Gus Mackenzie interview, Fansviewmma

Ringkasan

Gus will enter the cage for the first time at cage conflicts contender series summer slam, a show that specialises in fighters 0-5 frights to help them gain experience at shows. we talk about his entry into MMA and join fight academy Ireland

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[Music] thank you perfect so I'm here with Gus McKenzie he's going to be fighting at the contender series coming up at Kate's conflict it's going to be on the 29th of July fantastic show and I really like the premise of the actual show was given a lot of Fighters making their debuts the kind of firefights uh a bit of experience as well on a big show so um this is going to be your first amateur fight I want to take the time to thank you for joining me today how are you feeling you're not too far out from the fight now nine days nine days nine um I can't wait to get going to be honest if the Fate was tomorrow I'd be ready for it too I just can't we admit to be honest and an amateur debut is is a big deal and um especially coming out of Fai you've so many killers and stuff come out you're going on to a show like cage conflict what does it mean to you to make your debut on on a home show like cage conflict with the atmosphere and to have your family and friends and fans uh come support you it's probably something a lot of people would actually dream about you know a big show their kids conflict in the in Ireland and as you say your family and friends are and the atmosphere in the crowd and the the talent that's actually also on the card too it's I'm just excited admit I just can't wait to get going and being this your first amateur fight and we spoke briefly just before this as well you actually have no novice fight so you're strange with this one but obviously that means uh shando and Pat have seen something that they really don't need the novice to go straight into Hampshire how does that make you feel to go straight into Amtrak and not have the novice fights uh I just say can I straighten the deep end a bit but um I the most you know I feel good in a way that they're they're comfortable put me straight in the Armature and not having no kids experience at all you know no nervous no nothing so they obviously feel that I'm ready and I know myself that I am ready so just it's all about getting going now yeah and to get to these points to go into your amateur fight you've obviously been training quite a while bring us back to the start brings back to when you started uh MMA or Combat Sports in general uh to get to where you're here now like why did you join what made you join and when did you join so actually it was about four years ago I was only about 14 15 and my older brother I don't know if you'd know it but they ever got the shows uh I'm the warrior yes like you're trained for so many weeks and have a fake through my older brother he actually done that a few years ago and the whole team he was doing it I was slaying the mark what are you doing that sport for and all and then when the Fate actually happened the moment of the event straight away I was like I want to do that I want to get involved in this so I joined SVG Belfast that was I joined there for a couple of years and at the start I wasn't overly like Collegian always common and gone and then once I started actually they enjoy it built myself up a wee bit and then it was about 16 17 and I was like great I want to start competing but then at the end of last year a few hangings just won't go my way and then kind of stopped tuning for it but and it started last year I was like I want to get back into it but if I'm going to get back into it I want to go to the best players possible and that's what brought me the FIA it is a fantastic gym I see I I like I do a lot on the amateur scene so I know a lot of Fighters I've seen the likes of blame McGill's moved over recently Kieran locker and has gone over a lot of pro Fighters like you've got Reese there now who's here I think he's still Jewels between next gen and there was it the likes of the names of Paul Hughes Joe mccog and Reese McKee um you've got so many other profilers there Paddy Makari Ryan Curtis um uh to boogie man there's too many to name was it that likes those names that attracted you to there and just a pedigree of Fighters that they have I think it was just the fact that like I'm here I was like I want to go to the gym with the best coaches the best fighters the best training Partners the best facilities and now after being at fii for about six months or so I've got everything I've got all the tools it's you know what I mean but even the legs just as you say all them Pro Fighters and the high Elite Armature faders as there too sort of everything about the German Channel yeah no it's fantastic and one thing I found in my experience because I went up there recently uh to talk with Pat and Paddy and about the csna the new Initiative for Medicals and stuff in the north and I was there on a Sunday what what really struck me was won the amount of people there on a Sunday morning and two how Hands-On Liam and Pat are from people who are just doing it as a hobby to novices to amateurs take they give everybody their time it's not like they just spend time when Pro Fighters are coming up they will divide their time to the pro Fighters but you get that Hands-On with Liam and Pat don't you at every level yeah yeah it's more like how much detail or like sequin for a certain person and then what's time they'll spend and after a class showing them maybe can overstuff different techniques and you know what I mean just just of each small stuff that you appreciate it is it like just just a little details because their technique I'd say once they go home I've seen on Pat's story he's just he goes home from the gym he's watching fighting I'd say they're breaking I'd say 90 of their time is spent on obviously training and then getting fires like yourself ready and we're coming into this fight um are you going in position first answer fight are you going in much weight or have are you going in just kind of with not much to to court and just kind of kind of show your skills rather than worrying about Waco all right um coaching off the the Vietnam that's a couple and I'll do that next week in the water with cup but uh over or not I haven't had that called too much so I haven't uh I'm Feeling Good Feeling energetic feeling fresh you know what I mean I'm not feeling like a part myself the last other weeks so no I'm feeling good to be honest and then obviously when causes your first fight um when you're coming up like do you study your opponent are you going to study do you study your opponent won't you or just look at one or two things or because it's your first fight you want to just try and go on and Implement your own style rather than worrying about what an opponent may or may not do uh so my opponent he's actually it's his debut too so um I don't know nothing about him he doesn't know nothing about me but can't go on YouTube and watch each other's face so but I think that's what's going to make it very interesting because we're both coming in and not expecting don't know what this fact from each other you know I don't know what he's like he doesn't know what I'm like so hang on make a very good fight very interesting I'm exciting yeah I think Willis adds game plan for something like that but I think obviously Pat and uh shando and yourself will probably look at maybe the gym he comes from and what kind of style they Implement as well because usually the gym would give away not give away but the direction and what kind of style it might be but then it like that every individual fighter is different so it might be different so it's it means that it could be like that there's gonna be a lot nervous not nervous tension but a lot of attention who's gonna go first who's going to go away and then and how are you feeling like now now this is coming up um like how are you feeling what's the nerves like is there a bit of nerves excitement are you are your emotions ebony like up and down at the minute or um I'm mostly I'm more excited than anything I haven't really had much nerves yet but I know as the days go on I'm getting closer to the day of the Fate I will get nervous because it's not all but then nerves is a good thing because it means you know your car and but at the minute I'm just more excited than anything yeah and I like what you said there because a lot of people are like as you get on the nerves go and I'm like I think for everything that you do if you don't have nerves not that you don't care but I think if you've nervous it shows that you really care because obviously you've gone in and um with the likes of of the day of the fight and stuff like that is is an event in itself because like there's a lot going to be a lot of waiting around and it's just then you have the right team around you show you how to manage the time because you'll have to go in get your hands wrapped stuff like that yeah trying to manage the time is one of the most difficult things that amateur Fighters say when they first start fighting have you obviously you'll be weapon as has there been any advice on that or is that even something you've talked about like trying to um fill up the time between when you get there and getting uh getting into the cage it's nothing that I've actually really thought about to be honest I haven't actually really thought about that but it's just I'm actually looking forward to the we stuff like that like Alexa getting your hands warming up hitting the pods and then you're getting ready to walk out and your your music players like all the way small details it's just starting to slowly like build up and I think it's it's just just embrace it all that's just all you can do like you know and like that that the atmosphere the shows are absolutely fantastic out there then obviously you're not going to be looking past your opponent now but after this fight you have any more plans for the year are you going to see how this fight goes and then look around and see what shows are going to be around because there's quite a few shows especially up north I want to say just six or seven yeah um no pick this one next week see how it goes but at the end of the day I don't I don't want to have a few fades in depth I want to be in this for the long run I'm going to be on it for the long run you're gonna mean I'm still young I don't want to look back in 20 years him and be like oh I was 18 years of age had a couple of Fates and that was it I want to be in 20 years team to be like great I've done this this and that and I'm proud of this this and that and still keep doing it you know what I mean yeah because like that sometimes I've seen Fighters do uh amateur level and they fight quite regularly and I thought oh that's a good thing but then he's seen by the end of it there was a burnout because you're constantly in Camp yeah you're not improving I think once you fight and just say you take two or three months just to go back train and enjoy I think that's where the skill level improves and you can work on it um so I think you've got the right kind of approach to it but um how does your brother feel now obviously because when he first went into the winter warrior which I think was is actually a fantastic program to help people change their lives in my opinion yeah when you were slagging him about doing that um how does he uh what does he say to you now that's flipped that you're actually in Fai and and you're planning on competing uh because he doesn't even train MMA or nothing anymore he keeps saying about getting back into my couple of times he's done a better training with me but he just I just don't think he he already excites him anymore but uh no he he's Hank he's more excited than me for next week so as he's he seems pretty pumped up like that I'm competing unsately on such a big show as well so now I he's he's excited at Justice me like and how does obviously when he done that and he went in and he competed what was the family star sign it what do like your immediate family Tinker because obviously some people might be scared that you might get hurt or something like that or is there support behind you yeah um she was on our track aren't they she she couldn't cope but I think neither she's already seen my brother going into it she knows what she's expecting this game so it won't be you know the nerves made won't be as high as the world last name like but now other than that everyone's just because they know how long I've been training you know it's not like I've been training a couple of months and I'm throwing in the me amateur debut of of transfer goodbye like so we all know what I'm ready for yeah like I said uh Pat and Chandler wouldn't put you uh wouldn't put you in there unless you were ready and and see I think that would come I suppose a lot of families get a bit worried that there might you might get hurt whatever I think combat sport along with all the different sports as well is a good way to kind of direct people I wish I had went into at that age because do you find likes as a motivation structure the discipline has that uh bled into your personal life that it kind of structures your life more and you're more I want to say uh how do you like that is kind of you find you bring the discipline into other aspects of your life or your fight and you think it kind of it helps you on the other side of your life as opposed to just the fight inside 100 like there's even times like when I've had a few maybe a few stops happen to me or had a few setbacks and I'm not training for a couple like three weeks or and then when I actually get to him to sit down I'm like I actually need to be training like training is what it keeps you attacking it keeps you know what I mean and anytime after a bit of a break from MMA it's every time that goes back to an Indica package trailer yeah that's what I find with people that just want to train to one train because like that there's so many ways that you could go Australia you could end up on the sesh every weekend you could end up exactly yeah you could end up and you see you see a lot of people like that you know in the pubs I could have been this I could have been that but it's guys like yourself to stay out and stay consistent too with that you won't be saying that because you will be doing it in years to come and and when you first went into the gym um in SBG Belfast did you want it like after seeing your brother did you want to compete like was that like did you just know then not that you wanted to do but you wanted to compete and become high level um when I first started I was 14 and you know there's other kids there teenagers couple years around they're Peg runny maybe they're getting a better review and at the start because you're not you're used to it you're like I want to keep doing this no or I want to go back a day and getting beat up in a way not beat up but like you're positive and no longer than what they're doing Etc and then let's hang on and cap on showing up and showing up and started to build myself up wee bit and then as I said when I turned about 16 17 that's when I was like great I want to start competing and then talk to us about what kept you go on because like that I'd say there's a huge turnaround in gyms of people who do go in and like that people go oh I go in just throw a couple of Jabs do this but when you get there in fact it is pro it's so hard but like MMA gyms are probably one of the most welcome in my opinion um what would you expect and actually going into gym are you expecting it to be what kind of atmosphere were you expecting and what kind of atmosphere did you get event like once you got in there um I think when I went then I just distracting like just angry Rufus people and just making ahead of each other um but when I actually went and I started in the teens classes I was just like nice and chill everyone was 100 the world soon dead on you know like no one like no one was like judging you or anything like that you come in in the first few sessions I'd almost like grab one and Jiu-Jitsu and stuff and I never experienced anything like that before and uh and sometimes coming out of like wrestling and grab them I was actually feeling more sore than what you would have been exposed assessment was mad like people or picking you up and slamming and all I just thought this was crazy but I thought it was brilliant at the same time yeah because like that people people always say oh dude Jujitsu it won't hurt and I'm like hold on most Jujitsu Lads I see kind of older have knee braces their shoulders are a base to that because like I think with Jiu Jitsu use muscles that you probably would have never used before and like that if Jiu Jitsu is so technical how did you like you said you found that brilliant that's one of the puzzles that takes you a long time to kind of to progress at in skill level how was it doing that because I'd say that's hard like I don't don't want or two jiu-jitsu classes and like that I was getting nowhere because like they were showing me drills and like I was able to do it but when it came to actual role like I was just getting smashed dude what's your mindset like that when you're not like when you're not getting it you're not getting it you're not getting it but then it turns what like what's that feel like uh so that's good like at the start when you're not getting it you know sometimes it builds up in your head and then you get frustrated and then you just you just want to throw your toys out of the prom what I mean and then I think you just have to keep on trying and going forward and then after well you know you put the effort in it'll start to show like but uh remember at the start you're coming up against all these people who have been doing jiu-jitu for a while and they're all wary and then all just all the way sneaking stuff and on it does get frustrated but as time goes on you learn that obviously deal with that and then you know build your own Arsenal yeah because yeah like that it's a game of inches isn't it you just you move one way and your arm could be taken or your leg or your neck could be taken but like that and size doesn't read not that doesn't matter if I introduce you I've seen like smaller guys go against bigger guys and just their technique because it's so good I that's what I love about Jiu Jitsu just the size difference doesn't make a huge difference when it comes to technique in my opinion uh well yeah you just pick the words out of my way past it was a bit to say if sometimes when a bigger guy lies on you just suction just leaves his weight on you there's there's not much you can do like but the high it's gonna be tough no it is good I'm looking forward to your fight coming up I can't wait to see you fight in person it's been a pleasure to talk to you today um I'm Gonna Let You Go obviously you said you're just gonna take this fight at a time so you're not looking you're after this fight you'll decide and you look forward to more things so we'll definitely have you back on again um is there anything you want to say before you go or anyone you want to give a shout out before you go um so if anything I've covered the obviously Pat and chandu and everyone at Faith Academy for all the tune and all the hard work that's helped me get the here and get me prepared for my debut next weekend so I'm looking forward to it and I'm also looking to looking forward to all my teammates because there's a lot of my teammates there making their debuts too and then there's a huge thing for a pedals and all so it'll be a good night great night exciting so I'm looking forward to just get my own feet out of the way and watch the rest of my teammates so all right yeah and I'll be good one more question actually I'm going to touch on what's it like when you've got others making your debut on the same show what's the Bulls like what's the commodity like is it all ER together when you're all making your debut it's like a it's a it's a milestone you're making to get a what's that atmosphere like with those guys making their debut I think it's brilliant because you know we're all in the same boat it's not like I'm the only one under the gym making a debut and I'm having to make this walk for the first time you know there's a lot of people doing it as well so no we're all in the simple we're all think we're all feeling the same way we're all excited so it'll be a good Nate and it'll be a need to remember as well yeah it will be case conflicts are always a night to remember what we nine days out was the 29th of July it's gonna be fantastic so I'll put links in on this interview for anyone who wants tickets or pay-per-views uh I want to thank you very much for your time and best of skill I'll see you next weekend no worries man thank you very much perfect