Alex McCooke interview, Fit2Fight 4 man tournament

Ringkasan

Alex McCooke is a fighter out of North Antrim Fight academy who started his MMA journey some time ago and after a break in competition he's back to mix it with the best and get his name back out there, he takes part in fit2fights 4 man lightweight tournament this weekend

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okay so I'm here with Alex mcook he's gonna be H taking part in the fif to fight fourman 70 kg tournament this weekend in the lon Hotel um I was at the last show it's a fantastic show Alex has actually won on the show as well so thank you very much for joining me I know it's fight week um how are you feeling for the fight and how excited are you to take part in a man tournament like this over one night I'm feeling good uh excited again to get back into the cage after the last time that I fought on the previous show I know I stepped in last minute one of the other shows as well a totally different weight at division but I'm excited and I feel good weights on point at the moment so back to the gy of night to do a extra weight cut just to get down to the weight that need to be um been asked to fight on a fourman tournament something different but excited because it's going to be a challenge going to push me and see where where my skill level's at and hopefully see where the opponent's skill level's at so I can step forward in the the ground skill of things yeah and like that you said you came in your last fight was Akuma you came in like on two or three days notice I want to say which is is madness you came in like that Robert Barrett is a higher way class than you came in and got it done that's obiously your willingness to want to fight you're taking the short all fight so you're saying you were talk about obviously just a little bit more of wake up what does fight week look like for you what's this week kind of look like for you in the grand scheme of things focusing on what we already know and what we've learned just perfecting it trying to get it down to a t Working on the game plan that we have set in place and just hitting that weight Point like trying to hit the weight point just before we have to hit weight on the Saturday which is the day before so that's what this week will consist of more just drills focusing on our game plan and getting that weight right down on point yeah and then hopefully like that once the way cut is kind of seamless and kind of goes as plans it actually makes everything else a little bit easier doesn't it because the wake up is one of the I want to say harder aspects of of fight not harder aspects but coming Clos to the fight is one of the ones that can show a lot of things off during the week but you seem to have everything down to a te as as but that's what it's sounding like anyways well the weight cut is is more a mental thing it mentally affects you more than physically because it's like it'll take your mental stay away from your actual training so trying to focus on your training and weight cut at the same time so we've decided to do it different this time and try and do a we cut over a longer period of time so it's dropping slowly so by the time we get to fight week that we have very little to lose so my my head and strength can stay in the game plan so we've adapted at this time to sit this fight because we know it's going to be a there's a potential of two fights in one night so we have to be prepared to fight two fights not just one yeah then like that if you're doing a heavy weight cut or more of a water cut whatever uh or being that heavy of weight before you have to wait make that cut and way in like potentially you're going to have to fight like said two fights they could both go the distance and doing over a longer period of time will help then for your gas tank I would presume rather than doing one big heavy wake up but how have you felt doing it over a longer period of time like during your training stuff have you felt fresher stronger like doing it this way or has it made much of a difference to the actual training no it's made a massive difference like it's it's huge cuz like I can like focus more have more energy and I feel stronger I don't feel like I'm just everything just been sucked out of me all at once it's slowly been took down then I can build my strength up to that actual weight that I've lost and keep progressing yeah no that's good that you've got down that way and that might be something you might look at in the future rather than because I know you've done it for this one but if it works out you can fight two fights and win the tournament going forward then that that might be the way to do it if if feel better feeling fresher feeling more energetic and you're not killing yourself the week of a fight so what's the excitement levels for you the week of a fight like how do you uh manage your emotions are they like are you just waiting to get in there is it more chill till the day what way does that work I no I'm I went on there now it's like this is taken too long especially since the last fight because that was took last minute so I got the buzz going and the pump going again I was like now I need to fight in the tournament I've agreed to and it's just the closer I get I'm like right wins one more sleep one more sleep right we're getting there we're closer now it's just at the point because I'm on fight week it's like I want to be there because I want to test myself and I want to see how good my opponents are as well and just be pushed to liit for the end of the year I want this year to end well for everybody and including me yeah yeah no 100% And I got ask when you're looking towards this like what way do you strategize because you've got three potential opponents I don't don't know what way the opponents have picked you find out on the day that we find out before but you can't prepare for all treat them CU that be wasted energy in looking H like you can't prepare holy for all treat them but have you looked at any of them at all to see where their strengths and weaknesses are just one or two things or you just focusing on you going into this we sort of focusing on my strong aspects this time we're not going to try and focus on the opponent because normally when you fight one opponent you can focus on them and where their strength and weaknesses lie so you can focus on a game plan around that that's because I could be fighting a wrestler a striker and a kickboxer so there's no point of me trying to CU I don't know what what one of them is there's no point of me looking them up because there' be too much information to soak in so just focus on myself and where my strong points is and my weak points and just go from there and hopefully it works right on the night yeah hopefully I like the idea of the fourman tournament we've seen one obviously advertis this year a lot of promotions trying and get it done and then usually something goes wrong so um you fought on fit to fight before talk to us about the promotion because I was at the last one it was the first one I was ever at I found for such a new show it was so well run and it just seemed like it' been around for a while you know because everything was seamless and what I loved about as well because obviously you would Fighters there from nor Anon fight Academy Le had novices and stuff there the atmosphere and the the kind of nervous tension within within those Fighters I think there was uh for the first eight fights there was like six Knockouts or subs or something what you make of the show as a whole from how it's run your dealing with them to the actual the whole the show in general ah to me the shows run like to a professional level because you're treated like a fighter you're you're treated with respect and when it comes to getting hands wrapped and stuff like you're called out you're not running around chasing yourself someone comes and gets you the way it should be so you can like stay in the zone and you're given three or four fights notice that you're up in three or four fights get yourself prepared um the shows just run so smoothly and like Andy and Arnold has obviously fought before and been on shows so they're obviously trying to they've worked out the Kinks that weren't working on our shows to try and make it work on their show it's and the atmosphere is unbelievable for such like a new show as you say it's just it's like being at one of the big shows because atmosphere is so good and they're given every opportunity to novices teens you know and amateurs at so many different levels it's it's phenomenal to see like I'm be a part of yeah it is and and like you said with the novices cuz you had Fighters there as well from the novice and from amateur what I like about it for the novices is the amateur shows most amateur Fighters now have been to shows like this where you've got the crowd you've got the event field and I think it's good for the novices because I know there is inter clubs there is like uh the national leagues in Ireland um there is different tournaments but this gives those novices a feel of what it's like to be actually like at a show so when they actually turn go make the ram to debut let's say that's not overwhelming because that's that sort of aspect can be overwhelming for Fighters so I think it is a very good idea that that that they bring the novices in I really like the premise of it but um I'll go well you win the tournament this weekend what's your plans for the the upcoming future or are you just going to take a rest off and enjoy Christmas and then look at next year or if you got any immediate plans n this will hopefully be my last fight this year and then I'll enjoy Christmas with the family and hopefully go harder at it next year and try and see if I can get my name up the ladder a we bit further and potentially go for a title shot next year hopefully hopefully hopefully yeah like that this what you think you've with with the amount of shows that we have at the minute you've got fit to fight your Fighting Championship cage conflict Clan Wars uh akuma's back verus cage Legacy Premier like there's so there's about eight nine promotions how do you feel as as an amate fighter to have that many options no I feel I feel good as ner it's just trying to get my name back out there after being off for so long like I was in the game a long time ago and just trying to get back into it so I need to get my name out there again and show that I'm a a fighter worth taking on in their shows and that's sort of the reason why I took some of the last minutes to prove myself like I can fight at between 70 and 77 so like I can work anywh between that range what weight would you prefer to fight at 70 probably be your preferred weight or do you feel fresher at 77 or or is it six and one half a dozen in the year somewhere in between would be better like 73 74 but 70 is probably my preferred weight division because like when you step up to 77 as you seen like that fellow was a big big boy I was small compared to him but it gave me the opportunity to test my abilities on a heavier weight division to see if I can stand Toe to Toe and use my abilities to work with someone but no 70s I'm happy at 70 because it's good division strong division fast a lot of great Fighters coming up through it and I just have to know put my name in there somewhere yeah and like that with the amount of shows you can stay active I think what you coming in likes the likes at the last minute against Robert bar like you said who it was significantly bigger than you and you took him to decision and you fought very well in that fight like we showed a lot coming in for that little notice against someone at a different way I thought was fantastic and you've got the chance to make your name with the amount of shows that there is running all you have all you have to do is just get into the shows and and get the victories and you'll be up there in all time yeah that's what I'm hoping yeah like that there will be running shows next year I know kind of after the 16th of December they're all kind of stopped and I reckon it be February they're back but at least you'll get a nice Christmas uh break B to enjoy your Christmas that you won't be fasting you won't be dieting but um no I'm Gonna Let You Go is there anything you want to say before you go or anyone you want to shout out before you go and I want to thank you very much for your time again it's been a pleasure to talk to you again no no I'm all good thanks for having me no it's fine it's fine um thank you so much for your time and I will talk to you uh I think I actually will be at this show I haven't been that many of them but I think I will be at this show I'm not gonna guarantee it but if so I'll see you then if not I'll be watching you on pay-per-view no problem