The Colosseum

Summary

Combat Confidential #021 - S3E6 - Nial Sunderland - Premier MMA The Colosseum! Get ready for a special edition of Combat Confidential. This week we are on the road at the Ballykeefe Amphitheater with Niall Sunderland, the mastermind behind Premier MMA. We get to talk about the…

Transcript (youtube_captions)

we're in the we're in Bal Keef on the way to the Coliseum of Irish MMA so originally I hadn't heard of it um I was looking at doing a venue in Kil Kenny an event in Kil Kenny and was talking to Miles price about potentially doing one there and he was talking about doing the B Keef Amphitheater and yeah it's like the best I can describe it's obviously outdoor and you're just looking down onto the the cage area and it's it's out in the side it's kind of Scenic and yeah I just think it's the perfect venue for for MMA and and over time it could become an annual show you know so that's what we're looking at building it into like realistically I think everyone's like there's so many shows on per year that like if anyone is a little bit sensitive about the weather they can just bring an umbrella like that's our attitude know the show will be on for like three three and a half hours so we're 11 weeks out we've about 15 so far but I don't know on the night we'll get 15 to 20 across the line I'd say but you never know pull outs and stuff like that it's a chaotic it's a chaotic world the MMA World we'll get we'll get 15 to 20 hopefully like the people that run it like it's owned by the K County Council but it's the volunteers are so supportive like they're so helpful like they've they've they've offered to do so much for us and um they're really backing us for this one so I'm really really grateful for their support and uh yeah you you kind of need that with with kind of special venues like this like I've ran enough events now to know that this is going to be a good one like this is going to be this is going to be the best event we've ever ran you know I know I know based on the the fight like every fighter in the country has been on to me to get onto this card like every every fighter in the country Pro and amateur that's kind of like on a regional show wants to get on this show and the City of kilany the responses we're getting yeah it's going to be it's going to be an epic night and it's going to be it's going to be a breakthrough night I feel for a couple of Fighters there's a few fighters on the card that I think that no one has heard of yet that are going to really break through on this card in B Keef Amphitheater ultimately what's all about it's about the fighters you know giving them the best opportunities we can that's what everyone I think in MMA is trying to give 10 10 weeks ago 10 weeks ago Tony [Music] coming yeah that's perfect all right so um all right talking about the the card who's headlining this show who's headlining that is this yeah it's a it's a proper Coliseum um yeah so who who's headlining this Coliseum the headliner is going to be just got done it's Alexander yankov of compound martial arts and Alex is in a kind of a unique position in his career I like for me this is the most important fight of his career ever and he's only like he's always had hard hard fights and I think that an oen will back me up on this needless to say he's his number one supporter Alex has always taken and it's a cliche in MMA people say like oh well he's only ever had the hardest fights he's only ever taken the hardest opponent and he's gotten hard done by in his career but genuinely I do think Alex actually is hard done by that's just my opinion working from the outside looking in like he's fought his last fight was against clao Pella he's fought Ryan shell he's fought a whole load of really good guys that are at like European level and I think that if he's matched correctly he could have a three or four fight win streak here starting in main Eventing the Coliseum you know what I mean and he's fighting another tough opponent making his professional debut but with Alexander like he's dedicated himself to mix martial arts for 10 years and he's just such a determined person that I would back him how old is he 29 yeah he's relatively speaking he's young yeah like he's he's 29 years old but like he could go like a three fight win streak here and by the time he's 30 he could get into his 30s have a good run here and I'm backing him I really am like people think I'm a lot of people will might might look at his record and say like you know they might question his potential but I really genuinely think he could get on a win streak here and shock a lot of people and um yeah he's he's the most determined person I've ever met honestly one of them like he's up there like he's he's got so much determination and you know he's got another tough opponent on his hands in Yan MK um but I'd be backing Alex um so when you're creating these cards like how difficult is it to you know kind of pick that main event you know how do how do you navigate that between your candidate pool and um you know what you want how do you a lot of it comes down to timing like availability and timing like if you have someone like Alex on that time frame there was there was a few names that were coming they might have you know they might not be available on that particular time frame a lot of it does come down to timing to be honest okay and availability of the correct opponents you know Yan is a great opponent for Alex and I think that Alex is a a good dance partner for Yan as well but yeah it does come a lot of it does come down to timing and also I I do get along very well with ushi and it does come down to personal relationships as well to be honest like that's just life that's that's business and that's life I I do get along quite well with ushin so um I get along quite well with Alex also so I just think it's it's something that you know once the matchup is correct and once you know the people involved are are are are good to work with and it does a lot of it does come down to timing all right so when when you're developing your undercard you know when you kind of have your opening fights um is it important to you to kind of have you like uh Fighters with like a solid foundation already or do you kind of like having um you know newer Fighters newer amateurs or even professionals I guess um you know kind of opening the show yeah like there's there's a mix like with with debut fights it's always a little bit difficult because you can't get a there's rarely footage on guys there's seldom footage on guys and it's harder to know exactly what level people are at when there's a couple of fights out there you can see what level someone's at um but like coaches you know the coaches know better than I do they've got the technical expertise that I don't have they will know what level their Fighters at compared to another fighter once there's footage but with debut fights that's the most difficult it's the most difficult to get the correct debuts but you know we we've got a right thankfully most most most of the time so yeah it's it's really down to that obviously the the fight cards are changing how do you keep that from kind of thing you know obviously Fighters get injured what do you do to kind of mitigate or manage that um yeah so like there's there's a few things like like in the Republic of ir obviously there's more stringent Medicals but yeah like really nine times out of 10 it works out and there's available oppon again timing it does come down to timing like for available opponents it does come down to who is available at that particular time and willing to accept the fight on two weeks notice etc etc um but yeah that's that's that's more or less it we do our best and like as time goes on and you get more connections with more gyms you can kind of have a bigger pool of candidates to Cho choose from but um yeah we're at about 15 fights currently for this particular card and um yeah it'll be packed do you have do you have like kind like a go-to gym or a fighter that you go like someone pulls out you're like I need someone Tomorrow there's some people that are more game than others that would accept fights on late notice you know there's other people that would be more selective yeah there's there's there's different people but some people are more H willing to accept points on later notes and some some won't you know they they want particular fights and it won't make sense for them in their gym and their their timing you know how many professionals are on this card coming up so we've one pro fight currently Alexander Yanko versus Yan MK um and yeah that's basically more or less say we're going to have one professional fight for this particular car and the remainder are are amateur under fights underc cared fights rather uh aside from the main event was is there another one that another fight that you have booked that you're looking forward to to seeing oh definitely there's there's a few I mean the main one that I'm looking forward to and it kind of boggles my mind that people don't know who this guy is and he's just amazing like I I've I've been around long enough and I've I I've known enough about H this sport to to see talent and know Talent when I see it and the guy's name is Matty oor he trains out of Mya martial arts he's from Carlo and he trains in Mya martial arts he's on he's knocked out three of his last four opponents and only for one of his opponents has like a concrete block for a chin he would be on a four-fight knockout streak his only loss is to Conor McCarthy okay and who just went he just went pro just went pro and he's like two months ago yeah yeah and he's like he got what did he win he won severe MMA Prospect of the year last year so uh and like that was one week's notice Matty he took that fight on mattity is legit he's he's I think he's going to break out on this particular card you know he's matched against Gareth McCormack of Fai Gareth is a seasoned fighter himself really really good and they're kind of similar Personalities in a way Gareth and and Matty Gareth is very he's kind of happy gol lucky Chap and so is Matty out of the cage but when they get into the cage it is a very different story yeah yeah and Matty he doesn't go in to go to a decision he goes in to finish okay um and I'm just I I again I go back to it I cannot believe that people don't know who he is like a lot of people on the scene don't really know Matty yet and um this is going to be a breakout night for him I I really feel it will be and Gareth is not going to make it easy for him Gare is going to try and come away with that Irish amateur title as well it's it's for an Irish light heavyweight title um how many title fights do you have uh there'll be two just two okay yeah so yeah it's going to be it's going to be epic it's going to be epic uh debut Fighters do you have any first timers oh yeah they'll be a good few yeah um off hand there's I think there's three or four yeah have to look at the exact car to to to get that but yeah there's there's a good few debuts towards the top of the car we have more experience guys obviously Alex and Yan where do they both fight out of so Alex is fighting at a compound martial arts in AR and Yan is fighting at a pancre Czech Republic prag so yeah he's he's being flown in for the fight yeah is he uh how early is he coming in like like a not coming in the day of obviously heigh yeah yeah um but I mean like he's coming like a week or two to kind of get out committed or um he typically just comes in the day before he's already fought one of my cars previously really in Cork yeah he fought as an amateur on on the cork card yeah it's it's it's is that sorry is that typical for for pros to do kind of in Europe yeah oh oh in for amateurs well no just I mean I guess Pros in general um you know I I feel like if it was me I'd want to show up like maybe a week beforehand just to kind of you know if it was the US I think it's one day per hour time difference really yeah so if you're going to New York whatever the time difference is you come in I'd usually do that double you know that's what Fighters would would typically do um but yeah for for Yan Czech Republic is 1 hour so he usually 1 hour yeah yeah that's it that's not bad then yeah it's not too bad yeah so he'll come in he'll come in the day before um and that's more or less it yeah he se's fought here before though he's fought in Cork previously so he's and his manager has lived in Ireland for for years and years so yeah and it's generally your rest week anyway so you're just easy to do cardio anywhere so um okay that makes I was overthinking it um okay so was it Alexan um he's coming from Czech Republic um Alex you feel like you know could really break out on the uh he he he hasn't had it easy you know like you can look at a fighter and see that he's like he has the right fights that are building him and then he gets a fighter that's kind of like he likes these tough fights yeah I think he's kind of forced to take harder fights than he's than he's really needed to and hasn't really been built and I think this is this is a great fight for him not like Yan has every chance winning this I'm not coming in here saying this is a 50/50 fight I'm not saying that like you know this is a building fight for Alex you know Yan has every chance of winning this he's bloody good but I think Alex hasn't had the right breaks and he's he's been forced into take in fights that haven't been the best for him at the time and this is this is a great fight for him basically you feel like this is a really good matchup for the pair really but uh specifically for Alex and his uh career that he's had so far you think this is a a great match up for him yeah so like then you know the the inverse of that Yan um him coming into this how do you you what are your prospects for for him well he's making his professional debut um you know he's he he's the best way I can describe him is he's just a wrecking machine he just he just marches forward tries to get the fight to the ground and you know put on power submissions onto onto his opponents um and Alex is going to have to stay on the outside and move around and make sure that he doesn't get clinched by Yan um it's interesting to see who win the grappling exchanges but yeah I think he has every chance of winning it's an international fight you know and Yan is not going to be wanting to get off his professional career to a on a losing start so yeah it's a it's it's a massive fight and I I I'm really happy for Alex to get this to get this fight on this card absolutely um and certainly this could mean quite a bit for for Yan as well seeing as this is his this will be his debut Pro fight and I'm definitely excited to even be up here watching it because this place is great like I like hear all the birds chirping and it's a really lovely venue like uh I can't wait to go get more shots this place so the next fight that uh we want to keep an eye on um mat oor Gareth mccor yeah talk to about it so um what was it like matching them two up when like did did you was like a kind of like a puzzle you're just you know moving tiles around and then they just happen to match or or was that something you had planned um yeah like every match up I suppose you're moving the you're moving around and you know the certain things line at certain times and certain experience lines at certain times it kind of boggles my mind that more people haven't heard of mat RoR like he is he's a genuine Irish Prospect and I don't think people I don't think people fully recognize him for what he is yet you know he's really really amazing and he's knocked out three of his last four opponents his only loss is a fight on late notice against one of the best fight is in the country probably the best fighter in the country right now Conor McCarthy at welterweight yes yeah um sorry is that what weight they're fighting at now no they heavyweight heavy okay is this an Irish light heavyweight title like Matty is the best light heavyweight in Ireland there's no two ways about it and like I think mattity is someone longer term that can be a real Ambassador for the sport like he's he's so likable he's such a nice guy he's really happy go looky chat but he just gets into the cage and he doesn't go to the he doesn't want to go to the decision he doesn't want to go to points he's there to finish and Gareth is a seasoned seasoned fighter as well and he's been around the block and it's not going to make it easy for MADD here and he's coming down from Belfast to win this Irish light heavyweight title and like sometimes you get you get amateur titles and you know sometimes it can mean that they're the best in Ireland obviously and sometimes it can mean you know that they're not there's other people that are unavailable or whatever else this is a genuine Irish light heavyweight title and I think that it just skyrockets Matty to another level if if he wins cuz Gare is really good you know he's he's fought only premium opposition as well like you know and I just can't again I go back to it I can't believe that more people haven't heard him adio work he's really really special he's really good I think after was it June 29th uh June 29th 10 weeks away yeah I think that uh might be a different perspective on the gentleman after after that fight um I certainly hope there is um so back to like matchmaking like a what is it you know said did those two just kind of come together or did you like did you have that planned um so like like what everything I suppose it does just come together like the their experience levels lined up okay and yeah it's just kind of like timing availability and so on as well you know realistically but um yeah it just kind of lined up uh how about Gareth and you know was there anything that specifically stood out to you that you thought would make this a good match up um yeah their their level of skill you know Gareth is you know they're like they're very high on him in Fai um and they're talking about him potentially turning professional in the future and that's the level that we're at here like Matty's at that level gareth's at that level and whoever wins is the best light heavyweight in Ireland you know um so yeah I think I think Gareth is a really really good guy and he's not coming down here to lose he's coming down here to win and he's going to make it very very difficult for Matty and he's going to have to walk through fire to get that Victory thank yeah um speaking of walking uh I just had this thought where are they going to walk in and out of where the warmup rooms going to be uh so the warmup rooms are over there they're outdoor warm-up rooms obviously cuz we're Outdoors um but yeah there's they're going to be walking directly out straight down the middle that's where we're leaning towards it now yeah straight down to the middle that's going to be sick yeah this going to be that's going to be real cool man that's awesome look um I appreciate you talking with me um I think this going to be a going be sick event um you know regardless of you know who's cheering for who out there I think think everyone's going to really enjoy themselves just you know look at the place um you know so I'm looking forward to it looking forward to the main event uh looking forward to just being here um looking forward to feeling the atmosphere because I have a feeling you will be able to feel it um so heck yeah I'm really looking forward to it and I appreciate you inviting me out here to to have a look at it and uh to talk to you about it thank you for coming Tony and I will I will see you on June 29th hopefully before then well yes defin e a