I KNEW I WAS DESTINED TO FIGHT EVER SINCE I WAS A KID.
All of the coaches from then until now have noticed that I soak up information like a sponge. Anything I’m taught, I can put into practice in the next couple of hours. I’m very dedicated too.
I’ve always been fighting – even when I wasn’t training. I grew up with three brothers and we used to fight all the time and I was a little shit to be fair.
I started fresh in MMA. I’m really happy about this too as I believe it made a big difference. I know lots of people that started in different backgrounds and areas they prefer to be in, but for me that start in MMA means I’m well-rounded with wherever the fight goes.
Yes, I prefer to entertain and stand and strike, but I’m happy to go to the ground and to wrestle – I can do it all. And that’s because I started in MMA and not as a striker or a grappler.
MMA is everything I do. If I set my mind to something, I get it done. And the sport is all I think about. I’m watching fights at home, training in the gym or thinking of something to show my coach next time because it’s all I’ve known since I was 16. I’ve trained every day of my life since.
I TRULY LOVE TO DO THIS.
There are people out there that are good at fighting, but they don’t like to fight. They sort of fell into it by accident. But I actually truly love to do it. I don’t care about the money side of things.
If I could fight for free without worrying about bills, then I would do. It’s not just that I’m good at it, I really love to do it. Of course, I’m not the only one to say this, but you’d be surprised by how many fighters out there don’t actually like what they do.
The moment I knew that I could probably go far with fighting was just at the end of my amateur career. I was training three times per day with Charlie Leary (Bellator pro) when I was an amateur.
When I turned pro I started to believe that I could really make a career out of it. And go all the way to the top.
I LOST MY FIRST PRO FIGHT IN BRAVE, BUT IT WAS PROBABLY THE BEST WORST THING TO EVER HAPPEN TO ME.
I thought I was invincible at that point and didn’t think I could be stopped. For a while I was walking around with my chin in the air because I’d won my last six amateur fights. It was clear I didn’t respect the pro game enough, and kind of took my eye off it a little bit and I paid the price.
But I was back in the gym the following day with more motivation and more respect for the pro MMA. I started to tighten up my “tools” a bit more. Like keeping my chin down while exiting. I don’t get hit that much anyway. But there’s a fine line between amateur and professional fighting especially with the gloves.
IN THE AMATEUR RANKS YOU USE 7 OR 8OZ GLOVES.
You can take a few more risks and if you get hit, you can take it. But those 4oz gloves don’t take a lot to put you down. I found a whole new level of respect for the game.
The competition level is higher, obviously, but it’s about respecting the gloves that are used too. As soon as I figured this out, I started to take my diet more seriously, and I feel I became a more all-round professional. And now from five fights I have four stoppage wins and one draw.
