Senan Coakley Dubai update

Ringkasan

Senan Coakley is an amateur fighter from Ireland who decided after having a training camp with John Mitchell to move out there permanently. Senan has been a consistent guest on the show and was great to catch up with him

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[Music] it's been a while since I've talked to Mr s and C uh he's currently out in duai at the minute with John Mitchell um he's fought in different disciplines since he's been over there and he's been on the Victorious side of those uh matches that he's fought thank you very much for your time I know there's a bit of a time difference between us how are you how is Dubai just just tell us about your experience so far I love it lad it's been H really really good like I've just been training away really focused on getting better at you know everything like my wrestling my striking you know grappling whatever you know I mean I'm just trying to get better at everything and that that's all I've been just driving towards you know is is is getting me better getting my MMA game better so you know that that's whether I have to take a kickboxing fight a boxing fight a grappling competition an MMA fight or just or taking at all and I find like in the boy there's just been opportunities like all them fights that I took were all on like Max I think three weeks notice is what we got so it's just been like one and two weeks kickboxing do you want it yeah no problem then it's like there's a boxing show on do you want it yeah no problem and I've just been taking them as I go like and and I've been really enjoying everything that I've been get coming my that's been coming my way and that I've been getting and I'm just you know going to keep going at it yeah and I you've been out there I want to say between four and six months something like that what was your original reason for going out there and was your plan to stay there as long as you have or were you going out for a short visit and then coming back so I came out in h January for like uh four weeks for a training camp John was like come out and I'll look after you like you can stay with me you can train in um 971 you know you can train with man aie like the lot so I was like yeah yeah no problem so we came over and uh I was just trying away for the four weeks and I was like really really locked in like I was in a good space with me food training and I was just really focused cuz I had John with me you know I was living with other lads who were really focused on their job and it was just it was like we were all just really doil in and then I came home and H I just wasn't as doed in as I was out here in terms of like constantly hitting the gym every day twice a day then when I'm not in the gym I'm looking at footage or when I'm not in the gym I'm looking after me recovery and I just I just said why not and then I text John and I was like like what's the story like can I move out there like what would you think of I moved out and John was like John was like just booked the flight just booked the flight so then I booked the flight I didn't know where I was staying what job I was going to have nothing I just knew I needed to be in duy to just really focus and doil in and you know better myself and uh I came over and was like right we a spray around boom stayed there then I was like then I was like okay we'll get you a job here at boom and it's just been rolling you know ever since and I've just been doing me best every month and you know I can't I can't I can't thank that man enough like genuinely has really looked after me and Paul like Paul booky's out here as well Paul booky's my main training partner and you had to told me that about a year ago it would have been like would you ever give over but two of us are over here and everyone everyone says that me and Paul are John's Sons now yeah with the two sons he's never had so he's just been looking after us and making sure we're all good and you know helping us out with training with you know pts and stuff so really grateful for him so he he is the main reason why I'm out here and why I'm living here H he's what got me over here and he's what helped me out to stay over here and uh I just love it you know I I miss I miss me family and my friends back home like and of course like my team's back home but in terms of like why I'm here I just know this is for me over here like this is it's just I'm locked in over here I don't you know I don't have any distractions everything's just towards the goal of being the best MMA fighter I can be and that's why I'm just happy to be over here now yeah and and what a man to be out with John Mitchell and then obviously Paul Bley out there as well is is another like you said if you said you'd been training parents with him a year ago everyone would have went nah not a chance but have you seen the improvements in yourself since you've been there because obviously when you were back home you were focusing a lot on wrestling and I I see that you're focusing a lot on wrestling there can you see the the improvements like if you were to fight on a show that I'd see live would I see these Vis I'm assuming I'm going to see these massive improvements in your game had do you notice them as they happen or do you notice them looking back if you get me after a long period um like if like what do you mean like the Imp like me wrestling do I feel like me wrestling's come on and do do you think like it was it every day that I noticed it was coming on or or or every week even like did you notice every week or did you just get to a stage where you look back on like where you were six months ago and you just see a massive Improvement or do you notice it week on week when you're wrestling um a bit about cuz like you know sometimes you add a hammer and sometimes you add the nails like like like I'm still under No Illusion that I'm the best wrestler out there and that I'm good I just know that I'm better than I was and I can rock up to the gym and you know John will smash me you know Aussie will turn around and smash me as well like it's not like I'm I'm beating everyone in the gym but you know what it's just sometimes I'm in I'm in certain positions before where I'd get caught and I wouldn't be able to get out of them and now I feel like I don't end up in them positions as much and you know when I'm MMA sparing I feel like I have that like I I know what I'm doing D you know what I mean sometimes I was really like I was getting good at wring getting good at wrestling but it's just about putting it all together and mixing your striking and your wrestling as well like I I found that's a big difference now is like mixing the levels like mixing when you're doing wrestling when you're doing uh striking and stuff so I've been working on that a lot and then of course like there's there's little things where like Aussie always says there's a nth star like so when you're wrestling you always have to have the next place where you want to be in certain positions and you know I know I know that so say if I'm bottom I know right I'm not going to go from on bottom to being on top straight away but I can be on bottom to be in a lesser position to a lesser position all the day up until I eventually stand up because like I have full confidence that I can stand with anyone like right now in two years time I'll be even better like I have full confidence that anyone who stood in front of me I can strike with them like whether that's UFC level whether that's amateur level that's Pro kickboxing level that's Pro this you know I feel I do I just know I need my wrestling to come up the scratch and then once start up the scratch like you know I feel like I I'll be at the level where I want to go pro then and uh no one safe on the pro scene then like when I start going at that like yeah because like like you said your striking is is Elite obviously uh you look at the likes of your brother who's in one championship and and you look at the the Striking that you've displayed at amateur over here so once the rest and kind of catches up and like not saying you're not well-rounded now but you'll be even more polished by the time you've kind of when you're going pro um you've T you've took a couple of fights there and a lot of them on short noce what's it like going into to these ones on short notice you think it's better or worse you think because you have less time to maybe thinking about an opponent you just go in and focus on what you want to do like so to be honest right yeah they are short notice but I think I came out here I came out here on the Midway through July I think it was the 15th of July or something like that yeah and from that minute I've been doing I'd say 11 training sessions a week sometimes even 12 so that's twice a day Monday to Friday once on a Saturday it's literally been every week since I got here so it's not like I'm coming in and out of camps or this and that it's just it's just literally been trying and trying and training as if it's normal like as if it's nothing else i' be doing and then the opportunity come and i' be like yeah I'm ready let's go so like I'll give you the story about kickboxing fight so I was literally in the gym you know I think I was with John you know helping him out or something with a PT or maybe I was doing a PT myself and some fell come up to me and was like what weight are you I was like I'm about 85 like and he was like uh like you want to fight kickboxing and I was like yeah I'll fight any now he was like no no he was like no a show there's a show in h two think it was no there was a show in h a week he said so I went over to manure and I was like manure this fell who was and was like oh he's he's a good lad he's a good lad 85 yeah um didn't know it was proud thought was amateur then the day before the fight when we weighed in we were like is a pro or amateur and they were like it's Pro kickboxing so we were like lovely let's go so went in for be so first round you know wherever second round went in really put a mark on it stopped gave him three a counts and then eventually stopped them to the body afterwards I get man's Instagram yeah man has six Pro fights and you know the ifas the m to ifas yeah so he's won them twice he's big he's won them twice so basically the MS of MTO he's won twice got gold medals in them won the UAE M toy open H three times as well I'm only literally seen this after like running through him the second round and I was like ah Lads like come on like and I was I love the German but that and then I just knew I was like look that's the level I'm at here and there's still so many holes in my game even in Striking like and I'm just working on them so when I fix them like God bless everyone is all I'd say like you know what I mean so I'm working on my striking with you know one of the best boxing coaches in duy with Le I'm working on my striking with aie I'm working on striking with like everyone we're just polishing the game as well as polishing you know John's Paul's game like we're just polishing everything and making sure that when I go pro I am like blinding like it's it's not going to be it's not going to be me going PR and a rush it is not it's me going PR and me hunting like literally coming to hunt people down like whether it's whether it's okay this game plan like I want to be honest when I go in Pro I don't want to be like okay right game plan strike don't get taken down I want to be like okay let's wrestle this fella okay let's strike this fella okay he's good at wrestling I'm going to strike he's he's all a striking okay let's take him down you know I mean and to be entertaining as well I don't want to be one of these that's going to sit on top of you if I take you down I'm going to try and hit you I'm going to try and H you when I'm on top yet I'm going to try and Smit you yeah like one thing I always say about me and like any of me fights I've had even the losses like I will come to have a knock like I am not trying to have a B on fight I'm not trying to win on points I'm trying to come and I'm trying to take your head off from the minute that belt starts to the end and I'm just constantly going at you you know the reverse reverse is broken is what I'll say yeah no like you look at you look at the fights you've had I know like C them were even losses like I said with Charlie uh Spence over in the UK that was like that was a war that was probably that was a it just showed crazy levels of heart H skill great determinations everything and and the two years went out there and a lot of your fights were like that but back to the kickboxing when you actually saw he was all this after the fact do you think that might have messed with your head if you would have seen that before the fact or do you think it wouldn't have mattered no I I would have I would have rathered see it before CU then I would have been like I'm going to kill this country like you know you know what I mean like sorry for me language sorry ma if you're watching like back to back to a PG so like stuff like that doesn't bother me like if you were to turn around to me and say like you you've been in the UFC you've had this I'm like yeah lovely I want to see what my levels like against you like I know my levels better than you especially if it's just if it's just kickboxing if it's kickboxing yeah no problem let's go like you know what I mean like I I I do I genuinely do believe I can stand with anyone on this planet like any man at my way so like the minute he was H the minute we found out that we were like that's mad isn't it like yeah no it it is crazy but like that you you've had a you had a Muay Tha fight as well you've had MMA fight what is the scene like around there for Combat Sports is their shows running consistently or are they just every every month every two months what why is the scene over there you can explain better to me like there's just there's just shows everywhere do you know what there's actually so many shows that it's hard to actually keep track like over in Oreland you'd have like cage Legacy uh cage uh cage conflict or you War you know all these ones you'll have elite point championships in Cork you know you know the shows and you have the year planned in Du boy it's literally like oh there's going to be a show next week now they've just organized it and because there's such a big like pool of Fighters here they know they'll get fights on it you know what I mean they know they they people will fight so like it's it's just about living the lifestyle living the fighters lifestyle and just being ready to you know jump in there like that one like that one H that Pro kickboxing fight was a bodybuilding competition and they wanted to so it was a bodybuilding competition but then they also said that they want to express all sports from across the world so they just put a big ring in the middle of it and said right there's going to be Pro kickboxing here over the other side there was a PO not power slap but like a lower level of that obviously then there was like arm wrestling there I think there was like paddle over there like tennis or there was like there was like literally just different sports in this big huge Center I was like looking around I like this is class like the fight in the middle of this that's mad that's that's that sounds like like a mad event and the fact that they're so that there is events and they're so frequent obviously it's going to suit you for staying for staying active going on but like that like you talked about the Fighter's lifestyle there what is the Fighter's lifestyle to you for me it's like that it's kind of what you're doing food uh training all the time no distractions kind of it sounds like a bit of bliss someone described it to me before they said they wanted to move to Thailand and just eat and train and fight obviously this is the buy so is what is a Fighter's lifestyle in your opinion like it's just living and breeding it like do you know what the main thing to sum it up is everything you do in your life you should ask yourself before you do it is this going to benefit my fight career is it not going to benefit my fight career if it's not going to benefit no problem I'm not doing it if it's going to benefit it I'm going to do it so that's how you need to think like my Mo most my days now is you know wake up an hour two hours before training in the morning you know have me breakfast or wherever do do me jobs that I need to do with me online coaching and stuff get me clients ready for the day make sure everything's good with that um any chares around I have to do you know me M's not here I have to do washing I have to do stuff like that you know what I mean um and then you know you go training and then after training I'll probably have two pts then I'll come home I'll eat I'll have me pre on from the weekend then I'll probably go back to training if I have time I'll have a nap you know it's important I think it's important to sleep as well as much as you can then I'll go training in the afternoon then after training I have two classes I teach kids classes here um I'll do I'll do them then after that I'll come home eat again rest recover if I have time I'll do son as ice bat stuff like that you know it just all it just all depends but that's literally every day and you have to be like in a weird way you just you can't have feelings about it you just have to get up and do it you know what I mean like you just have to get up and do it and sometimes you love it sometimes you hate it but it's just you know it's like who cares you know what I mean if I wake up if I wake up and I cry about train and who cares no one actually cares you know what I mean at the end of the day that's it like if I wake up one day and I think think oh I'm H here like who cares just get up and go just keep doing it just keep staying at it staying at it keep plugging away one day you get to the UFC you can look back and then it's all worth it but for now it's just like get up and get at it and like no matter what happens I'm going to get up and I'm going to do my job which is improve myself at MMA and that's what's going to happen every day and you know no nothing's going to get in the way get into the way that like whether I whether I turn around and you know I wake up and today I'm like I don't feel myself today honestly brother who cares just get up and go and just keep going and trying go training you'll feel better after training keep yourself that busy that you know it's a privilege to be to be sad in yourself you know what I mean it is you haven't got enough time if you're sitting there and you're worrying about what you're doing and you're like oh you know what's going on it's like why aren't you in the gym why aren't you out running you know if if if you know if you can't afford a gym go out running do something to improve yourself and that's that's every day I think about what can I do today to improve myself whether that's mentally whether that's physically in the gym stuff like that you just need to keep going as you know as a man or as anyone that trains you know you need to just you need to really be you know torn off your feelings towards it if you're serious about it of course if you're doing if you're doing MMA to enjoy it like you shouldn't be like that you know you should be do it to enjoy you should be enjoying your sessions but like me I'm in this to go all the way to be become a UFC champion to you know really set myself and like I know that's where I want to be I know I'll get there so you know as khib do say you know brother who cares who cares you're tired who cares you know just keep going just keep going keep plugging away yeah know and and I love that mentality as well because like you look at people with their jobs that they don't like even when they feel even when they they they go to and do it every day because they have to because is they have a mortgage to pay they have this that the other so they have goals within that's the reason they go to the job but if you're doing something to be the best like you said doesn't matter if you feel sad it doesn't matter if you feel this you just need to go because staying at home isn't G like you said isn't going to benefit your fighting going keeping busy and being disciplined do you think that time over there has kind of helped you mature as well uh as a a fighter and as a person big time Big Time I've matured as a person this is the longest I've ever been away from me family from me parents you know all this and I've I know I've matured you know what I mean like I'm 20 years of age like and it's only since I've came to Dubai that I've realized how young I am and how many opportunities I I have at this age which is a blessing like it's honestly a blessing and it's not something that I will take H take for granted either like I know the opportunities I have at this age is you know lot not a lot of people will have these opportunities so that's why it's like that's why in my head I'm like I'm like you know you w you wake up you wake up and uh you know you feel sore or you feel upset or you know you're depressed and you're sitting there and you're like oh it's like it's like look I'm I'm wearing a Palestine Jersey if someone woke up in Palestine and said that like is that going to change no you know what I mean like I don't mean to get like political well I will get get political about it because you know free Palestine and all that but like at the end of the day when youit wake up you need to just go and you need I realized that all these blessings around me like it would be a shame for me to not actually follow through and make this worth it you know what I mean me m me ma worked very hard to help me to come over here me Ma and dad has worked very hard to put me where they are and like that's a big inspiration to me you know they've you know if there's been times where I grown up where they've worked two jobs just to keep me in gyms to keep me training keep me playing football keep me playing rugby keep me playing any sport and I've SE and it's only now where I've looked back and I've gone I remember that was doing extra jobs here to help me there and I remember me m I was doing this and it's not like and like look I I don't honest to God I don't come from much of a struggle but I do know me man that worked their asses off to get me where I am and you know my main goal now is to make them set for life like honestly like that's the main goal in my head is to set them for life because theyve worked so hard for me and I've only realized now since I've you know left and not been with them now for four months that's like it's like so much you know they do so much for me that I I do really need to get back to these now and now to see them they're coming over for Christmas I'm going to show them the boy so that's the only time I'll have off over here I'll uh I'll go bring them around you know obviously spend time with them but I think I think like they've worked too hard for me to now turn around and say you know maybe fighting's not the one like fighting is the one like i' I've shown levels I've shown levels in different sports I continue to show levels and you know people will see it very soon I think people are seeing it now though you know eventually they you know when I first came on to the scene in MMA people did see it and people did see the talent I had and then you know stuff happened you know I slacked off you know lot three losses in a row three lessons in a row as well that I've learned I've taken with me and then I just I had to go through I know I had to go through them you know to learn about myself learn about life learn about what I wanted out life and then I won that fight against mantis really I really sat with myself after that fight and I was really like like right I'm back in the wing colum now I'm back where I wanted to be and I was like I was just thinking to myself like what do I want now out of this like and I said I said there's only one place for me I like I need to get rid of everything in my life that's holding me back I need to get rid of and that's going to not benefit my career and I said I'm gone I said I'm gone I said this is it Dubai and that's when I booked me flight and I M here and now and a Sean I think I've three of four no four wins in three different disciplines this year so far and hopefully make one more now in December hopefully I can get a fight in December and uh that's that's me happy for this year next year then hopefully late next year I can go pro so obviously we you wanted to go pro at the end of next year H you fought in different disciplines are you looking to to fight in more disciplines again or they just they just came up you took the opportunity you're just looking to stay active as you have been and then go pro at the end of the year yeah like and there's no like there's no definite GoPro at the end of the year but you know talking to John who it most likely like you know manag me as well like he was just saying like maybe end the next year maybe the year after you know I'm 20 years of age like i' be gone you know what I mean that's young like I still have a lot of time well I don't have time but I do have time so look I'm in no rush but that's hopefully when I'm aing for you know obviously I'd want to fight Pro tomorrow but one thing I've always I've always learned from Craig and from collee and Andy and stuff is you're the fighter your coaches make the decisions you let you you literally just do your trainer and let them make all the decisions of when you're going pro who you're fighting when you're fighting you know that type of way but in terms of fighting and them this like I I honestly don't like I I'd honestly fight in anything like just if the offer comes up the offer comes up um that boxing show uh that I fought on Big Bang promotions they're doing a show in February so I'll hopefully get back on that then there's a show in in January 971 FC John main evented it main evented it the last time so I'll get i'll get on that course and uh we'll just keep building you know what I mean and you know if one if I don't fight one of them I'm surely to be another one and like I saying as well like it's now like my training isn't doesn't have to be focused on a fight my training isn't focused on a fight it never is it's just purely focused on getting better and that's all I want to do is just get better so now when I go into the gym it's not like fighting eight weeks do this it's just like getting into the gym let's get better what am I going to learn today how am I going to put this into effect okay do this do this different techniques you know the boys are correcting me making sure that I'm doing everything right boom boom and just keep doing that like that's all I'm trying to do is just improve myself and that that's a good point because I was actually asking someone the other day when you're fighting against an opponent there was someone who would have fought like a couple of times in the year and they were constantly in Camp and they felt like they didn't improve because they were constantly focused on a person do you think as an amateur fighter you should just be focused on yourself as a as opposed to looking at someone else and trying to stop their game plan and just try and make your own style and improve yourself yeah yeah and you should jump at anything at amateur as well like you know you should jump at K1 fights grappling tournaments MMA fights like m fights like just jump by everything while you're amateur when you're Pro it's different you're Pro is your career and your pro is like you know hopefully you're going to make money out of it so you need to be just zoned in on Pro and like zoned in on your MMA game then but when you're amateur like like all I'm trying to do all I'm trying to do is just get better at different at like different things you know like I watched that boxing fight back and I was like there's so many so much stuff for me to work on and instead of being disheartened by that I'm actually really excited by that cuz now I know okay if I work on that that means my boxing's going to get better and then it's like looking at me wrestling then it's like okay if I work on that and I do that that means my wrestling's going to get better so that's all I do and then that that goes back to the fights as well like so that's why I'm taking these fights to work on that like as well as that at the end of the day like when I fought that boxing fight your man was your man had two two fights two koos before that yeah and he trains purely boxing for three years he's training yeah purely boxing I on a wrestling session Monday morning before that fight that was on the Friday and then Tuesday Wednesday Thursday done three boxing sessions so that's the level I'm going against I'm going against the your boxer trying to put my game into that then when I fought that kickboxer same thing Monday Tuesday of that week wrestling sessions Wednesday Thursday and then obviously H weighing Friday Saturday F was H kick boxing so like it's not like I'm taking these fights and then just okay right I'm stopping everything and I'm just Ching this like I'm just keep going keep going oh I'm fighting this Saturday am we boom do that boom do that little things to work on if we have footage of the opponents we'll have a look and say right do this do that but like nothing nothing to the point where we're doing like weeks out you know we're practicing certain shots to try and catch an opponent with we're just trying to I'm just trying to improve me yeah no I like the attitude I like the mindset and you can see just from talking to it and how you're talking that you can see the maturity as a fighter and as a person and and it's a pleasure to see you and I can't wait to see what's next for you hopefully you get a fight in December if not I'll be I'll be watching your career no matter where you are in the world so I'll be here I got to let you go thank you so much for your time is there anything you want to say before you go it's been an absolute pleasure talking to you again pleas my pleasure as well Dave genuinely you're the best media in Oreland I'll always have time for you that of course it took us a while with the time difference and stuff but we got eventually like um and terms of tking everyone like TR me Family Friends back home me team back home DCI team right now and then obviously me teams out here um 971 John Mitchell Aussie all the lads as well especially John Mitchell because none of this would be possible unless it was him like obviously have great coaches there but I wouldn't be in Dubai unless it was for him I wouldn't be still a float unless it was for him so he does be in calls me me calls him me dad boy he really is a brother like but uh yeah just them and then obviously me sponsor from back home you know Gateway student accommodation anch and Cuisine physic care Soul field like all the lads as well they've always looked after me obviously I'm out the boy now but you know I'll never like I won't forget people who help me out in me amateur days when I was just trying to come up because they were really big and helping my career out you know helping me with you know H gym stuff like that field whatever it was so I really do appreciate them and I'll always rep me sponsors yeah no and that's fair play like you don't forget the people who help you up at the start as well and that's a a really good charact character trait to have um I'm going to let you go thank you so much and uh hopefully I'll be talking to you either before the end of this year or starting next year perfect D thanks very much bro