Leo Meireles | Valor Combat Series · Ireland news

Summary

Leo Morales stepped into the cage for the first time at Valor Combat Series — and walked out with a submission win via D'Arce choke in Round 2. 💪🔥 Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more content! 🌐https://www.combatconfidential.com FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL Get updates…

AI summary AI-generated from the transcript

Post-fight interview with Leo Meireles after his debut at Valor Combat Series. He says he won by submission in the second round against an opponent the host calls Darus, and that it was his first time ever competing. He prepared for about six or seven weeks and felt nothing in the cage was unfamiliar compared with drilling takedowns, positions, and submission defense in training. He describes the moment the cage door closed as a strange feeling you cannot replicate outside competition, but says he loved it and intends to fight again. He weighed in at 66 on fight morning, estimates he is back to about 68 or 69 afterward, and usually walks around in the 70s; he cut considerable weight for the bout, felt good on the scale, but prefers being heavier in the gym. He credits MMA with changing his diet and points to gym community—acceptance across backgrounds—as the main mental-health benefit, calling it a family outside your family. He started at age 16 after watching highlights and a friend sent him to a youth program, expecting to dominate on day one and getting humbled instead. He did not plan to fight at first; his coach gradually moved him into advanced classes and sparring, and he urges newcomers to progress step by step rather than rushing.

Transcript (youtube_captions)

All right. Uh, everyone, welcome back Combat Battle Series. I'm here with Mr. Leo Morales. Morales. Yes. Um, first of all, congratulations. Thank you so much. Uh, talk to me and tell me like what what was it like? Sorry, you got a the TK. You got a TKO in second round. Submission. Submission. Sorry. Submission. Second round. Darus. Um, what was that? What was that like getting that win? It was good. You know, it was for my It's my first fight. First time I've ever fought. What a can't even describe what I'm feeling right now. You know, it was just such an experience to be able to be able to go out there and get the second round finish, you know. Um, yeah, it was just it's just an a feeling, you know. I think it's cuz it's my first fight, too. Um, you know, I just I can't really describe what I'm feeling right now, but definitely happy with my performance. And yeah. How long are This is your first fight now? How long you've been training for this fight? Um, for this fight, I'll say probably 6 weeks. 7 weeks. Yeah, I'd say. Um, yeah, 6 weeks. 7 weeks. Uh, is there anything that's kind of different from your training or excuse me, is there anything uh from tonight that you hadn't experienced in training? No. No. So the positions uh you know the takedowns I got you know the positions that I held the submissions that I defended um you know we all do that in training you know we just drill drill drill and you know nothing nothing that I don't expect. Was there anything that surprised you tonight? No no no I was expecting everything. What was it like um excuse me what was it like when uh the ref shut the cage door and it was just the two of you in there. You know, it was weird. Yeah, it was it was a weird it was something weird, you know. Um, obviously you when you're training for a fight, like you go through uh shark tanks and, you know, you kind of do stuff that prepares you for what you you experience in the cage, but actually experience the stuff, you know, actually experiencing what it's like to be in the cage with someone else. You know, it's something that it's a feeling that you can't, you know, can't feel anywhere in anywhere else apart when you get in that occasion. It's just you and the guy. So, yeah, you just can't describe, you know, just can't describe the feeling, you know? It's just something that you have to you have to go on the cage and feel what it's like. But apart from that, apart from like the feeling that I got when I realized it was just me and him in the cage, it was just it was it was weird, you know. It was weird. But I loved it. Are we going to see you finding out? Yes, 100%. Yeah, 100%. Good. I'm happy to hear that. Um, you know, what what is it like, you know, or excuse me, um, talk to me about like, you know, how do you apply things that you learn when you're training in MMA or uh, com sports in general? How do you apply that to like your regular life? Um I think the biggest thing that has changed um from a med that I got that has changed like my life was the dieting and watching what you eat, you know. Um I lost I lost I lost quite a lot of weight for this fight. Yeah. Yeah. How much do you what do you weigh? Um right now I'm probably you know I weighed in at 66 this morning but I'm probably 68 69 something like that. So I I usually walk around at like 70 up in up in the 70s. Okay. Um, and I think one of the biggest changes that has happened in my life that involves me being in it is definitely the weight cutting. And do you feel more comfortable at this weight or I I felt good. I felt good, but I like I like being heavier. Okay. Push around my teammates. They always complain. They always complain, but I love being heavy. Yeah. Yeah. Try not to get too heavy though. Right on. Um do you uh was like so one of the things I like to focus on are like the mental health aspects of combat sports mental health. Um you know is there anything in particular? Yes definitely definitely give me one thing where like give me one thing that combat sports has helped you with um you know as far as mental is concerned. um you know just having people really um when you go into the gym you know it doesn't matter what race um what you know what what what do you believe in you know what I mean like everyone is just there for you and always helping you doesn't matter what you are what you believe in and I think that's that's the biggest aspect of me at least for me when it comes to mental health is just it's a family outside your family yes 100% it's definitely definitely a family especially up in the gym Yeah. Um, you know, people always talk to you. You know, there's a bit of people stag, you know what I mean? Yeah. But it's all love. It's all love. But definitely just having people, you know, cuz it doesn't matter how different we are up in the gym, you know? It's just we all at the same at the end of the day, like we always we always we all do the same sport. You're all doing something. We're all doing the same together. Yeah. And that's what connect us. Absolutely. Um, yeah, you build up friendships and it's friendships that last, you know, last for life. Right on. Um, yeah. Can you uh talk to me about like um like what was it um what was it like your first day training, you know, like Oh, it was Sorry, sorry. What was what was it like your first day training? Like what was your expectation? And then what was the reality? Um I didn't really have any expectations. Um I was just you know I just decided one day um I wanted to learn how to defend myself and not for any particular reason of uh I just I just you know I just started watching highlights and one of my friends they recommended me to the gym and they said oh they have a youth youth program and stuff cuz I was 16 when I started. Okay. So I went and you know I thought I was going to beat up everybody and it was definitely a humbling very very humbling experience. Um yeah, I just I just realized there's actually people that can beat me up, you know. Um I thought I was invisible, but then I went to the gym, I got humbled, and you know, I decided that's something that, you know, I didn't I didn't have any expectations to fight. Um when I came up to the gym, I just kept training, kept training and you know slowly I just started getting better and I started my coach told me um oh yeah you can you can come up to the advanced classes and start sparring and yeah it was just step by step I I didn't rush in or anything. I think that's the issue nowadays with people. They try to rush in into the sport and they have high expectations and obviously it's good to have high expectations for yourself but definitely step by step and knowing your place and you know just slowly building up to the level that you want to get. Yes. Yes. Yes. All right. Look, man, uh I don't want to take too much of your time. Um and I appreciate it as well. Look, I look forward to seeing you and talking to you again sometime. All right. Thank you so much. Come back. Let's go. [Music]