Evan Horgan interview

Ringkasan

Evan is an amateur fighter who trains out of MMA Cork, with a 3-1 record he's burst onto the scene and competes against Oisin Daly in a compelling match up of two young stars,

Transkrip (youtube_captions)

[Music] okay so we're here with another MMA cork fighter they seem to be fighting all the time he's been fighting a lot since he made his debut this year as well Mr Evan Hogan um I was someone asked me about him and told me about him I think it was verus I watched it you were very good in that performance Johnny dougen I believe told me and I think someone you were going to be fighting at amateur I think your first amateur opponent one of their guys text me to say to find how you looked as well so um I heard a lot about you that night thank you so much for joining me especially so close to the fight how are you feeling how things oh great can't wait to get in there just excited thanks for having me on as well so no I really really appreci it like I said com closer so obviously uh we're we're H for context for people who may be watching this this is actually Thursday it's recorded it'll probably be out on Friday so you're so you're kind of close to the fight what's your weight cut like um do you have much weight to cut do you cut much weight as an AM as your only early amateur or or what way does your way Cuts go uh usually I've been doing day of we so I haven't been cutting much at all like because you can't really come much then you you be destroyed for the fight but for this one day before now I'm working with Sean Fitzgerald he works with a lot of lads in MMA cor so I'm cutting a fair amount nothing serious like nothing crazy but hopefully now it'll be looking good in the cage looking big yeah no and that's because obviously it's the day off where way you can't cut yourself because you deplete yourself there's so many potential risks especially because the flu around your brain is one of the last to come back I believe so yeah um it's it's better and I think amateur as well I don't think you should be cutting a huge amount of weight at the start anyways just kind of learn the skills but yeah on to the fight that's coming up um you're gonna be fighting usian daily two these are two kind of upand coming talents uh you both are just like uh you're three and one he's three and 0 like all finishes I believe from both of his as well um yeah no I don't I don't have any finishes no no sorry sorry he's all finishes but you've got all you've got all wins um but they've been very impressive wins as well you fought really good people and but to get to this stage we have to go back to the very start when you started MMA what led you to MMA and why and why was MMA cork your choice or was it MMA cork you started with oh yeah I actually wanted to start with boxing to be honest I just wanted to do anything self-defense because I was really big into fitness from G all that stuff so my dad then knew someone who trained M Cork and all he had to say was great things with the gym like so just popped down one day to the gym you know I was tipping away in for about a year like going to MMA once or twice a week just because like i' say I was doing M like and I just fell in love with it like quick gy quck soccer everything's focusing on M now so just random really but it's just taking over everything and that's was it because obviously G and soccer are massive in this country especially ga uh soccer is quite big as well but but like what was it that actually that that led I know you're saying you loved it but was it the physical aspect was it because I know with team sports as well you have to rely on other people obviously you have other people with you in MMA your Coes teammates Etc but when you go into the cage if you don't perform it's on you if you're not there's no one else there really if uh so if a team doesn't perform what was it kind of that led you to actually give it all up and did you know you were going to compete from the moment you started uh to be honest I had no idea I was going to compete like I just I just liked it it was probably more like testing myself and pushing myself like I never been pushed out ha before you know discipline as well like I was playing G soccer there and I was eating like H such bad foods and I was still I get away with it because the matches would only be on the weekend but with MMA you have to watch your weight everything you know you have to fuel your performance everything so probably like the discipline of everything is what really attracted me to it and then yeah the independence like when I go to fight now like it's just me If I Lose I'm to blame if I win I'm to blame like 100% of whatever happens is on me like so I kind of like that as well but yeah the discipline is really that just I just love it I don't know and did well did you find that you maybe were I don't want to say undisciplined before but I know even like I'm I'm in my mid-30s mid to late 30s and and I'm still undisciplined in certain aspects of my life as well do you find that it was able to help you get disciplined in your personal life as well as your your your Combat Sports life and and you think it helped facets of your personal life because of the humbleness structures uh being able to organize things better do you think that has bled over to benefit your personal life as well 100% yeah like I've actually as cliche as it sounds now I've actually learned so much from way that's just transferred over everything like and even the hum yeah and the discipline like I'm not a crazy disciplined person now but like I'm way more disciplined than when I was before like I if I see it a chocolate I'm not going to get sick like I'm that disciplined but I'm a lot more disciplined than when I was and I don't know it's it's it's actually really hard to explain but it just makes you better overall like just everything about it yeah no and you can see that in a lot of a lot of people as well they said they didn't know what this FM was until they started training MMA and and like that like you said with soccer you might train what maybe two times during the week maybe one time during the week a match on the weekend and then you've got long extended breaks whereas do you find uh like MMA is a lifestyle it's not uh just a sport because you can't take tight like you have to train I'm not saying you have to train every day but you're training four to five times a week I would presume H depending obviously you might have other obligations that you might not be able to do it sometimes but and there's no time off there's no like it's not like pre-season offseason it's all go is that what you like about that is consistent yeah definitely like with soccer and G there was like you'd have like the summer break or what whenever the break was and they like two or three months there where you've nothing on whereas now like every day twice a day seven days a week like I've something to aim for and strive for it you know so I'm constantly grafting I I just love the grind as well so just give me something to grin towards as well yeah no 100% so obviously when you went in you didn't realize you were going to compete and then when did you decide you were going to compete and what kind of led to that decision uh it was probably when I started training like picking up the training you know at the start was just because oh like I'm doing MMA like this is this is cool and then I started like training four five six times a week and I just want to compete you know like I nothing really drove me towards it or anything it was probably just cuz I was spending so much time in the gym I just wanted to see how I'd Fair like and see see what I'd be like in the cage but yeah that's probably it just test myself just a natural progression as you got better you wanted to see how your your skills would would far out in a fight obviously you had like that I'd heard a little little bit about jet nov as well a lot of people tell me to look at you so talk to me about the first time you actually because obviously in training you're not going full Pelt I know there is different rule sets to novice an amateur but he still is the intens he's still too L trying to beat each other what was that experience like going in for the first time and where was your first fight actually my first m fight is actually in virtues um David Armstrong yeah but uh yeah he was he was a tough opponent and he was a lot more experience to me so I was very nervous going in Bush you know from first one I'd say I was actually good enough like I was pretty confident didn't like I got jelly legs for a bit at the start but you know I was Grand in after 10 15 seconds like so I say it actually went very well like yeah and that's good as well because obviously verus is um an event in itself usually when people fight novice they fight novice at like the national MMA National leagues stuff like that where it's kind of there's not a huge amount of Spectators bar maybe your team that are with but the fact that verus was your one you knew what to expect and obviously when you made your amateur debut H you yeah I actually did a sorry now I did a few MMA leagues as well before hash before that I couldn't remember that at all but like my first one my first novice fight with like full power like no no holding back to the head shots was that one in verus but I did do a good few National MMA League ones as well okay and how did you find like well well obvious said obviously the bit of jelly legs but did you find that the crowd in the event made much of a difference or did you just kind of zone out once you kind of got into fight mode uh yeah actually whenever I get into the cage I don't hear the crowd at all I just hear my dad's voice because he shouts so loud I hear Aaron giving the instructions they're the only things I hear like no matter how big the crowd is or anything it's so weird but can't complain with that no you can't and like that you've had the four amateur fights uh you fought really good lads as well like like you can see there's a crop of of young people coming up as well how have you found all the fights so far obviously switching over from noice to amateur the main differences being obviously the the the round length and then obviously the ground and pound as well um how how you felt obviously you're tree and one so You' have a good record you fought really good people as well how are you finding it in the amateur scene at the minute and how did you what you make off the level in the amateur scene as we stand I was actually thinking today like on the way home from work like the amateur scene is actually unbelievable like I was thinking about the amount of good people my weight like my age even like who are coming up now and they'd all be brilliant test for me and for all the other Lads like so I'm actually very happy like the amateur scene is so in depth like there's so many different good people in different skill sets so but get as much experience with them as I can like they be class you do and I was I was talking to us you today and we were talking off camera and that's why I said I see there's we're at this stage now with the division Oran it's a lot of people have started to go pro or have gone pro in the past year and you're kind of the new croper coming through and there's some really exciting Fighters yourself uh us is one Alex CO's another one there is more I can't think off the top of my head there just kind to stand out but um how do you feel with the amount of shows that we have as well like and MMA C seem to be on every show yeah yeah yeah we sneak in there everything like at least one person but there's so many different shows especially with Elite Fighting Championship now there's one down in Cork pretty sure there's going to be like two or three per year at least hopefully but that's so handy for us all the L zg cork MMA cork Samson and all that but even like the pr one in Kil Kenny there's so many different ones on there's up up to North up in Dublin like there's so many there's so many different opportunities for everyone around Ireland like like not just people up to North or in Dublin to get on to fights and get on shows and get experience like so can't complain with you into shows in Ireland no you can't and see like that e probably I think cork probably have the longest journey to any event that they go to because it is up usually up north or or the light of Dublin because even Dublin to Belfast is only two hours literally on the motorway yeah it's probably a little bit longer from Cork to I'm not sure I say it's about 2 220 depending where you're where you're coming from but obviously m c um I was at the very first one that went well there was a cou like that it would didn't wasn't 100% smooth and no no so is especially after the first time but I was very impressed with how it ran for the first time how much would you like to Fight On That September card oh my God I it would actually I'd actually give anything to fight like in front of the home Crow but I'll see like if I can get match I tried to get match for the last one but I couldn't so if I can get match I get match I'll be happy out but that be a dream right yeah yeah we'll wait and and hopefully I think it's good obviously Barry runs the show like he said you got Premier that's Kenny you've got cage Legacy that's in duin and I think with Premier and obviously uh EC is going to be in Cork all time Premier have moved around a bit like they done the cor CL keni they're doing different places which is really cool I think they're essential to the likes of the southeast and the Southwest because you have to travel lot and it gives a huge it's a it's a massive platform like that show in Premier what you make of that venue is that that something that it's like real gladiator isn't it it's good oh my God it looks unbelievable I can't wait to get on that now but yeah it I'd say it'll be like one of a kind like it's actually going to be unreal like especially with the the outdoor and hopefully now good weather it's in Ireland so we don't know but if there is good weather it will be unbelievable 10 out of 10 like it will be and like I don't know what it's like with you right now with me it's still it's sunny it's not overly warm but this is the kind of wether you'd want for it and no in IR look when that rolls around it's not going to be and in Ireland yeah you can't book anything outside even in the summer but hopefully it does go ahead I think the show is gonna be fantastic um obviously if it does rain H the fighters and everyone's going to be covered in the cage but it's going to be the spectators that will unfor so just bring your umbrellas um but that's looking that's looking a bit forward now because obviously you've got this fight this weekend H you said you're wa you're coming in you don't have that much to cut you're fighting ushing daily as well um someone I know quite well two Rising young Stars H what you make of that match up I think it's actually a very exciting matchup and a matchup that b you could learn a lot of because I think two you are gonna be a tough tough fight for each other yeah definitely I like he's so good overall so you know I'm confident my ability everywhere as well straight grappling is stuff but I know he's going to be a tough Challenge and no matter what happens when Lose or Draw both of us are definitely going to improve from it like and that's all you could ask for really to be guaranteed and improvement from a fight like so this experience now in the weekend is going to be invaluable can't wait to get in there and just enjoy myself yeah know I can't wait to see you fight in person again um it's like it's a fantastic show um and it it's it's a really good show and like that you've got really good opponent and like I said I like that fight two young LS that like that rise and S just go on and fight each other so I believe you're a similar level there's no point avoiding the fight believe it or not happen I don't know if you've experienced it yourself at amateur so far but it does yeah I don't think I have yet no well you might it it it you it usually it usually happens at some say so H but you come from a gym that I really really like how is it there at the minute obviously Brian announced yesterday he's going to be going pro cuz uh he's just he's just been unfortunate with the pull out from fighting even when he got injured he went ahead and fought when I believed he shouldn't have but he wouldn't to fight otherwise because he has just been unfortunate you've got Johnny who had a fantastic decision the other day you've got Barry who's always around you've got Louise who I believe is probably going to be one of the next field male stars as she was a champion and she looked great in her first two H so there there's no shot there's more Paul buy obviously Pro Dan McCarthy por Keller who I love 45 years of age is still absolutely kicking ass oh he is he's and you know what he's the most softspoken gentle person outside of the cage and he's just I love him it's ridiculous yeah the contrast yeah but yeah the the atmosphere in the gym now absolutely buzzing like we um we I don't know how many shows we got on so far this year but getting on almost everyone and we uh just moved to a new gym now so bigger gym better gym everybody like everybody body can't wait to fight now and just go out and show the level that we're at and never make orc but Jesus yeah the atmosphere is is it's electric in there I can imagine it is and obviously why was the move for the gym I would presume is because the numbers were getting bigger and bigger was it because like that every time I look at show like said there's MMA Cork and there's always like a debut or someone who used to fight and have come back is it just the numbers that going up yeah yeah like to be fair like even the intermediate and beginners classes they are all packed like everything is full to the brim even the the new bigger gym the whole the whole mats are full the whole time so can't complain with that like more people coming in more sping partners and all that stuff and Aaron's doing a great job like promoting and advertising the club and getting new people to come in and just try it out like so yeah yeah no it is very good and that's what like obviously they were on cage conflict last week and is always good to see and and the club went H 4 and0 on the night which was unbelievable uh yeah yeah case conflict and it seems to be like that all like sometimes I've seen them and they've gone two and two and it's a they're like ah a mixed night because like that must be a strange feeling actually you're traveling back and you're after winning and then someone's after losing and then it's like the coach has to celebrate your win with you but has to commiserate their loss I'd say yeah I'd say that's probably what a tough thing to deal with Bobs he's probably done at separate stages not when you're in the car on the way home oh yeah definitely yeah but it's it's a a good gym and I think not that it's underrated I just think it's really right now it's really bubbling like you said it's getting bigger and bigger that's down to the talent people are seeing and they want to join it as well but look I got to let you go I want thank you so much for your time oh no thanks much for having me no sorry one more question actually how active do you plan on staying this year obviously you're not looking P SC but are you looking to fight as much as you can or are you going to take time between fights sorry uh definitely you know if I'm healthy injury free I don't see why not to get as much experience as I can an amateur you know like set me up eventually down the line for a good pro career but just get as much experience as I can like that's all I'm seeing this as is trying to win obviously that's the main goal but at the end of the day like get experience get minutes in the cage get used to everything get comfortable prove my skill set so just trying to say as active as I can really yeah yeah no and and I like that as well just trying to stay an active as you can and just learn and grow for it because I know obviously it's not nice to lose but when you lose usually you learn your biggest lessons as well where the the holes in your game and that's all par and parcel of the game but um I am gonna let you go this time because that was a question I thought of earlier and I forgot it and then it just popped in as I was saying it so is there anything you want to say before you go to anyone anyone you want to shout out and I want to thank you so much for your time uh it's been an absolute pleasure to talk to you and I can't wait to see you this weekend thanks very much thanks very much for having me just shout out to all my teammates Aaron uh am Scully Sean Fitz everyone helping me can to put on a show now and show M car is perfect perfect thank you so much and I will see you the weekend thank you very much