Fou Fou Fares interview

Ringkasan

I had Fou Fou on and we discussed his professional debut on UEA Warriors How the immaf competitions benefited his career the decision to go professional

Transkrip (youtube_captions)

Okay, so I have Mr. Fufu Farah back. He's someone who I talked to at nearly every fight week. Um, I've talked a lot. He made his pro debut recently in a very, very dominant performance on UA Warriors. Uh, it was fantastic to see you go there and just so many different routes. But how are you? Thank you very much for joining me. How did it feel to turn pro and and have that performance? Because everybody was singing your praises, whether it was from UAE Warriors, people from the Irish scene as well. Everyone was kind of talking about it. How did it feel to to put that stamp on your first first goal? Firstly, how's it going, Dave? Man, it's a pleasure to be back talking to you. Um, the professional debut something like I've been doing this again for 10 years now. Like being turning professional was like a dream for me. So, me actually saying I'm a professional athlete now and this is my career is is crazy for me. Like, I'm I'm doing this train twice a day. like this is my career and I I'm just grateful for this like so much. Yeah. And obviously the decision to turn pro like what led to that for me I like one of the performance that stood out to me towards the end was was owner like we see how good he's doing now. He went over to FCC. He's won a belt in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, uh England. He he's got basically the four nations. He's got basically belts in every nation. And that was such a such a good fight and such a technical fight and high level. After that, I was like, he's definitely ready. He had a couple of fights after that. But when did you and Liam kind of get together and decide like did you know it was coming long after that fight? Um to be honest, after the owner fight, it was kind of I was kind of thinking of it. Um I didn't fully decide of it. Obviously, I sat down with my brother Abnu and my head coach Liam. Um, we targeted the world championships after the once owner fight. Um, I got the bronze medal there and then after that I' I've had do you know what I completely for I don't even exactly know my record as an amateur but I've said I say I'd have like 23 24 odd fights. Um, I've picked up many like titles. Irish champ, for nation champ, European gold medalist, world bronze medal world bronze medalist. that's without like getting a scholarship in MMA. Like I've I've picked up huge achievements as an amateur and I think that kind of proof to me and gave me my confidence to say like I am ready like I am ready for the pro scene and you've seen it in my pro debut. Um it was just from the first round to the last I was just dominating that fight. You know and you brought up a couple of things there. wondering was it I liked with uh in college as well you took time out to to really make sure that you went and you finished that and and your full focus was was on that and you still had so many fights around it like do you think a lot of fighters think that fighting might be the only way and do you think a lot of them if they have opportunities to do college or or to do stuff to do it for cuz fighting isn't a long career you know like it depends on your weight class and stuff but kind of you're looking at the mid-30s and then it's over I know people can go into coaching but with the amount of fighters not everyone can go into coaching do you think is essential if there's opportunities like that whether it's academically or or work-wise to to take them uh for later life? For sure. Um something I have in my mind is like I'm going to have like two lives if that makes sense. So I've been doing MMA for all my life right now. Um, as you said, like at some point I will retire from MMA, whether it's me being 35 or so and then another life begins where it's me taking up golf for some something else regardless. But when it comes to college, I do feel a lot of MMA fighters say, "All right, [ __ ] this. Like, I'm going straight in. I'm going to give it all my best. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do that. I'm giving up school college and I'm just going to give it all." But like I've proved to it like you could still be in college like while achieving stuff and making like well I'm I'm completely like I'm finished college now. So that's why that's another reason why I went pro. But as an amateur I was like I' I'd have exams studying but I'm still fighting. Um I believe as an amateur it's it's very possible you can like I think MMA fighters should be going to college. I think like if something happens to me now, I can always go back and I I have my degree as a business student that I can use. I believe any MMA fighter should be doing something like this or having something to like rely on, not just I'm giving this balls deep. Unless you're a professional a professional athlete, then that's a whole different story. Yeah. cuz like like we know the money isn't great in MMA and and you do this it's a lifestyle and and Liam Og actually really really schooled me on this when I was talking about fighter pay and he just said these guys know it's a life Conor McGregor Floyd Mayweather these people are unicorns they come around every once in a while they they'll probably never be mim mimicked but like it doesn't have to be college it could be I was talking to someone who's a boxer and he's in his last year electrician apprentice and he wants to just focus on boxing and I was like you've got one more year for a trade that when you retire everyone needs electricians like the jobs are there. Like it doesn't have to be academic. It could be work-wise. It could be something. But it just shows you were able to focus on these things at the time and and use your dedication to fulfill what you needed to fulfill. So it is possible. But UAE Warriors, how did that come about? Talk us about how that came about cuz you don't see many go there. I've seen a couple from my go there. But I like it. It's interesting. It's different. Talk us talk us through it. Firstly, UA Warriors. I know obviously it's my first professional event and stuff and promotion, but my god that event is amazing. Like backstage amazing the like the hospitality, they're they're so nice. Like I'm I'm can't wait to go there again. Like um now I've signed with a management called SMP management. Um that's run by a guy called Wizam. Um such a nice guy. Um me and my brother got contact like he was in contact with my brother and and Liam and myself for um just like ping panning out my professional career and we decided about UA Warriors and got the got the the opponent and went from there. Um I'm to be honest I'm so happy with UA Warriors. I know a lot of Irish fighters kind of when they go pro they can go to Cage Warriors or kind of a European show. Um, and I do think that's a really good route, but I think like me going to the route of the UEA Warriors, especially the way I actually speak Arabic, my parents are both from Egypt. So, I think I'm saying it from now, give me a couple more fights and I'm going to be I'll be the face of UEI Warriors and I'll be the face of the Middle East for MMA. Yeah. Like, it's a very like it's a wellought promotion outside Europe. And what I liked what you said there is people want to go these roots and that routes and these things that make you different speaking Arabic and and being able to go there so you can relate to the fans, you can speak the language. Um the different routes for different people and obviously this route is is what way you're supposed to go. Have you signed a a multiight contract? Was it just a one fight or or what way does that work? If you can't talk about it, don't. You know, I never put you on the spot to say something. If if you can't talk about don't, but if you can elaborate, do. If not, just say next question. So my the my pro debut was a one fight deal um after backstage and stuff the the CEO or like the president of UE warriors um for um he was like oh you're signed and now it's just all like just negotiations and all this and that but I will be returning to UE warriors and I'm I'm grateful for for I can't I actually can't wait to go back and that cage the atmosphere like after it for the first time in my life. And I was like I was over the moon here. Like after my fight I walking out of the cage, I had like these kind of teenager kids coming up to me asking me for photos. Um like I I gave one of them my hat and stuff asking me for like stuff I had on me. Like this is me with my first fight like over there. Imagine when I like I'd love to like build my career there. Imagine we say five, six, seven fights there and I have a whole fan base over there and I have a whole fan base in Ireland. Like I I do see a lot of um I won't I won't give too much stuff but I I see a huge future. Yeah, you you've got two different demographics there as well and and one of the things to get into UFC or whatever. We're not talking about getting UFC, but you need to be able to appeal to different demographics and you can do both. But talk to us about like people ask you for a hat and stuff. That must have felt a bit surreal, a bit like is did you feel like this is real or did you think was it like you knew this was going to happen or or what way was that like when when they first asked you, you know? Um, believe it or not, I'd say two days before my professional debut, I was in UAE Warrior or I was in Abu Dhabi um the hotel with Abnum and my coach um Liam. I didn't say it to Liam, but I said it to AB. I was like I was getting a lot of support from my professional debut. I was on two different newspapers here in Cork. I had my school, my my primary school or my primary school, my secondary school, my college. Um obviously all my friends, my family had a lot of people like supporting me for this and like I like looking at this fight. My own for the first time in my life, my whole family in Egypt were watching this. Um, I had like basically I had a lot of people like watching this fight and I I did have like the pressure was a bit on me like I'm this European gold medalist, I'm this guy, I'm that like now it's time to perform [ __ ] So I did feel the pressure but as I say pressure makes diamonds and I I did I did um I I I showed I showed um how good I was that night. Yeah, you rose to the occasion basically like and do you put that down to the amount of amateur fights you've had because you fought away like most times you would have been in Belfast or away from home and and this would have been the same. Do do you put like your confidence, your calmness down to every fight you've gone, you've picked something up from and it's just skills you've acquired over time, not cage time but mentally and how things around you affect you and how you take them in and then use them in a positive manner. For sure. Yeah, 100%. Um, I've been doing this game for 10 years. Like, like it's not like uh like this professional debut is not a six, eight, 10 week camp. Like I've been doing this for 10 years. My amateur career I think plays a huge huge like um advantage for me. Um yeah, I am one and0 as a professional now, but as I said, I have like 24 fights now. Um, and I think that kind of showed in my professional debut that this is not my first professional fight. Like I'm I've been doing this game for a long long time. Um, I was really actually like obviously I was looking for the finish in the fight. I was really grateful that I actually was in the fight for 15 minutes and I got to actually feel the five five three minute rounds um as a professional. So I was really grateful for that too. Yeah. Because because you can mimic that in training. And you can do that, but like obviously you can have hard powers in that, but when you put that into a live combat situation, because no matter how I this is how I feel, I've never fought so maybe you can correct me. You can do that as much as you want in training, but I think when it comes to a live like a live like a fight basically, you need that experience more so to to feel it because you could do it in the gym, you're comfortable with people or you might bring people in. But we've talked about the event in itself, the media leading up to the crowd, the being there, the diff being in a different country. Do you think those 15 minutes were probably more beneficial than actually finishing the fight pretty early? 100%. I'm um so I actually if you if you see the first 10 seconds of the fight, I actually so all fight camp I was drilling the Jorge Mazaval flying knee. Um and I and I said it to all my friends. I was like, bet the h you could actually for my last fight, you could actually bet on my fight. That was another thing I was like, what's going on here? Like, you could actually put money on me now. So, that was that was actually kind of cool. But anyway, um so um the first 10 seconds of the fight, not even first five seconds, I jump in with a Jorge Massal flying knee. Um it didn't go to plan and I continued forward. And saying that, I'm actually really happy if obviously it would have been a [ __ ] viral and [ __ ] going that happened. But like I'm happy that like the pros from not that not happening is I got a full 15 minutes of like just experience in like the professional cage. It's much bigger. Um the five minute rounds just just the whole lot of it. And so like my next fight going forward like I'm like as a professional I want to be racking up like KOs, TKOs's, submissions. I want like I'm I'm I don't want this like I want this to be my last decision fight like unanimous decision win. I know it was dominant uh win but I want to be collecting them finishes now next. Yeah cuz I was talking I'm going to just pick an example. Will Flurry for example has a good record obviously he's double champion octagon but for a while he was like that he was having dominant performance but he reckon people weren't saying his name enough because there wasn't finishes. then he started getting finishes. But you've you've obviously got those 15 minutes in the bank. I want to circle back to something you were saying though about the support you had with Cork and the newspapers and going back to school with MMA not being recognized, but you can see a lot like like like that newspapers getting on board, schools getting on board. What did that feel like for you as a person for like that the school you went to to bring you back as an example for people growing up? Like there must be some sentiment to that. Like talk to us what that was like. Uh firstly, shout out to the Northmon. That's my um primary and secondary school and my my university in college that I'm just done now is uh MTU. Um shout out to them firstly. Um but yeah, like I just feel like something I feel is I have such a great team around me. Like whether it's my family, my friends, my college, my uh primary school, secondary school that I'm still in contact with. Um I'm just really grateful for the team I have. With a team like I have, I'm going straight to the top. um and about like the support that I have with them and obviously MMA not being fully recognized. Um I think the way I'm going forward and everyone supporting me and me being on on um two newspapers, it's it's a step forward for MMA, Irish MMA to to get recognized and and show like like I really believe like like I know I'm going into the cage and I'm fighting to you guys, but it at the end of the day it's it's a sport like it's like a sport like any other sport that's out there. um it should be recognized and I think the what what I'm doing and going forward hopefully it will. Yeah. Because like that MMA isn't viewed kindly by some people and and there's some people we won't say their names that do have get up shenanigans and when when they they associate the sport with a certain person and and that's like they think that's what people are but there's the likes of you Michael Crony received an award from Gway County Council yesterday. Yeah. Um, you look at for example Conor McCarthy, one of the nice people I've ever met. There's there's loads of people like that. Do you think it's the likes of characters like Ye coming from the new school that are changing the perception of like this is college educ. He's a good guy. He's a positive guy. Do you think it's the new generation is is bringing people around to MMA that wouldn't have looked at it kindly or favorably? For sure. 100%. Um, I believe like MMA just humbles you and I kind of like me personally, I'm I wouldn't say I'm I'm kind of a quiet guy. Just gets by, does my own thing. Um, and I feel all that from MMA cuz like walking like it could be the people that are not doing like MMA or combat sport that feel like they're the man and they could do this and that and they're probably the people causing the harm and stuff rather than like us MMA fighters, we're just walking down the street knowing that we could do something, but we're just just casually just enjoying life like Yeah. cuz cuz you know the dangers you could put someone in if someone started and and I think like we've talked about what MMA does for people. I've been in different circles whereas soccer GA and and I found the most welcome one was MMA like you text me when I was done. Loads of people text me when I was gone. Loads of people were looking to see where I was. Was I okay? Um and then what I found funny was when I started doing this it wasn't my close friends and I'm not saying any bad but it was all ye who wanted me to succeed. I think they looked and said, "Well, you're doing this for no money. You're not doing that." But whereas you were like, "I hope you get to UC. I hope you go to these things." And yeah, I think the community as a whole is fantastic and and people are starting to see it now and and it's full of like see you and Michael Crony and and among others because there's a whole like the level and the quantity that we have right now. What do you think of MMA on this island? Be honest, I I feel like Irish MMA is is blowing up right now. Um, one thing I was actually really happy to see, obviously I wasn't on the card, but um, Cage Warriors Dublin, the last one, it was like like 10 odd Irish MMA fighters. Like that shows like there's a lot of fighters coming up here. And I believe the community we have like obviously we're all around different counties and stuff but I I believe we have a good community whether it comes to like people like you energize the old triangle and stuff like um from interview guys from the judges from the fighters the coaches I think we really do have um a lot of um like a good community around us and I just believe it's a matter of time before like people start seeing how good Ireland are and like as as a worldwide place like going around states side um Middle East as I'm doing right now and seeing like that like these guys from Maryland Ireland that are are the [ __ ] like Yeah. Yeah. We I like that the community like I said from the media out triangle I love their podcast are so good breaking stuff down and the energize like do a lot for the the amateur scene now as well which they weren't doing previously previously but I think the work they're doing is quite good and it's getting it noticed. Um, like you look at globally like Max Ali for example, he was brought by Alexander Valinoski to help Alex. How mad is that when you think like a a champ like where where I see people like I see you going pro, I've seen other people going pro and it's just uncanny that three years ago you were only kind of like on the way up in your answer and to see you now it's how would I put it? It's like a teacher with the first class of kids and watching them kind of grow and prosper. It's it's just uncanny. And like you said with Cage Warriors, the mountain fighters and but there's more options. Like I said, the UA Warriors, Octagon's had a few Irish people on and and MMA's blowing up, but I just think it's really good here. And you came through the systems and and the IMAPs like how influential were they on your career for anyone who's interested in going? What are the benefits you found and what you think it done for you as a fighter and a person? If you're an amateur MMA fighter from Ireland, you should 100% be going to the IMAFS and I I could say that strongly like um I know of course when you're a professional, you're fighting once a day and stuff, but the IMAFS they they bring something completely different out of you. You're fighting five days, you have to dig deep. Um like my European Championships, um when I won gold, I I fought four days straight. Um, and it's the best people from around. Well, for for me it was the European Championship, so it was the best people around Europe. Where else can you find an opportunity that you're fighting the best people around Europe? Um, like as an amateur, you want to be getting the hardest fights. You don't you don't want to be picking your fights like f like regional shows. You you can you can only get so far with regional shows, I believe. um after a matter of time you're going to be beating the top guys in your own country and then it's time to do like an IMAFS where you're you're challenging yourself in a European or a world stage. Um and that's how you that like I've done I've been doing the IMAFS since I'm 15 years old. That that explains like my first ever IMAFS was as a youth when in Rome when I I think I don't know what year it was but I was 15 years old. Um, I'm 21 years old now and I'm a professional. I believe IMMAF has has been a huge aspect for my amateur career. Yeah. No, I think it's good as well. I'm going to throw a couple things at you and I want you to kind of expand them or what you think. I think with the IMAS like that fighting four days in a row, you need discipline. You need motivation because like you don't just weigh in the first day, you weigh in every day. Like you need to have a level of discipline for that. You don't know like you might know who's in your bracket, but you don't know who's going to be fighting. So, do you think that helps your fight IQ that you have to fight more in the moment cuz you're not going to spend the leadup cuz obviously it's cut way. You're not going to spend that time. Do you think it helps your fight IQ cuz you have to learn kind of as it's happening? 100%. Like the first day, like the first fight you get, you only find out your opponent the night before. Um, I I believe it kind of works in a in a good way because like leading to it like the the six weeks of training or so, whatever. Um, you're focusing on yourself like it's like how can I get better? How can I do this? You're not focusing on an opponent. It's just what can I do better myself? Uh, I really do think that does benefit. Yeah. Know that there is those pros uh to it as well. Like I said on region shows, one of the things is like youth it's happened to you for pull outs the week before. You don't really get that in IMAS unless it's miss weight or injury. So you know people are showing cuz everyone wants that gold medal. But we've talked about obviously your pro debut going forward. Do you know when about your next fight would be like I said if you know one you can't say don't say. Are you looking to fight again very very soon? I won't say when but I'm looking to get two more fights in by the end of the year. And so my last fight was at 130 lbs. That's 59 kilos. Um I'm going down to 125. Uh the flyweight division. I'm going to take over the flyweight division. Yeah. But yeah, as I said, two more fights by the end of this year. Um I won't say when's the next one or anything, but it is two more fights by the end of the year. That's my goal. Yeah. Know I can't wait to see it. And obviously I think going through amateur you fought at bantamweight. You fought on the day of weighing. So going down to fly away will will not that would be relatively easy but it's very manageable for you to get down there. But I going to let you go. I want to thank you very much for your time. Is there anything you want to say before you go or anyone you want to shout out? Just shout out to to my whole team whether it's my f my my family friends college uh my team SPG Cork my management Wizam the whole everyone just you guys know who you are. Thank you very much and thank you for actually chatting. Perfect. It's good to have you on again and for your next fight when you announce it, we'll definitely have another one. Enjoy your evening and I appreciate your time and I appreciate you repping that fans jersey there as well. Oh [ __ ] Yeah. Perfect. Have a good evening and I'll see you soon. See you.