Kaillum Leech interview

Ringkasan

Kaillum Leech is an amateur fighter competing for the Elite fighting light heavyweight championship this weekend, with regional and IMMAF experience behind him he's ready for this fight

Transkrip (youtube_captions)

[Music] okay so I'm here with Caleb leech who's going to be fighting for the light heavyweight championship at Elite Fighting Championship this weekend um he's had he's fought in the im as he's fought recently um thank you very much for your time how are you today and how are you feeling we're just two or three days away from the fight good yeah um weight going well training went smoothly feeling good I'm just feeling calm I'm just waiting for the weekend now then ready to perform really yeah and you you've had some really good wins as well you started obviously your R career you lost but then you had three submissions in a row and one of them was a too plat as well which I believe is only the second in MMA yeah yeah the second one in MMA I think the other guy that don't was another Irish guy Jake no I think you think he got that done in k or something like that but yeah i' had loads of experien I only talking to Patty dur the day about that that like I'm only 18 and I've had like way more fights and like some people even going into like Pro so like it's just it's great to get all the experience before like you know turn into an adult and go into like the pro ranks and stuff like that too yeah because I was looking at your record and I was looking at your age and that 18 years of age you'd have a lot of experience and especially at IMF talk to us about the imaf experience and what that meant you to represent the country yeah know it was pretty cool at the start like just getting to like you know obviously where like the the team Ireland tracksuits and stuff and like go to different countries and fight in stadiums and win championships and stuff it was like pretty surreal at the start but I feel like that like de pressure and all that makes you like a better fighter and that's why I feel like it can kind of just buzz in anywhere and fight anywhere because we have all that experience in the in the locker now so honestly one of the the best things I've done and uh I look forward to doing more in have competitions and stuff like that picking up more medals in the future I will be assuming next year definely definitely but ahead of year you obviously have the fight this weekend for a belt um how does it feel to be fighting for a belt or is the belt I don't want to say irrelevant to you is it more about the guy you're going to be fighting and the experience and the quality fighter that comes with a title fight no I love the belts the belts look nice in the wild they do yeah B the fight for for a title and then obviously call against a good lad but I mean the pound doesn't really matter like I put in the work I'm good enough and put me in against anyone especially light heavyweight or middleweight they don't really stand a chance to me especially at like theor am feel like I'm just MO better than all of them really yeah and and you've got a good coaching there obviously with Paddy and you've got a good J and and there's really good talent obviously Sean is in the UFC uh Geor was find it really hard to get match he looked Sensational in his Brant it was he just looked so smothering and Unstoppable in my opinion is I would not like like him getting the hold of me but um what's it like being around those types obviously what does Patty Hulan mean to you and what does it mean to be in a gym with people like that yeah know like it's pretty cool like having like obviously having Patty as like the main coach and stuff like that like I remember the first time I walked in the gym I was like looking as like oh my God py H the UFC for you just realize like down the road that he's just like a normal fellow from job from the same place I'm from pretty much just around the corner and like you kind of realize like he got where he was just from doing what you're supposed to do putting hard work and you realize like the people you seeing the UFC and stuff even like seeing shaa go there and like watching George S pro career and just even seeing like other Fighters come in and out of the gym it's just like you realize they all this young at the end of the day there's nothing special like we all breath the same air we all you know have like ups and downs so it's just kind of shows that like anything's really achievable and it's good having like someone like Patty that's already done everything and having someone that just has your back like that really like Patty's he's a real one he is yeah I say Pat's like a man of the people to me I think he's just a definely he wears his heart on his sleeve and you can see how much it means to him when his Fighters are fighting he's very animated and that's what I like about him he's the loudest person in the room um but that's good because you want to hear him above everyone else but it's it's been a good career so far like with the three submissions in a row what kind of confidence did that has that given you because that just shows that your ground game like obviously tooa and there three different submissions it's not three the same so wherever round you look like you can finish the fight yeah no I actually um I didn't even look at like three submissions in a row kind of way I kind of just take it as a goals but now you say it sounds cool so yeah like it makes me feel good going into it I know that I have like better grappling than most people going to be going against and then's coming along a lot now I have like um working with padman Mack he's like a dirty boxing coach so like I know on the ground I'm pretty safe and then on the feet now you have to sh up the hands h anyone ready yeah no and and with your opponent I I think he kind of answered the question for me you're focusing more on yourself than an opponent I would presume just like you said you're just going to get better and better if you focus on you and has that always been your mindset is that something that's in the gym rather than focus on a fighter and prepare for each fighter at a time then you don't really establish your own style exactly yeah like talked to paty about this even at start of the camp and stuff like at the end of the day I know what I have to do I know what work I have to put in I know how good I am as long as I do everything I'm supposed to do there there's no one that can beat me do you get me so it's just one of them things where like the opponent can be anyone like the opponent could change tomorrow just say yeah because I know that I put in the war and that I'll be well able to take on anyone you know the opponent doesn't matter it's more about just focus on me and my strength and then making sure he can Implement more game plan stuff like that yeah know and it's it's a show in the Republic obviously K Le he seems to be on high eight for a bit Premier hasn't done one in a while how good does it feel to have one in the Republic it's probably the same similar kind of drive for for you to the like sori and that it is it's actually longer to be honest like it's long it's mad but it's it's cool be have the fight down down the sou obviously but I'm ding the fight in Dublin like everyone's always asking me like oh when's your next fight or can I come to your fight I'm like yeah no problem but it's in C or it's in new and then it's like ah never mind but I'm just I'm dying to get like maybe like a Cas Legacy show or something do and just like really does like get the place rocking yeah cuz like that you're was going to someone else's backyard or or like love it yes and then you to have that support obviously you're used to going to someone else's backyard I'd say you want to have that feeling of the support and what that's like and obviously there's very few in Dublin recently hopefully we can get more back there because it's a shorter drive for me it'll be a shorter drive for you as well um but we do have a lot of promotions in the country on the island so how does it feel as an AM fighter to have that many options because they seem to be running like in the past six weeks I think there's seven shows like what's it like to have that kind of uh options available to you it's great like because it's just like there's always something coming up like for whatever time frame you want to fight in you can always just like shoot a message on Instagram just be like great I want to do this day this show fits that and it's just it's great that we have so many options especially at amateur just to get that experience and stuff like that so like I'm sure other countries don't as lucky with having such a like well-run amateur scene so even when you deal with the shows and stuff like that it's like a lot of them are just like very professional how they run and stuff so it's great that we have all them options really yeah there's a lot of options and there's a lot of good Fighters um this is the day of way so obviously you're doing like heavyweight would you then be more a client to go to middleweight if it was day before waiting yeah yeah I'll probably go back to middleweight anyway to be honest I just I was ding this CU them was bing up for well and um I until they like heavyweight don't get me wrong time there but for I think the omfs are in February so for the Europeans they plan on doing they have a super middleweight to BU for that for same day so I want to plan on doing that well you know they good on they go do do super middle do middleway whichever like it's all the it's all the one to me yeah and with the IMF you have the same day ws and you have to do them consecutively as well how hard is that to do especially when some of your teammates might be knocked out they're eating different foods they're eating nice Foods how hard is it to make the weight day by day or or you make it relatively easy yeah know it's mad like especially going through the week and stuff like that and like you're watching like people that you thought going to do well like not do as well or like some people doing better it's like it's a mad experience as well just like thex and stuff but it's um it's pretty doable and then after you know like you noce country or whatever you have to enjoy all the field then no better feel yeah no the IM I think the IMF is a really good tournament and because you get to go to these places it is expensive because MMA obviously isn't funded by the government but it's it our Olympics the eventually and it's a really good platform for people like he and I i' read a lot about you then especially after too platter because like they're very far and few and far between but it's going to be fantastic fight this weekend I'm going to let you go I want to thank you so much for your time especially because it's so close to the fight is there anything you'd like to say before you go um not really just thanks all my teammates like Patty obviously then toy me boxing coach um Aaron who's usually main training parent as well and then obviously you been load of with him he's poting too um but I'm looking forward to it feeling good I'm ready and then come Saturday night you'll see me with a new gold belt after early perfect I can't wait to see the fight best of luck this weekend and I really appreciate your time thanks so much perfect