If All Goes Wrong. Fight!

Summary

Combat Confidential #016 - S3E1 - Alex Fagan If All Goes Wrong. Fight! Join us as I sit down with the newest Cage Legacy Am. Welterweight Champion, Alex Fagan, to discuss his journey in the world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Alex opens up about his passion for MMA, what…

Transcript (youtube_captions)

[Applause] hey everyone welcome back to the podcast uh had a bit of a break there so I appreciate you tuning back in but I got a lot of great guests lined up in the next few weeks like today's guest he is Cage legacy's newest Welterweight Champion fights at SG Tri town uh we talk about a lot of great things today uh but before we get into it make sure you check out Wolverine fightwear docomo be sure to like And subscribe to the channel as well as follow me on Instagram at combat confidential so hey without any further delay we'll jump right into with my newest friend Mr Alex Fagan all right man all right so we have Mr Alex Fagan in today so uh first of all thank you for coming in I really really appreciate it um you don't know first thing I'll say is you know congrats on your most recent uh uh Victory your cage Legacy welterweight champ yeah I was kind of hoping you'd bring your belt yeah it's it's locked up in the gym now that a't moving nowhere right on man all right um so look here I I I got a I got a few questions here they just quick uh you know kind of Icebreaker type type question just quick off the top of your head uh you know give us uh something just to kind of get to know yourself mix them up yeah perfect so they're all kind of out of order so here we go the first one that's a it's a big one who who inspired you most um people inspire me most probably me family yeah my D Big Brother people in your family who are every every day working people who work hard graft hard and have try to improve me as a person and create me as a person that I am right on um what motiv to you um to be good at what I do I don't want to do something and then not put the hours in and then feel like I haven't done enough like if you try something do something for 10,000 hours or guaranteed to get good at a master absolutely what's your favorite music genre um 80s 80s yeah pop yeah probably that's way before your time yeah it's great though who uh who who anyone specific um I don't know accordingly um off top my head if if a song or something um I don't even I don't even know I probably couldn't pick one if if you ever heard me DJing in the gym when we're all saring and stuff everyone knows that I am playing the songs I like Good Michael Jackson yeah bit 0s mic is yeah it's pretty good uh what is your favorite childhood memory my favorite childhood memory is oh that's that's actually a tough one first thing that comes to mind probably the first time I went funny enough into secondary skill yeah like I am like 1 going to secondary skill but it was such a big change to me for a kid who was really afraid of going into the secondary skill and then now and after actually wasn't too bad as in I didn't like change I don't really like change as a person and doing that I was like ah it's not great but it's good and it turned out to be amazing it's cool mine's uh fishing with my dad no specific time in general but just yeah and there's one thing I want to do with my girls is uh take them fishing yeah fishing I've done fishing once yeah I didn't have the patience for it I remember I used to um I didn't like to touch the worm so I'd make my dad the hook TR yeah call or text call really well voice message probably okay I'm I'm dyslexic I'm shocking my text so bad yeah I I prefer the I prefer a text you can take text anywhere almost you know what I mean yeah that's fair I I just walk better speaking then texting right yeah no fair enough would you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert um introvert I'd be very um Timmy self likee unless I unless I I know people or get to know them I'm quite to myself in in ways like I don't really go out my way to meet loads of new people it's in MMA SC it's different they have the same type of um things as me like they like the same things as me so it's a bit easier but when people have a different feel to me completely it's yeah I don't usually go out my way yeah no I'm I'm generally the same way I'm definitely trying to stick to myself and yeah it it's tough to it's not yeah when you want to make new friends or something that it's tough but when you're in the gym it's great cuz everyone's got that one thing in common yeah yeah right on uh coffee or tea tea I I don't have the taste for coffee see yeah I I don't have the taste for tea yeah you're American I drank you know I didn't start drinking coffee even until I moved here oh yeah no I can't if I have a coffee it's like caramel latte with lot of cream and sugar the the first the first job I had here um they had free coffee in the canteen and I'm like it's free I'll see what the hype's about and I was hooked yeah drinking like six C six cups a day yeah no like I think in Ireland it's a thing it's like Cups of Tea um and then people have the way Tak can eat a loads of milk or like no milk I see I wish I could be a tea drinker I really do it's it's like it's it's almost like you're in a it's like a Brotherhood you know what I mean yeah you know it's it's like the The Smokers that work you know who take their smoke breaks together you know and it's just kind of that thing you can you know all meet and kind of Converse over so yeah but I mean coffee is well accepted generally like everyone in my house drinks tea really like I for yours didn't even drink tea I didn't really like it and then as I actually start doing like we cuts and F camps you get like skinnier and you get lighter and waist you get cold so Cups of Tea come really nice to you but like everyone in my house drink so much of it it's probably what like next to zero calorie wouldn't it yeah so you drink whack of sugar in it yeah yeah true or yeah I guess in the milk too yeah loads of milk but the the odd time I do drink uh tea I do drink a black yeah no it wouldn't it wouldn't be my thing I'd have a lot of milk right on um all right it's a good one um 10 years down the line you're in the UFC you're a champ yeah um who plays you in your biopic in your movie who play me yeah oh Jesus um know what what young actors are around now I don't watch movies enough um oh actually I don't know a young actor who would actually don't to be a young actor yeah true anyone you half the time you watch these uh these like biopics and you ever like you go to look for the actual person it's totally different yeah um I don't know maybe um I don't I actually don't have a clue who I could actually pick who who would look like me in some sort of way that is a tough one yeah I yeah I don't even know an actor who would look to even play I always liked Jake Jen Hall he could play me oh yeah Jake Jak jayen Hall could do a job from yeah um all right last one here five years where do you see yourself uh five years um be Pro in a top organization and yeah yeah hopefully obviously top goal I think for every fighter is the UFC um but at the end of the day it is it's priz fighting at the end of the day isn't it so you want to get to the UFC and that is the main goal and be a world champion but when you retire your world title is nice but if you're flat broke when a world title yeah it's not so good like how many how many champions have said like ah I want to be UFC world champion yeah how well he is getting on now yeah like it's you see all time happening boxing they're like I am a world champion yeah but you're flat broke I know a fell who works in the warehouse and makes more money than you yeah so it's you have to yeah you have to make the money while making Point that's why you see people going the different routes of pfl and Bellator and even won Championship they pay good money I I I think that one I guess this would be my knock towards the UFC and also I don't know exactly how it works is uh with other organizations they allow or should say they make it maybe easier for fighters to make money on the side yeah with their own individual sponsorship yeah there's a lot of sponsorships what can be done with um big organizations other than the UFC obviously UFC have venom and that's their short and then you can't really do much outside unless you're a big fighter than they do a lot of stuff outside yeah but I think it's just always trying to find your Niche markco while your fighting like every fighter needs to have that small Niche like if you're those born generic every time either then you have to be outrageously crazy in the cage where you're entertained as anything like Justin gagei like he's realistically he's dull as anything outside of the cage but you put him in a cage and he's missed a ho at real yeah for sure 50k bonuses every F absolutely or you put someone who is super outrageous outside the cage who says mad things and then when they get into the cage probably never a UFC world champion but they make enough money from talking away to it yeah Toy R for them in the long run yeah they they sell P they can sell the pay-per-views so yeah yeah uh awesome man all so look than to the first real question I got for you here yes 408 how how's Combat Sports changed your life um it's changed my life in a big way I think um growing up I was always a kid who would definitely be like to himself grown up I was always very nervous kid um about everything and then when it comes to fighting I'm not nervous there's no for me there's no better place than being in a cage like being in a fight is the most relaxing feeling in the world cuz you don't have to focus on anything have one just one goal yeah like I'm young obviously I don't have bills and houses and mortgages and all that stuff like adult steel where like when I com in I when I was in um when I was in school and stuff obvious had me skill stuff had like tests and stuff that ever since I got out like yeah I walk and stuff like that but like when then I'm in a cage it's like I have one person in front of me that is it mhm dealing with one thing at a time is the easiest thing in the world and then when it's up to you there's no other factors going into it it's just you so I find that is the biggest change What affected me it's built me confidence heavily and then has just made me a better person in general that's great yeah I think that's kind of the reoccurring theme usually like when I ask people that question I I love to ask people that question because uh you like outside looking in someone who isn't familiar with you know Combat Sports it's like why would anyone want to do that but you know there's very much uh you find out about yourself in it you know and I think that there's there isn't a lot of other things that kind of offer that the way kind of comat can yeah I don't I don't think like like as a as a competitor like even if you're doing Jiu-Jitsu you're doing fight like any sort of K1 toe box MMA it at the end of the day it's it's you yeah like you have your coach and it is a team sport like I always tell people it is a team sport you compete Solly but it is a team sport as in your whole team you your whole camp with them you train with them you do everything with them and then when it comes down to it's just you but I I find that's why it builds people's confidence I think like everyone's here motiva each other to do it and when you get in there and you're like all I have the confidence cuz they have motivated me through it to get here and know that I am good enough to do it yeah for sure and it's I think more younger kids should do they don't necessarily need to you know try to be do MMA but some sort of combat sport because it it it doesn't instill that confidence in in people and I know I know it did for me and I know pretty much everyone I ever talked to about this it's it always comes back to confidence it's you know kind of built them up to just be a you know just a even more slightly confident person yeah like I um I coach a fair few kids and um coach I Coach K I coach intro adults especially with like intro adults and stuff like that cuz like it's they begin in MMA and they're grown adults so a lot of them have lives and they're ful in their life and all of a sudden they come to something what they can't do like I'm sure you remember the first time try to do a shrimp yeah or do a bridge or a roll you're like why am why am I so bad at it then you see you'll see some kid on the M who's like 12 and he's inverting on his neck and he's doing all the movements he wants like one of the best examples um in our gym would be um y Leon yeah Leon Galler um he fought I think 2K Jes before mine okay he fights cadetes yeah yeah yeah um and like he joined MMA about 2 years ago and he was like 93 kilo that was like 14 like he he was a big kid now he at 61 and he's 16 but he's in two years he's won bronze in the worlds he's won the Nationals at 67 61 he's a blue belt in two years and he's still competed fully but when he first joined he had no real confidence when it came to actually been on the mat and confidence he'd be confident outside of it on the mat he wasn't but now he's flying like he doesn't doesn't bother him at all matter what happens he can fully move he can do everything he needs to do and he wins it's the main thing for him I know that winning you know there's something to be said in winning and losing but just you know like when you're winning excuse me when you win and you put all that time in you know it really makes it worth it and then even like if you do if you lose you know it's because you've built up your confidence your self confidence in in yourself you know losing isn't sure you know it's it's not great no one you know I don't think anyone really likes that feeling of losing but it's like uh you know you're a you can accept it a lot easier because you know you know you did your best yeah like as like as of me with me MMA record like going far and Far but going into MMA like I only Tor 18 I had to literally wait till I was 18 to have an m fight and I made me debut in the imfs so that's where like I went internationally fought for Ireland and madebe deu but was a big thing for me cuz I fought K1 before I even went to MMA cuz I couldn't get head shot fights any nor and I like I wanton all my fights yeah I didn't have a problem and then when I went to MMA then I lost straight away and I was like ah this isn't great like I just traveled internationally went the whole way and then lost I was like all right it's me forth fight like I don't it is what it is I lost I went fought a good pound straight away at the highest level I lost then we next fight I won and then I lost then three on the bounce yeah like I I lost a few T like a split decision and then some close decisions and then one fight and pop me knee as well and then fought three rounds dislocated knee and just it's just annoying things were are happening and then obviously now I'm on on the bounce with two finishes and then a decision to win the kxc title you're streak of three at the moment right yeah streak of three fourth round finish second round finish and then a decision yeah and I think even like uh all your losses that you've had in MMA they've all been by decision which yeah I've never been haven't knocked out or submitted or anything that in itself is an accomplishment I think you know yeah like i' I've fought some like good people like say um Jake Gilpin and things that who uh he went out and knocked a lot of people out I fought Jordan Scully um I dislocate Min and went three rounds with him on the ground with one didn't get finished I fought de Harrison who he's doing super well as well right now um I've never had the problem of being ho I've never being clipped I've never been rocked not even in the gym I've been I've been hit with body shots and dropped but I've never been ho to the Head um everyone's been Smitt in the gym sadly that's that's one thing I'll never get away from but I've always show to fight good competition content never I tried I find an amateur lot of people want to go a I'll fight him and then I'll fight him I want to fight him and you're just like yeah but they're all lads who are on not the top end you want you're fighting the bottom end of course you're going to keep winning looks good and when you go pro then you go and fight someone decent and then L straight away get smashed yeah that's the only time that matters is when you're Pro is the only time it realistically matters amateur doesn't you look at boxers they have like 200 fights yeah it's all sometime yeah sometimes I think people are they're too worried about protecting their amateur record which if you're Someone Like Me Maybe who I I have zero interest in ever being a professional yeah one I'm too old I'm not that old you know and like and I would I started way too late you know what I mean and just you know I'm too old as it is uh you know so like if I were to ever do it it would be if I were to have any legitimate amateur fights like I would want to protect it but you know like if but if you're someone who's trying to make a career out of it or eventually you do want to be professional like amate where you need to get all your practice in yeah like I think I think the big thing what a lot of people even you're sorry even practicing losing yeah like it is it is good to L like heard as many a Fighters even an amateur who didn't L like my teammate Max never lost an amateur and like he's going to go pro and bisy probably won't lose that he probably won't lose in Pro and if he does lose it's going to be at the highest level that he loses that he not going to lose at the domestic level really or you can't see it anyway um but a lot of a lot of my teammates even the higher level ones like Andreas and stuff like Andreas has loads of loss in amateur now he has a load of wins or like even um Carl mcconway which Carl mcconway in our J is like fought everyone like he's still out Trel um and like he's going to go pro I think probably after his next fight just cuz he wants to get one back game before he goes Pro but he's fought like Kay Lin and everything you look at K in the UFC like everyone he's fought are like in cage Warriers in Bellator in the UFC and like he's bet them or lost them like his record is like 1 and 1 but he's fought everyone you can possibly fight in MMA and amateur so when he goes Pro a lot of lads he's going to fight aren't even as good as the lads he's fought in amateur he's already very well season yeah like you go to like a lot of Europe I think Europe M's better than the American m a lot of the high like Brazil and things that because the the level is a lot higher because we have a lot more amateurs than we have in like America and Brazil like Brazil don't really do amateurs America do a bit of it but you don't do much it's not big over there for mate it's just go pro and then fight and find out how it's going to go for you we here it's like having am have about 10 then go pro then build yourself in Pro and then eventually see who you get as you go on like if you look at even in the OC rankings like I think everyone in the top 15 majority of European baseb none them are really Americans anymore I think so no I think yeah yeah all the Champions are like there's a few there's a few Americans but like heavyweight is Jones but then it's Tom light heavyweight now is Pereira he's Brazilian middleway is um dricus he's South American oh South African um same with um wel weight Leon lightweight lightweight Islam never fed is toor MHM Bantam White's then who was even Bantam white now this sha Ali he's American and then fly panta so it's one America inclen Jones was one American champion God we need to step Rec G yeah yeah no it's yeah no I think you're right in the states it it's in the states um it is viewed differently um especially with like the amateur scene I think a lot of it has to do with like um things are very Regional and now I know that I don't have a lot of experience in it but from what what I've seen it's it doesn't look like there's a lot of um like uh like like you're fighting in like you're fighting the same people it's a small group to begin with so then you know the only way to kind of open that pool up as to be Pro yeah like I know um Owen my coach Ry he started a thing over in America called nukea n MMA he started college MMA now he has in America yeah yeah he has his own organization so there's I think don't know how many colleges are involved in it but he has a few um colleges and they all like compat against other colleges oh yeah that's cool yeah so it's way like wrestling is and things like that so he's done it now for MMA like he's doing from Ireland over to America to it yeah so he has a fair few MMA colleges and they every like every few months they set up a show and you're fighting someone from a different College that's cool so it's like uh you know like the NCA with like football and basketball that's cool that that that's cool um yeah I can you know maybe once could see something like that getting picked up by the NCA eventually you know assuming you know because I know Combat Sports in general are well MMA in general is still kind of like taboo you know it's it's not looked on you know real sport sometimes yeah but U right here look let's all right what um what makes you feel most alive um most alive I has to be fighting in a cage yeah order than being in a cage is theing things what gives me uncomfort yeah I like like I'm a kid who's always been quite like to myself but I've done a lot of things what I didn't particularly like to do like I've I've tried a lot of things and I haven't liked it I didn't like I just wouldn't do it again okay but at least make myself to try do it like I like as I've got older I've got better at it when I was younger I was really bad for it like not doing anything I didn't want to do but as I've got old I've got better but I think it is it's important to have adversity in your life I think yes everyone gets it like no matter which way it comes it could be like small things like like you fail a test or it could be bigger things like someone's died in your family or you've tried something and You' failed I think it is important to have it more than not do it um I think that's the biggest thing for me would be things in life like cage like as you get used to fighting obviously worse things can happen to in a cage like a pop my knee in a cage or like someone get knocked out or choked out and that isn't great but at the end of the day it's not the end of the world you get put Aion to out you get knocked out where you won't even know what happen so you probably get over anyway yeah no it's that overcoming adversity yeah I think it's a I think it's a big thing like even in Life or if you're doing something in general like if you have a job you're guaranteed to mess up at some point like guarantee to mess up an email or if you're working like a warehouse put send something on the back of a truck wrong or anything you can L you anything stack a shelf wrong if you're working in a shop something will go wrong just a deal with it's not matter what it is once you haven't gone and killed someone I think you'll be all right pretty much all right um so before I forget I did want to ask you you work a little bit with uh like the the train alter yeah I've I've done a bit the AL how do how do you how do you feel about that what what do you actually hold on when when did you start doing it and then what do you do and then how do you feel about it yeah so I usually for the last few I've only kind of came to the fight and Corner that fight and things that um I started the first one I helped do and was wimp to Warrior yeah so it wasn't even the Y we had a few lads who uh done the wh to Warrior like uh Lee and raw and stuff at M Jim who's still now trying still trying now um the main I think the the main thing what a lot of them have like it's hard enough to get up at the time they get up at like I think for most games I think they all do it early mornings they all get up at like yeah five or six so as in like the last of the last year I've been walking from early morning so I haven't been around to coach I usually still go to the fight shows and they're always all welcomed in to come to my and my intro classes in the in the evenings then if they need extra training I had a few Lads like a lot he won do the one gone Emma yeah I think he won by submission he done like all my int introduction classes so he was con getting like two days training every day so he's guaranteed to kind of get the one up on a lot of people he's fighting um but as of currently I won't be able to help for this one I'll probably still do the fight show CU I'll do corners and warm people up um CU I think it's good to see them there and they're all nervous and they're it's a bit it's a bit different for a lot I think because it's hard except you're gonna get into a cage and fight someone else like it's not it's not easy I think for a lot of them they haven't done anything remotely close to that yeah you get you get the odd feel of like ah they don't box them when they arcade or they don't like taond or karate or something like that but none of them actually done like consistent training like you might get a few lifted a few weights and they're big and mostly you get a few of them um but no who have actually consistently trained so I think it's a it's a big thing especially like they're getting coached all by Fighters mainly people who have far so they know how they feel like when they're stepping on that cage I know how that feels it's it is uncomfortable unless you really Embrace and enjoy it and some people enjoy it more than others and then I the one thing I always tell people like like when they tell me oh they not nervous I'm like you're lying like except they nervous it's okay to be nervous you're not doing something that is natural for a human to do your body goes into a like like a weird way of reasoning and why you should uh I me rib stand the H now it's not your budd's telling you here like yeah do you really want to go through but once you go in and that cage door locks behind you kind of like off you go you have to fight now and I know when when I did my first one like I I wasn't nervous until CU I didn't know who I was fighting yeah I L like it was the day of um I I learned the guy's name and then I didn't even meet him until they brought us to the back and he was standing on the other side there and I saw him and then that's when it kind of got I got a little nerd and then I'm like I don't know and then I got I'm like just [ __ ] it I'm here um and then I got in the cage and they locked the door and then I was like oh [ __ ] like then I like it was weird cuz like like flush of nervousness came over me and then as soon as uh as soon as you know the ref clapped his hand it was off and you know he just kind of do what you remember you were trained to do yeah or if not go out and just swing and hold to the ground on the tail cuz you see that happen a lot like at the end of the day they haven't gone at least ran away yeah like at least like you can say all the things and like people done the Ala now or coach ala people trying and they trying and all of a sudden when it comes about three weeks before the competition or the fight they're like oh about to injur myself I'm sure you have yeah I I I I went into I had a um a broken toe well I don't know if it was officially broken but it was [ __ ] it hurt um and I'm like so I'm not kicking with this leg and so I knew that going in um but uh yeah know like I remember I I I had I didn't tell anyone CU I didn't I told a couple people I didn't really tell anyone because I didn't want them to be like oh you can't fight with it yeah but yeah no I think there there was an event or there was an ala event maybe I don't know if it was this last one or the one before it um there was a girl who she was set to fight and then minutes before the fight was supposed to H or yeah like minutes before the fight was supposed to actually happen they kind of they bailed yeah like that's such a bummer you know yeah like it's it's not faired on the other person I know like none of them are actual like none of these are actual f so it's a bit different and like like if actual F done that like there' be there be a lot of problems at shs if someone actually done that like you be house you see what they're all like so if someone done that like you for people who done Al like just pay a lot of money to do it it isn't it isn't cheap to do no so you may as well go and fight it well at least for like I know a lot of people who had apprehensions by getting hit in the face like Al is nice CU you can you have that kind of option of either you could do it just grappling or no head shot you know and I think that that's fair you still get a you get the experience with it's like a you know it's like a light version of it but like it's you still get the the same feeling going in coming out you know yeah I think someone down in Cork wasn't it he had one leg Yeah I can't remember that fo's name yeah yeah cuz I um OB I know a few the fighters down and Cork and I used to always see him on the SVG cork Instagram like he has one legs we don't a boxing fight on it yeah he did uh it was like like one round of boxing and then one of just grappling yeah like that that shows us a different way of doing it like absolutely like it's good that they can verse like make them versatile matches to suit the people who want to still compete and are maybe afraid of getting hit and H like I've seen that the show people have been like knocked out CED like bad it's always scary to see that too especially scary to see that at like a novice level yeah like like RIS all been like how many weeks is it exactly uh 20 weeks like 20 weeks to try and kind of get somewh nutrition into his and really now really sticks to that much until about two weeks before when you have to make the way cuz there's like a big gap away you could could fight someone who's like 5 kilos every um like there's a fellow of AR Gary before like he fought a fight and I went to a third round then and he kicked your Mana head and the to around your man fell face force like and he was e like there was I've seen some MMA shows been people been hitting and these aren't people who are like agreeing to fully Train full time and training twice a day like I think there should be a little more of an emphasis on that you don't have to have that you can do grappling or um no head shots yeah I don't know perhaps they do like I'm not totally involved with it so perhaps they do that but I think like you might get even get more people in uh or excuse me you might get more people in to do the program and you might get more want to like we always should emphasize on people straight after the Alum like I want to see in the gym next week again and now you're going to go out and you're going to have fun after tonight and even we not lose you're going to go out have drinks but I'm like I want to see you in the gym on Wednesday say you're figh the Saturday I want to see you in the gym on Wednesday yeah and like it's important to do that to people I think because soon as you don't go back and do it it's tough crumbles them yeah a lot like if I find a lot like like in our gym we have like even you don't want to train again like we try to get them do Jitsu yeah I think jitu is a big thing like yourself like how how do you find Jitsu a lot the time I love it um you know it's it's good for it's good cardio and like you work like you're not getting hit in the face usually sometimes you like a stray elbow or something but uh it's uh I think for someone who's not going to compete you know like who has no plans on competing in an MMA and they still want to stay active and you know some sort of combat sport just due to Jitsu or just do like straight striking yeah you know um you know both of those are are very good um but like I love it like I just been off for it's probably almost like four months now five months now just I was dealing with a lot of personal stuff and then like my health is starting to kind of get to me and um you know F like just recently like I'm starting to feel a lot better and I I just got back in the gym and like feel amazing I've been missing it and I I really was I was worried that if I took a lot of time off that just exactly that that um you know I wouldn't that I wouldn't go back yeah and I I still like you know I still stay involved you know I work with Kade Legacy um you know I I try to uh you know stay involved with as many events as I can uh you know like Grappa Kings um and I think that really kind of kept me interested and it kept me kind of focused on like I need to get back cuz I see these other you know people performing and I'm like [ __ ] I wish I could yeah do do something with them yeah I think I think it is a big thing like stepping away for something for a long time it's hard to do it again especially cuz especially in like things like MMA and jitu people evolve like people you were training with four months ago yeah now assum you don't and you started at the same time and then it's people gr and it can it can kill people as confident as I can like I've seen it happen people like I start training from you age I've seen people who do it three four years with me all the way up and then cuz I started about 10 or 11 and then by the time you hit 6 people start going out drinking and they start having more fun they like girlfriends and things that and then like uh my girlfriend doesn't want me to go training she wants to spend time with me or do you want to go out with the lads and it's Grand but then eventually it consistently happens and then you don't and then you start getting a job and then everything kind of runs away from you and then you're 22 and you want to come back and try it and you're just like all the lads used to training with who are 16 who have actually stuck around since they're 16 you come back and you just yeah there's no chance you're beating them there's literally none yeah and it happens every time you know it it's it's tough like that but like I know I tend to be the kind of person where like I want people to be better than me you know so like I I I I I I like that people you know are doing good you know because like hope some of that might come back on me or you know it might you know help someone else that they're around or whatever you know so like I really like it when other when when people around me are doing well and um yeah I think that when you're doing something that is difficult like MMA or comat Sports you know and you know as much as maybe you want to beat somebody you know you're especially when you're friendly or friends with someone you know you're so happy that when they are able to you know kind of be better than you and do something do something good that you want to do as well yeah no 100% like I think you see a lot with your teammates and stuff as well I think you see that a lot with like with like if they do well you you want everyone in the gym to do well like it's I think it's just a natural rare Cor in then it's kind of the a around the gym and around the people you with if you do well you're like all right I have a title now let's get you a title and get you a title and you get you a title and then when he goes Pro we all go Pro yeah yeah and then he all just progress better and better and better together it feels you going achieve them more then as a group 100% uh so going on that um how excuse me how do you gauge your own improvements um the biggest thing for me was to engage my own improvements like you can improve in the gym and it's great to improve the gym but proving the gym doesn't improve to fights okay so like as in like you can get good at it and move and the gym and it is but I know people who are terrible in the gym and great in fights and then amazing in the gym terrible in fights yeah I I had the problem I didn't have it for K1 we but I had it for MMA were like I go into the gym and I Spar everyone and it's handy it's not I Spar high level people and no problem for me at all and then I was stepping in the cage and I was making fights way too hard for myself like way harder than they should have been like no disrespect to my opponents but it was harder for me than it than it should have been like if they had to come to the gym they're not winning the rounds like they just aren't but that's that's a problem for some people I had it now of kind of click the problem a bit now that like I'm not performing to me full I'm performing enough to make sure it's a done deal when I when I get the fight done um so I think the biggest thing to improve is obviously put yourself in the situation of competition and put yourself in in the position of adversity like I always tell people in the gym when Rod ever shows technique and then I coach I'm like all right now do an isolation version of it so if you're doing striking you've been doing the job for the whole week you're going to do a round he's going to have every single shot and you're going to have a JB that is it you have to you have to do it around and only be use your job the only way you're going to get good at is if you so they're to kick punch everything at you and you just have to do a job and Ro will make people do it a lot like we do a lot of um like say wrestling and it's positional based okay so like we could do the wall one day and you shoot a double leg you start with the double leg hands around the legs against the wall and the other person defending 100% you just have to keep trying to finish that double leg and as soon as you as soon as he escapes or you finish new person in I to doal with them you do a five around with that do a group of four so it's 20 minutes of work you're going to be defending for three rounds but you're going to be attacking for five minutes straight A doublea constantly if you can do it tired and fresh it's a complete different ball game that's cool that's a that's a good technique there so like what what is it like having uh Rody as your as a as your coach oh yeah no like having r as a coach is a godsent yeah I think I think having someone the biggest thing I think is obviously R has the experience of being a fire which is a big thing like some coaches are great coaches but not or not great Fighters some people are great Fighters not great coaches he doesn't know translating yeah but we're blessed in the way of we have a great coach who was a great fighter and anyone who's been around the O May saying knows how good Ry was as a fighter when he was a fighter and knows how good he is as a coach there's a very small few who can say that they're as good as a fighter as they are as a coach I think there's a very small Niche Mark at them really I think the only one other than Ry who was a like really high level coach and Fighter the main to would be like probably Paddy with d24 sure uh H martial arts of course um Chris field actually all for this as well he's he's cage Warrior champion and he has all his Fighters um and Phil M beer is growing a bigger gym now obviously he has Dar which dar's flying like but he was a great fighter back in his day but mainly after that there's not many who are really high level fighters who are coaches they might have competed in other sports Andy Ryan was a huge Judo competitor and it was but he's a good coach um reder is obviously a coach as well but I think it it doesn't always translate for it's like like kavet like John wasn't like didn't have loads of fights like Rody and like he didn't fight like cage Warriors or anything that obviously they W read around when he was around but he didn't have that but then he turns out to be absolute Mastermind of a coach like it's it doesn't always translate but when it does I think it's a big thing like he knows like R knows how you feel when you're going to the cage like them things where I'm saying like ah I know how you feel like everybody's going to make all these things I'm not making these up the things what R used to say to me grown up like a lot of stuff you pick up and you go away is there is there any like a any piece of advice he's ever given you that kind of really sticks with you or maybe you call back to a lot um if all goes wrong fight but like it's a it's a thing especially I've tooken in the last few fights if everything's going wrong just fight until you win just don't give up on anything like if you watch same my last fight that fourth round for me was awful I got taken down and just held second fight then I attacked the net con for the ho round T around do the exact same thing or stay on top and throw shots yeah like obviously rain start spinning on his neck and mid somehow I don't know how he done that one but that was very impressive yeah very impressive very athletic um but it's it's a thing rodo used to always say I think it's actually a BJ pen saying I think R robbed it from BJ pen but it it is a good sign to go but if it's all gone wrong just F like just keep going and push it until the whales fall off realistically I think that's the best thing always picked up like we've always had other we always have other coaches in the gym we have um Bruna who's one of our J2 coaches um we have gav who coaches kids and T and he's always coached me and Clint's our wrestling coach I'm a coaching my Big Brother's a striking coach as well which you'll see him always holding pads and stuff for me or Ry like he basically pass everyone in a gym he's always in everyone's Corner as well now but like we all have kind of the same Tendencies we all mimic kind of what Ry says because we've been around for so long he's coached all of us so we are othering them Bruno Bruno comes from his own gym and jiujitsu but other than that like we all kind of mimic him so the same things get said to everyone so it's like a universal thing to the jym yeah it's great it's great um no I know you kind of kind of hit on this earlier about uh who inspires you but I guess uh my question would really be is like you know why do they inspire you you to to do what you do um I think it's the work ethic of everyone um like especially in me like my family is the main people inspiring me like like the work hects between all of them they've had the ups and downs in life and still kept going like if you're anyone from like they like any kind of common area I suppose north of the Dublin's a big it's always a big thing down for that it's it's known as a [ __ ] Hall realistically like it it is like yeah and but everyone has the adversities and we you're seeing like the the small like I don't look at big goals as big things like small goal can just be as good as like big goals like I I was my uh say my man I always said once once our kids have gone to school and are happy and have a happy life that's them complete yeah and that's like that's not everyone's goal it's not like everyone's goal grown up is like I want to be professional footballer I want to I want to do this I look up to Ronaldo yeah and like yeah it's great and he has them Tri on stories but that's not everyone's life that's a 0.0.0 1% it's very minimalistic where look at the people in the average everyday life your teachers people who work in the shops yeah they have a house they have a family they provide for that family that's the main things you need in life like my dad works full time my M Tes like always took care of us and worked when she was younger and now full-time takes care of all of us like she takes her to the house the whole lot and to that that's that's harder than what most people can ever do yeah like it's not that it's easy to be rich but at Ronaldo SE now say for who a ridiculously Rich football he's worked hard to get where he is he's worked really really hard but he could have stopped at 20 yeah 100% like my man or anyone in my family is never going to get to stop like how many people do you see now even in their 60 and stuff they're not really retired yeah you know what I mean like yeah it's working retirement yeah it's the it's a thing where like people always look to the aists instead of looking at the normal average everyday people like I think that's a a big thing the walking class are are people always say that they are like the rich people want to make them look like your worst enemy it's them who are and the celebity should look at when realistically most working-class people yeah it's a lot of times it is the other way around it's the workingclass people that want to benefit you and help you the most like it's it's them who are like for Fighters it's them giving you sponsorship yeah like as as me I can't go text Nike and be like ah here could you sponsor me but I can text the local shop down the road and be like here could you sponsor me for anything like that' be that' be great like it's it's the small people who help you that along the way more than the big companies big companies and big people AR you when you're big with them they come in when you're when you already when you're already established and yeah they're not they're not there to at the start when like I'm like fighting in the red cow and I'm buying tickets off me like it's it's not not then it's me family and me close friends of the area who want to support me and help me cuz that's who's around me like there are the people I look towards and and look for help and try to help like who deserve to help because they're hardworking people not everyone from them areas are good hardworking people there is a lot more than bad so I think it's it's important to be inspired especially by the good people in them areas like I'd like to say me man there are good people and my family are but does anyone from them types of areas like Ry L's from 5 minutes from my house his whole family grw up where I live I know all his I know his nieces and nephews and the all grw up around me and loads of other top fighters grw up around me um but a lot of them I think find especially from like them areas they look up there theas and d and Ronaldo and Messi and all the top aist yeah that that's that's good that's good to hear um I hope my I hope to do something that my kids can kind of you know look up to me for as well so I don't know I think I'm on the right track for that but yeah I think for a lot of people it's just everyone that think's in the same bow as like you're always figuring it out like you're always winging it to a certain extent yeah like no matter what you're doing you're like ah you have your settings you know you have to do and then the rest it's kind of like I'll figure out as I go and then we'll hope for the best yeah but uh here look uh we got here here what is there is there anything um that you would go back and try and do again um starting younger again if I could um no I think I think for a lot of me like I'm very young in life so I don't really have much to look but like I'm 20 like there's not much for me to look back on that I can be like oh I'd love to change that that and that like how much things you could look back on life when you're a teenager and be like I'd love to change this or that your perspective is a bit skewed too so yeah it's it's it's not that I can change a lot or change a lot but I am a big believer in that thing of like I a chained something I might not work the same as like oh yeah I could have been like I would have rathered study for me leer more and focus on skill way more for me leer and get a good amazing college degree and get that but I if I done that I wouldn't be as happy as I am now yeah like I I know I'm happy I know what I want to do I want to do fighting obviously I I have a job and you need to make money and does you always need that second kind of goal but I want to still be able to prove to myself but the time I'm done fighting that I gave her everything that I can say I'm not ashamed of what I do in fighting if I go to the end say to the very end of me career and be like I gave it everything like all right it didn't work out but I gave it mhm I know at least I could say I didn't half ass it or I didn't do what I didn't want to do for the sake of someone else or doing something like I think fighting a 10% your life probably at best maybe 10 so I find after that well then you can pick up where you left off like I I have like the degrees and stuff like that where I can I can pick up where I left off I can go back and do that that's good yeah that's good that you have that yeah I think I think like no matter like you can always pick up a job at the end of the day you can always get a job in a warehouse or on site and work and you'll make all right money you go be a labor you make 8 an hour and you'll live off 18 an hour no B but will you be happy when you're in the winter time and you're on site and you're but like some people are happy with that and that's perfectly Grand but it's not it's not what I it's all the clinking in the M um it's not what I want yeah what I want is to put everything I possibly can into fight and see if it works out for me and then have me back up if it doesn't if it doesn't work out well at least I can say I went for it at the end of the day it's I do that way that's why I look at everything in life if I say I went for it I can't be upset with it by the end look man uh I am looking forward to everything you got coming up um I love watching everything you've done so far um and you know I I really appreciate your time you know come in here and talk to me um and you know I hope we can maybe do this again sometime yeah 100% you know so we'll end really quickly on this if you have to say one thing about Combat Sports um to new kind of people what would you what would you say to them um don't over think it and let's go for it right on your brain Will Be Your Own Worst Enemy always it'll be when you start something new your brain's always a worful enemy just go for it and try it right on look I said I appreciate it thank you very much man thank you very much thank you might something like a beast can't be the kind of you can't contain yeah this might be something lethal you can really see the Flames feeling like it's borderline insane man this might be [Music] [Music] something