How UFC-bound Justin Van Heerden dug his heels in for teammate Wilbraham

It's long been the ethos at Freestyle MMA, home of Australia's No. 1 ranked featherweight Justin Van Heerden.

'Lockjaw' has been on a tear since shifting from Brisbane to Windang three years ago, stringing together five straight wins to claim and subsequently defend the Eternal featherweight title in less than 18 months .

He's since signed with the Australia's other major promotion, HEX Fight Series, claiming his first victory under that banner by unanimous decision over Melbournian Michael Barber last month.

He'll be back in action this Friday chasing the Hex featherweight strap when he takes on George Mangos in Melbourne where a victory will put him within a bee's appendage of a UFC call-up.

It's what his every effort has been geared towards for several years, but the 30-year-old was willing to pass it all up on principle if it cost Freestyle stablemate Jarrett Wilbraham his fight with Semakadde Kakembo on the same card.

Kakembo became a possible opponent for Van Heerden after initial contender Abdalla Biayda was pulled from the card after suffering a brutal knockout in a lead-in Muay Thai bout.

His UFC push may be at a critical juncture, but Van Heerden was willing to pull himself from the title bout altogether if Wilbraham lost his spot on the show.

"The first thing I said was 'I don't care how this gets sorted, I'm not going to leave Jarrett without a fight and just shaft him'," Van Heerden said.

"I made it clear to the guys from Hex 'I don't know what you guys have to do from your end, but you've got to guarantee that this fight with Jarrett is locked in and sorted, because if he's not fighting, I guarantee you I'm not fighting'.

"It's panned out how it has and I'm really excited to see Jarrett get back in there after a bit of a layoff, especially with this fight because it's been brewing for so long.

"Then I'll get in there and do my thing and we'll come back with a couple of victories and keep the momentum rolling."

Without the firm stance, Wilbraham's year-long injury-enforced hiatus would have continued. Instead, he'll get to settle a long-simmering score with Kakembo.

"Justin really held his ground and said he wasn't going to fight," Wilbraham said.

"I wanted him to fight, even if it was against Sem, because I know how important it is for him. He's right on the cusp of getting chosen for the UFC, so he's a very loyal bloke for what he's done.

"It's been a long time coming between Sem and I. He's been calling me out for a while and I haven't been able to take the fight because of different issues, and he's always made out like I was a coward.

"It got a lot worse when he tried to fight Justin instead of me. I just thought that was hypocritical for someone to say that I'm pulling out of fights for him to go and try and pull out of mine.

"He thinks it's banter, but it's a personal attack for me. It's gotten a little bit personal for both of us and I enjoy that. It's all really played into my hands, but it wouldn't be happening without Justin."

Van Heerden will look to claim his second major domestic strap at 145 pounds against the 3-0 Mangos, who comes much-hyped on the back of a 6-0 amateur career.

Having ended the longest hiatus of his pro career with the decision win over Barber a month ago, he's confident he will continue to make his case for a UFC debut "undeniable" with a seventh straight win.

"I'm focused on next week, and I'm going to go out there and do my thing, but I've paid my dues, I've done the work," Van Heerden said.

"I know that there's eyeballs on me from those upper levels and promotions, and I know that the work that I'm doing, the win streak I'm on, the people I've put away, the finishes I'm getting, the activity that I've shown in my career .... that's all me ticking the right boxes.

"When I got out there and do my thing this week, I've well and truly paid my dues and done what you're supposed to do.

"I'm confident that going out there and doing my job puts me in that position that I've always focused on being in, which is being undeniable."