Kieran Davern & Andrew Barrett | Team Ireland | 2022 IMMAF European's Countdown | Energized Show

Summary

What is up and welcome to the Energized Show! On this episode Team Ireland & SBG Tullamore's Kieran Davern & Andrew Barrett join us to discuss the countdown to the 2022 IMMAF European Championships from Tuesday the 27th of September - Saturday the 1st of October, Irish MMA &…

Transcript (youtube_captions)

Kind: captions Language: en foreign [Applause] today we have two of the finest men from SBG Tullamore we have Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt wizard kieron Davern and the king of Hell Andrew Barrett Lads how are we doing great Lads doing great that's what we'd like to hear Lads we have is on here because um Ireland is bringing us a 23 man uh and woman strong team uh across the imass and the Euros over in Italy and there's 17 Footers and six coaches uh Andrew held Lloyd were you to make the team well over the moon like when I when I was able to the way the Nationals work where we're actually fighting for it I think that's the barest way to handle and it's also the best way to prepare us first fighting day in day out just like imaps making weight just like imaps uh honestly it's just gonna be Deja Vu stepping in there when we're competing in Europe yeah absolutely and then Kieran obviously this is gonna be the first time Andrew goes to an IMF event but he's built for this isn't he yeah 100 he's built for he's he's like obviously we we know what like say a type of person and fighter Andrew is because we're we're waiting every day for you know last 10 years and apple um say for anyone that didn't know they got to see like a glimpse of them uh especially in Jan or January February at the the Nationals and uh for him to do what he did three days in a row and uh you know have that war in the middle he just has the mindset like you said regardless of skill level he has the mic because it's down to mindset now everyone should be prepared two weeks out but um he has the mindset and he just you know he has the ability and everything else in the Great and the want to do well in this tournament you know what I mean like he said he's all in so um it's a great tournament and a great format for him yeah obviously team Ireland going over to the imaps in Italy from on the 27th of September to the October the 1st uh Kieran for people just tuning in now maybe to some some of the the leader on the squad I've never been over like Andre for instance or people just tuning in now wondering what the imfs are all about can you sort of explain to people what they should expect from Team Ireland at the IMAX on the 27th of September yeah like from from Team Ireland like if you have if you haven't been already like uh it's it's a it's a tight-knit unit and when you leave your own country and you're always wearing the same track suits and and everything else you you do um regardless if you're fighting someone on a show in a couple weeks time or a couple of months time you all kind of gelled together as a unit so there's a really good sense of like camaraderie and and you know I said different coaches getting behind different Fighters and you know different Fighters getting Beyond maybe or getting behind the future opponents or past opponents so it's very like tight-knit and it's a yeah it's it's something special it's something you probably you'd have to go um you know be there to experience it and actually feel it rather than try to put it into words but um yeah it's it's the Pinnacle of the sport you know imaps for amateur fires yeah we we've watched a few Weymouth events on we we love watching them we think that it's great to see the Nations come together it's great to see an Irish Squad travel uh over somewhere and it's great seats are the strong under Squad travel over there um we can't wait to see you guys go over there and do the business Andrew how important is it to you to have your SPG uh total more teammates and Jordan scoli and Ron and Dean can go over there with you I I honestly think like the lads I appreciate being around them so much because uh as a as a team we've been training together literally like Jordan Jordan covet we were out training in the park together when we weren't allowed to train in saeeds uh we were pushing each other all the way back then we're pushing each other now uh we're Fierce Rivals honestly there's nobody that I'm more afraid of fighting than Ronan and Jordan Scully everybody else in the country seems like an easy fight in comparison but uh having them there together all together pushing each other on honestly when we're in there we're going to be trying to outdo each other we're gonna try to outperform each other in those fights see if we can do better than the next person because it's that push that makes world-class athletes we're obviously going to get into some of the squad members now shortly but Karen how important do you think this is for the the likes of the amateurs going over and competing this in this competition and like developing before they eventually turn pro oh it's huge like say there's obviously different ways to um you know to get the experience as an amateur and that but I feel that with imaps um you know a lot of Fighters that there's some the most famous famous example is like say Jack Shore um Mohamed mckayf and so on the fighters that like put in like a solid foundation and they get used to you know traveling sleeping in the hotel uh fighting different countries different styles different body types that's all we're going to stand here and uh at Pro and if you're serious about you know getting to UFC or one of the bigger organizations I feel that if you if you if you take your time and you you put in the the groundwork and build a solid foundation and you know it's going to stand here as a probable um you know the biggest thing that I feel uh people kind of lack not everyone but you know a lot a lot of people might lack is is patience you know you have to be patient and you have to trust the process because money fights and as much experience under your belt and if you're serious about um you know eventually say fighting Pro and make money in a career out but then you've laid that you've laid a serious foundation and hopefully you've made most of your mistakes at amateur you know so I think it's a it's it's so professional you know when you when you go to imaps the people that work that work in there the reader where you know the IMF ear or there's people in suits there's a strict dress code and there's a you know there's a there's rules and code of conduct that you have to like say that you have to um you know you have to basically do or you can't you can't break you know you have to be you know Sportsman like and you know all the things that come with you know the anti-doping and everything else it's very close to like the Olympics or even like say and like the UFC in a sense you know what I mean so you look at say Muhammad Makaya for example who's the most famous example so we fought like 28 29 times you know as an amateur and a lot of that was in IMAX and then he when he went to the UFC and and he was staying in hotels and getting on airplanes and everything else I'm sure that was just second Edge or something was just normal you know so I think that there's a lot of stuff like uh that you can learn Inside the Cage but also outside the cage by doing IMF tournaments yeah Ross we're obviously big fans of Team around as well a little person who's done really well is Shawna Bannon but like Russ looking at the squad now is there any names that stick out Burr the king of Hell Andrew Barrett and Karen davoren for being a great coach yeah there's actually loads of people I want to see um actually uh really looking forward to seeing uh Schneider Newland after her performance in the foreign Nation so I think she's really really coming into her own uh so I'm really excited to see her uh obviously Jordan Scully uh is going to be an absolute monster Jake and looks great at the Nationals at the time really enforcing him obviously the cement clouds who split the goal uh in the four nations on uh at the Nationals let's see if they can be stopped with the European scene uh Damien McKenna's got great hands like I feel like I'm just running through the list of people who are yeah um it's getting better every every tournament you even look at the youth stairs like that was the highest level of um you know one of the highest levels of an Irish team that's been to an IMF tournament and it's like the it's like the the seniors are following suit and then the next time the the youths come out you know they're gonna be even better and I think it's just as as coaches and as a team and just you know as the the Irish MMA human Community as a whole we're all good an experience and we're getting better and better at like say understanding what you need to win these tournaments and how to prepare for them in the rules setting strategy and you know how to deal with the weak and the ups and downs that you you come across just you know just being a a a a Combat Sports tournament for the week so I think I think everyone's getting the fight the fighters are getting better the courses are getting better and then obviously all the people in in the background that are kind of like the admin people that are getting you know flights and different things that are booked it's all it's all just running smoother you know as far as I can see anyway you know so yeah I just wanted to talk here on this like name wise this looks like the strongest Squad we've ever sent over yeah I think so yeah I I think like uh this like every division is like is uh say has like you know two two fighters from Ireland and either of them have a chance of like say uh getting a medal or winning gold and I think now well I can only speak for my own ads that I train but I think now it's just like keep the the bulk of the hard work and preparation should be done so it's just keeping the Mind switched on keeping the body fresh not picking up too much trees and it's a it's like I know it sounds cliche but it's like you know it's not oh one thing someone was trying to ring me there it's 90 uh mental now so um yeah you know so I I think we're going to come back with a lot of medals yeah it was probably red so that's who I'm blaming we go for garden points probably Tiana in terms of coaching how much contact you have with maybe some of the coaches who aren't going to find out that bit more about their fighter how you can maybe get into that Fighter's head before they they make the walk to the cage yeah uh like I've been I've been in obviously certain situations when I've been at the imass where um I think um the one in Abu Dhabi in January I was out obviously uh helping out when I had Jordan's goalie there and um Andy Ryan couldn't make it and he sent me a message and asked me would I help out with the with the team Rhino Lads and and you know obviously a wooden friends with Bandy and the team ain't allowed to go on really well with them and uh he got me to he asked one of the people that I was Corner was obviously uh Nadine and uh I I never cornered Nadine before I cornered Jamie uh at that imaps and I cornered him at the the one in Romania a few years ago so I would have known Jamie's game a little bit more but I wouldn't I wouldn't have known um Nadine's game and long story short me and Andy were kind of like chatting back and forth and I was like you know you know what he was telling me that basically her style is like Jiu-Jitsu and she likes to you know taking the back and she likes to do certain things and I was like right she's a jiu jitsu girl you know I can I can kind of work with that you know as in like at least I have some understanding we could sync up you know what Jiu Jitsu and that and I went down she was the first fight that morning because she's like obviously one of the the lightest weight there and uh me and her in in the backstage like say at nine o'clock in the morning and now she's like she's tiny she's about 48 kilos or something like that and it was me it was yeah it was yeah it was me warming up her and obviously I'm like 90 kilos and then like when I was kind of rolling with her and we're doing a bit like moving around just to get her sweating I was like right this one's actually like looking very good you know what I mean she's like she's so slick and uh yeah we all just kind of sync up and what's that world champion turn on the map for the first time I was like right this one's slick and then obviously went on to win the um win win the World Championships and that and uh yeah that's a great little memory obviously all I did was kind of held the book and just told her the time and whatever else but um she's a credit to Andy and all that as a team rhino you felt the backpack about the backpack I I do just to touch on yourself going over here like 2022 was being so mere for you I think you've won five or six points now and like they've all been quite lopsided in your favor for Colin spade a spade are you open to make a name for yourself now when the European team I'm really yeah assert yourself was not only the best lightweight in Ireland but the best lightweight in Europe yeah European domination and then world domination then after that I don't want to just prove myself on the Irish scene the Irish scene is obviously great and it has a lot of incredible Fighters but I think a lot of people are afraid to take that extra step out to see those different bodies to see how people move differently he can hear it in you know changing rooms people are like whispering in the background oh God did you hear where he's from oh what skills does he have they're terrified that they're going to meet someone that they haven't felt before or they're gonna see something that they haven't seen before I know I've seen everything in there I've trained with everything I fall every type of fighter I fought the wrestler I fought the submission specialist I fought the striker I train with the best in the country uh so I know when I get in there it's going to be all the same to me it's just going to be another body another gray fighter and uh and I'm willing to put my my my game up against layers and that take out the best in Europe tell us this Andrew do you know what the record is for most amateur fights in the air because if you go and win the imfs and then the fight in the Euro uh featherweight tournament as well and go and win that as well like you most of you racking up close to 10 or 11 points this year yeah yeah um and and to be honest I'm disappointed I should have two more belts this year than I did but people kept pulling out on me uh for my last fight I was as sick as a dog I showed up to that fight because I don't pull out a fight unless it's a serious serious reason I was sick as a dog for two weeks I did no sparring for the camp Kieran was confident in me I was confident in me and we stepped in and we collected another belt uh the only reason why I haven't won three belts this year is because uh people keep pulling out on me I had five pull outs in a row uh for those fights and literally fights three days before open until a day before the fight but at the end of the day all that experience getting prepped uh for a fight is only going to stand to me when I step out there in the Euros yeah absolutely we we speak to the uh promoters of all these shelves and oh geez I'm not talking here and everything uh we always say as soon as someone pulls out me and Mario was like what about Andrew Barra We Lost Boy I think Andrew was on the show earlier and he said he wanted to fight about 15 times this year I know start a break yeah like he's literally on track yeah yeah put them on track anyway you genuinely do like and obviously I'm their coaching that but I've rang them on like say the night before a fight like a cage Legacy Event for example like him Ronan and Jordan uh like say David they've accepted fights on less than 24 hours notice and then the the promoter might come back and say oh your mom won't actually take it he needs more time to prepare and look that's it is it is what it is I'm not talking about the opponent I'm talking about the last uh mindset Jordan Scully got to show the opportunity during the year he took a fight on clan wars on 24 hours hours notice and he obviously got to finish it in the first round but that's happened a lot of times with the lads where I'd ring them a promoter get onto me and say look if you're only on a 66 or 70 I'd Ring The Lads and I've I've done this to the trade them like I've said to them there's a fight tomorrow night I'm just going to use cage Legacy as an example uh and it's at 70 kilos uh will you take it and most of the time the lads just turn around say yep no problem I'm like you wanna know who it is and they're like oh who is it or or no doesn't matter what way and that's it I'll check my weight and that's the truth I'm not just saying that to make it make it sound better that's my experience and it's a little glimpse into what I see going on behind the scenes you know so um yeah no it's unreal so it's it's a it's a it's a great trait to have yeah we take the play out of our mouths we take to put the pizza down for a second and we go play tomorrow you had to tell me while I was eating food didn't you yeah in the gym it's like uh if the boys I like we have a WhatsApp group and everything else you know for the MMA team and we normally post into about training and techniques and you know everything else and there's a joke in the gym it's like if the lad see my uh my name ringing and they have a fight it means that there's a pull out or a change of opponent or if I'm ringing and they don't have a fight it means I'm about to give them a fight and it's like it's kind of true most of the time when I ring them it's like oh your man's after pulling out or it's like um you know there's a fight next weekend or something like that do you want to take it so it's kind of like a running joke in gym but it's kind of there's a bit droop behind it as well yeah in Paris I've actually been made previewed by one or two of the event organizers and I've Been Told Andrew bought it another fighter that someone else's head coach said I'm not saying I fell in there for him and when the people was Andrew and like that's not even Loy yeah so uh that's great it's a good it's a good compliment isn't it sure it shows how hard he's working and how much he's put himself out there and uh and you know obviously we can only speak for our own team on shoulders I'm sure there's other teams and Lads out there like that but um you know the lads are the lads are special and like they're all in like they they train like professionals they work in the gym everything they do is to is to basically to to make it to the USC you know and be the best and for now the goal is obviously to be be the best amateurs we can and uh you know obviously try uh win or we will win IMF goals along the way and when it's time to turn pro and that then you know we'll go on a tear it in you know but they're all in they don't dip in and out I've had Lads over the years that dip in and out those Lads are all in you know in the pandemic In fairness to them there was a group of them like they're all training down in the park do you know what makes the gyms and everything were closed remember at the beginning when it was uh we thought world zombies the boys are all training into boys are all training down in the park and it just kept trying and Going In fairness to them you know so they're all in and they never stop well that Andrew's obviously a Trailblazer in the Irish I mean and like in some of the names are talking across the bottom as well there's a lot a lot of talent and like there's gonna be like a lot of these are going to go pro in the future and there will be names to be remembered and you can see them before on the 27th of September to the first of October because we're expecting merely everyone to get to the point uh and it can be viewed on imf.tv Ross yeah absolutely am goes before we add do you wrap things up Andre I want to ask you buy our two teammates uh name me two photos who you're looking forward to maybe getting a bit of training in with and you're looking forward to seeing Floyd over there well we have a good really good relationship with the CMAC boys so I I have to say like uh they've come down some of the Fridays and they've trained for us so Kiko and and Jordan Bradshaw their absolute pleasure to train with and and again there there's very few real fighters in these country but those two boys are real Fighters they'll show up on the night uh winner Louis they put their heart into it and there's very few of those in the country you could actually put that to to their name but you can put it to their name those two boys are are top class players absolutely and then here on to yourself uh obviously we have 17 Fighters coming over here how many medals are you expecting Ireland to bring home okay I I I think double digits is definitely achievable yeah look I I honestly I I like looking on looking on paper like you see the killers that are in there like you have you know uh like obviously I don't have the list in front of me but you send likes of like say a Conor mcarthy or George golly obviously of Andrew you've Ronan you have Jordan Bradshaw you've Kiko you've Sinead you have like Damien you've looked at the whole the whole thing is stuck so basically I can I can only go on like say their past performances and and you know how or on how well the labs are the the team have done over the last year or so um if their preparation has gone as good as our preparation has gone but like I expect like say you know medals in every every division or every other division especially at the Europeans now the the level is going to be high but the Ireland are the standard of MMA in Ireland is a super high so I I said it uh recently I would put like I can only speak to my own team but I would put our standard of MMA grappling or MMA in general up against any other country in the world and you're going to see that in two weeks time so it's you know it's all well and good I was saying on on uh you know on on this interview and that but I can't wait for everyone to see uh the preparation and the work that we've done for this it's gonna it's gonna be something special yeah we're not going to completely take part yeah and last time at the world we got to the final as well so I mean like if that doesn't put a rocket up your ass yeah 100 not like a rocket off your ass I absolutely love it look we wish best look to all the Irish athletes I'm sure we'll be in contact with all of them before they uh fly over to Italy we have an absolute incredible team going over and we have an incredible coaching staff going over as well and yourself Care on Marlene and lean from SVG Cork and we've got Jerry from uh Oma and passenger Satori um I think I hope I've got everyone there oh and Alexander as well I mean Paddy heading over yeah is there a party yeah it's Kieran Terry pultrack Alexander O'Sullivan Patrick Sheridan Nemo Griffin and Marlene Griffin yeah there's a good crew then yeah brilliant yeah I'm sure Sergey is going if Connor McCarthy is going to see um not maybe not no official capacity but he might be just heading over himself session after with all them gold slots I absolutely love it well Europe Ireland and Europe SPG Tony moral Lads thanks Midland for coming on if you have been watching this video make sure to give it a like and we really appreciate that uh drop a comment below wishing the other team good luck and make sure to share with all your friends hit the Subscribe button because that helps us and as always foreign guys