockholm to support their now-global superstar in Stockholm's Ericsson Globe Arena back in 2013 so Meek is on the right track.

Meek appears genuinely grateful for the efforts and money spent by his vociferous Valhalla Army. So much so, he kitted them all out in their own American football jerseys. This sentiment was echoed in his words. "[It} truly means a lot to me and those 60 people mean so much more to me than the 500,000-plus people who have watched my fight on the videos posted online. It's truly amazing."

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Like many, Valhalla didn't grow up knowing exactly what he wanted to do when he reached adulthood "I never fought as a kid or in my youth and was definitely not a troublemaker of any sort," said Meek. "The only fighting I ever did was playfighting or wrestling with my friends at school like you do when you're younger.

"I played soccer as a kid like a lot of people in Norway. I was fat so I always got put in goal. But, my heart was never really in it—I didn't even support a team. I ended up rooting for Chelsea only because my friends did, but I never cared enough about it. I also played volleyball and I actually got pretty good at that, but I quit that too as none of my friends played the sport and I would have to play against older people.

"I played a lot of guitar and started that when I was 13. I like all kinds of music, but I love '80s rock like Bon Jovi and Steel Panther – Steel Panther are probably my favourite band right now. Of course I wanted to be a rock star, but that clearly didn't happen! I've always been realistic so I can move on if I feel a goal is a little beyond my reach like that. I even wanted to be a professional gamer when I first got my computer – these are childhood dreams that never came true, but now I feel like a superhero so I guess that's one of my goals from my youth that did materialize."

Meek's turn to mixed martial arts was one that I'm sure is recognizable and relatable to many reading this article. The Trondheim, Norway, native found a love for strength training and adopted that as his passion before catching a glimpse of The Ultimate Fighter season 3—which featured Michael Bisping and Matt Hamill. After that, he was hooked. In a strange coincidence, he met one of those men this weekend gone by—Hamill was competing on the same event. "I met Hamill for the first time this weekend and it was the first time I realized my heroes could now be my rivals and that was a really special moment of realisation of how far I've come."

Meek has indeed come far in a matter of days thanks to the notoriety gained from his latest victory. However, another of Meek's special moments of realization materialized during our interview: "Just as we speak now, I've got an email from Joe Silva. He says he is more than happy to speak to my team. Wow. That's very, very cool. Just moments like this sum up how it's been after beating Palhares—Joe Silva is getting in touch with me and it's not about taking on an opponent at the last minute. It's crazy. Every now and again I find myself just staring at my belt and it's just all very strange, but I'm enjoying every minute."

Fortunately for Valhalla, he found his true calling in fighting—not as an overweight goalkeeper. On the cusp of what looks like a certain call up to the UFC following an unprompted Joe Silva email, it would appear this isn't the last we've heard of Emil Meek as he begins his latest adventure at the top level of the sport.