Mog Yakhyaev | Valor Combat Series · Ireland news

Summary

After a last-minute call-up and only a few weeks of prep, Mog stepped into the cage at Valor Combat Series — and walked away with a win. 💥 In his first MMA bout, the 24-year-old Azerbaijani-Irish fighter leaned on his boxing roots, shook off years away from sport, and proved to…

AI summary AI-generated from the transcript

Combat Confidential speaks with Mog Yakhyaev after his appearance for Valor Combat Series. He describes Azerbaijan as his origin but says he has lived locally for most of his life and has not returned to Azerbaijan since childhood, with a summer visit planned. He frames the bout as his first real return to combat sport after childhood boxing and many inactive years, with roughly two months of training interrupted by one month off, then a short-notice booking at about 70 kg when he was only a few kilos over weight. He reports winning, finding the cage calm once the door closed, and struggling more with the wait and weight cut than the fight itself. A planned game plan faded after early exchanges; with about a week to prepare and no read on whether the opponent was kickboxing or grappling, he went in pragmatically on basics and cardio. He highlights confidence and self-defense mindset as mental benefits beyond fighting, encourages hesitant newcomers to try it, and says he intends to compete again soon without having picked a specific local promotion yet.

Transcript (youtube_captions)

[Music] Um, hey everyone. We are here with the valor combat series. Um, and I have Mr. Mog. Yeah, I have. He said it. There we go. Perfect. Sorry. No worries. I don't even want I I saw it written down and I'm like, "No, it happens after that." What? What is that? What? Where's that from? I'm from Azar Bjan. Oh, really? But I'm here most of my life. I grew up here basically. I know. That was probably close to get. What's Azar Bjan like? I haven't been back since. Oh, really? Oh, yeah. Sorry. I haven't been back since, so I wouldn't know. No, but I'm probably going to go in the summer now, so it would be a nice visit. Be cool. Um, all right. Well, here, look, talk to me about it. like what was uh we had a we had a bit of a game plan going in and keeping composure but first time being under the lights like that after a few boxes went out the window. It was just kind of a broad but all in all it was a good experience. It was more the weight that you're kind of feeling a bit but once you get in you're not really thinking much. It was a great event. What what was it like when uh when they when they shut that cage door it just oh then then then you're at peace you know once they're not just closed you know it's going on. It's more the waiting around that's sort of what gets to you. But it was a great event. Happy I got the win. So can't complain. Right on. How how long in particular have you been training for this? Uh this one about 2 months. Okay. One month on took one month off and back a month now. And it was about I think last week sometime they said they're looking for someone for for 70 kg and I was only a few kilos over. So I said I cut down and give it a go. You know it's never really a right time to start so I said I might as well hop in. How long have you been on how long have you been training in general? I done boxing when I was a kid. Okay. But I haven't done any sport now in years. Long long time. So it's the first time really getting back into it. It almost feels like new again. How old are you now? 24. Okay. Still still young. Still young. Yeah. Yeah. Um what what was it what was it like, you know, kind of preparing? You know, you haven't done any See, I only had about a week there, so there wasn't really too much gone into it. Yeah, just kind of basically going off what I'm good at. Just kind of stuck to the basics, you know, and that was really it. Cardio, had the cardio, make sure I was in enough fit state and really that was it. There wasn't too much game plan thinking. It was in a week's notice, so just came in and gave it a go, you know. Very good. Um, is there is there anything you'd kind of like talk to anyone about or excuse me um what would you say to someone who's kind of like, you know, dabbling around wanting to just go in and just give it a go, you know, and winning or losing. Once you get in there, you you you get a grasp for it and it's not you're just getting in there and doing the job. You can never really prepare too much. Once you go in, you get hit in the face and there's not really much of a game plan, you know? Yeah. But it's a great experience. It really like opens up your eyes not too bad once you get in there. So, it was a great experience. Yeah. Was there anything about being in it that surprised you? Nothing inside the cage. It was more the weighing around preparing in a sport that I'm unfamiliar with. So, okay. You know, and I didn't really have any any idea how your fighter was or what he's doing. It could be kickbox or grappling. So, we just kind of went in blind eye, just gave what I could. Okay. Um, mental health-wise, there's one of the things I like to focus on. um like what what is it like what mental health benefits have you found from you know training in combat sports? Um it's good to be able to stand your ground you know like more than just about fighting and stuff. It kind of builds your confidence and you become more of a friendly character when you know that you can stand your ground but you don't need to you know so it's always good to know that you could if you needed to. So like more than just the fighting and being a bully like it's good to be able to defend yourself cuz you never at all. Absolutely. Right on. Um, okay. Last question here. So, are we going to see you fight again? Yeah, hopefully sooner than later. Yeah. Yeah. Good to get back into It's good to get to Kay, you know, and now I get back training and I get back in there. I can um is it or go again? Um, I hate this. No, no, me and you both. All right. Yeah, we're going to see you back in there. um you know is there any particular promotion in in the area that you Nothing I haven't really put too much thought I kind of just want to get the first fight out of the way and just get a feel for it again you know cuz okay it's either make sure it breaks again and under those lights you know and I kind of prove to myself I can get in there and bang so it's good you'll definitely see me back I care all right awesome but I appreciate your time sir and no problem we'll see youidential [Music] Let's go. [Music]