Abdurrahman Bouhadja interview

Ringkasan

Abdurrahman Bouhadja is an MMA fight representing Holohan Martial arts, he competes at the upcoming world championships team Ireland we speak about how it actually came about, we speak run since we last spoke Winning and defending a belt on Elite fighting championship We also…

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It's been a long time and I'm really looking forward to this interview. He's a really big supporter of mine and I'm a really big supporter of his. He gives me so much motivation and uh really nice words from when we do talk. I want to thank you very much for joining me. Abdul MMA, you will find him on Instagram. He's going to be going to the worlds. But since we first talked, it was after his debut, he's gone on to win three more fights. He beat Michael Cronly, who for me was one of the best in the country. Uh one [clears throat] of the most experienced. Barry Kenny, the same gentleman he fought about. So, you could see his his stock is rising very quickly. How are you? Thank you very much for joining me and and how does it feel because it's been a while and and like you said, you said just off offline before we came on about people's progression and it's mad that after that first fight, we're sitting here 4-0, uh a title win, title defense, and going to the worlds. How does that feel to have accomplished that since we spoke last? >> Um to be honest, it's you know, it's crazy how fast you can move sometimes. If you were to ask me when we first spoke, where do you think I would be in a year's time or as we are here like less than a year and a half in, um [snorts] I wouldn't have told you I'd be here, honestly. Uh how do you like it feels honestly like sometimes you look back and you're like, "Wow, that actually happened pretty fast." Um and obviously when things happen really fast, it takes time for it to sink in. And uh it feels, you know, after all the work being put in, especially the moment I stepped into the cage for my first fight, I think there's a big shift there in the way I started to train, in the way I approached the game. And um if anything, looking back at it with the performances, it's not surprising. >> Yeah, I I like that there's there's there's some massive big names that you fought and experienced names as well. What was it quite daunt like was it daunting or you excited? What was the kind of feelings going in? Obviously, cuz Michael Cronly uh when you went in to fight for a title, obviously, you've got added pressure of a title fight and I believe I think he would have 17, 18 fights at that time. How did it feel going into the fight? >> yeah. Yeah. I was like 2-0 going into that fight. So, I only had two fights under my belt. And um honestly, when we got offered so we fought Taylor Hearn in December then. I was I was you know as you seen it was a nightmare to get matched after my first fight and then we finally got matched, got to pull out on the week of the fight. And after that um you know, [clears throat] we wanted to find someone you know, with like similar experience, you know, similar amount of fights as me to make the matchmaking fair. And then we just couldn't find anyone, you know? So, um whatever we got offered, we just took from there on, you know? Got offered Taylor Hearn and we said, "Yeah." And then we got offered Michael, we just said, "Yeah." you know, straight up. And didn't think too much of it. Obviously, for me as a fighter it was quite like intimidating at first by seeing those the double-digits on his on his record, you know? I don't know, like being 10-8 or 10-7, something like that. Obviously, like that part was very intimidating, but then we had to just step away from how many fights does this guy have? How good is he actually as a fighter? Who is he as a fighter? Can we beat this guy? How can we beat this guy? That's the only way we approached it. And uh I don't think the title fight added any pressure. In my head it was such a small thing, to be honest. Still is. >> Yeah, cuz like that a lot of people say like for them it's more about getting the fights with the right people. But I think one of the things with that is with the way it comes with the bets is you're going to get the best people and that cuz they want to fight for the bets in a sort of way. Then obviously talk to us, did that give you more confidence obviously not that you were lacking confidence, but obviously you were saying bit hesitant with the double-digits. But then when you were going into fight Barry then after who like you we were talking about had never been finished before and he had those, was there was there less of a kind of uh less less pressure going in because you you you'd fought and beaten Michael previously. So, the double-digits didn't really mean too much to you going in to fight someone like Barry. >> Yeah. Well, look um to be honest, it would be a lie to say like that you don't feel the pressure and you don't you don't feel nervous about it. Um with uh with Michael it was the same thing with Barry it was the same thing. The only difference with Michael and Barry is that I actually knew Barry for ages like in terms of knowing him on the scene, seeing him fight my teammates, and seeing him fight my teammates that beat me up in training. Do you know what I mean? Like obviously you can imagine the nerves and the doubts coming into fighting, you know, someone who's a lot more experienced than you, who's a lot more seasoned. I remember like when I just started like a year into training, I remember I seen this documentary on YouTube and watching it. So obviously it was someone I've seen ages ago and I remember seeing these guys in my weight class and I might fight these guys one day. And then there you are on that day, you know, matched fighting them. And the the only thing with Barry, you know, was like never been finished. But when we took that fight, I seen and Paddy seen so many ways we could win that fight. We noticed that, you know, obviously I love Barry and Michael by the way, like the two the most lovely guys I've ever met and shared the octagon with. Even had chats after and stuff like that. But we noticed especially like with both fighters and going into that Barry fight cuz that was a nice finish. We noticed that he struggled with tall rangy fighters, you know? And as well as that the difference between, you know, Michael and Barry. And Barry was just a lot bigger so going in thinking like this guy's probably going to be very strong, hitting very hard. And um the way we approached it, we approached it with a perfectly executed game plan. Um I remember from the day that we got sent that fight, I was actually in Algeria and then Paddy sent me, he was like, "Do you see that Anderson Silva kick, the front kick to the head?" He's like, "We're going to catch him with that. That's the kick. That's the shot. That's going to end this fight." And then we added my own little flash and style to it, the look down kick to the head, the upper cuts. And it was just all executed perfectly. It was all planned. You know, just kind of like that whole like manifestation thing of like planning the shot, seeing it, and then doing it. That's what that fight was for me, the the Barry fight. And it felt unreal actually you know, preparing for one specific thing and then actually going ahead and executing it. And I feel like that came from this experience and that's all to to really put it, you know. >> Yeah, and I love that as well because of the fact that you planned it and you manifested it. Because those times when you do plan it, you see there was a fight there recently, I think there was a 9-second head kick. Nine times out of 10, these kicks don't land. How does it feel when that does that? Like in your head, once it's actually you've you've you've visualized that it's going to happen, but once it's actually happening in your head, is it excitement or do you stay calm and go, "Right, I have to finish the fight here." Or is it kind of What's the kind of What's going on in your head? Or is there anything? Is it too fast? >> Yeah, it's very fast. Like I remember that Barry fight, like we touched gloves, we moved, and I just threw the front kick straight away and landed, but didn't do the damage. Why? I threw it so hard, you know? And I feel like I didn't place it properly. I remember hearing Paddy in the corner screaming, "You know, that's good. You know, that's what we were planning for." So then I told, you know, I gave myself quick reassurance. I was like, "If we're going to land this, we got to place it perfectly under his chin." And um I always say this to the boys, like that whole sequence was planned. The the teeth to the body, the stepping back, the one-two push off, move off to the side, look down, teeth to the head. That entire thing was I was shadow boxing that, you know, in my room leading up to the fight. Um so the hitting it and I see it seeing him stumble. I seen him like kind of like cover up and stumble, but like in as a like fighter who's not that experienced, you don't get those moments where you hurt someone and then you have to go and smell the finish and actually go and follow it up and finish them. So for me, when I hit him with that kick, I seen I kind of just smelled the finish. I could sense that he was hurt. And then that's when I followed up with the uppercut and then ground and pounding. I remember when I was trying to ground and pound to finish, I seen his neck. I tried to choke him. And then I realized in my head, I was like, "No, we need to finish this fight." And I went back to shots. But But that that specific part there, I feel like I gained the most experience from like having someone hurt and finishing them cuz I feel like that's a skill that would transfer from amateur to pro. You know, being able to finish someone while they're hurt. All the way to the highest level. You see people getting hurt and then the guy that's hurt ends up knocking the guy out cuz he didn't approach the finish properly, you know, left himself too open or something. So, like happy to have that experience under the belt, being able to hurt someone, smell the finish, go up, follow up, ground and pound, and get out of there. >> Yeah, I like it. There's a couple of things that I like there as well. The fact that you went for the choke, but you realized that's quite lucky. If I go for the choke, >> Yeah. >> he's going to recover from this. Cuz he could he's very good like they said he's never finished. He could he could get out. So, and then the momentum could swing his way. Do you know what I'm saying? Because he's like, right, I was just about finished, but I'm still here. So, he he's going to go head for leather. You've seen it. Chris Duncan, I believe that happened to him. Remember he got he got stumbled and then he ended up finishing the guy. I seen I seen I can't remember was it Lerone Murphy or was it Jaylen Turner? They they knocked him out and then And then >> No, it was it was I think it was Renato Moicano versus Jaylen Turner on UFC London. >> Jaylen Turner. >> Where he dropped him. He was badly hurt. Like the fight was about to get stopped and he just he tried to walk off KO. And then Moicano recovered, finished him in the second round. >> Yeah, it's it's always the fight IQ. I like that as well. Like walk-off KOs do look cool, yeah. But make sure that his eyes are in the back of his head and he's gone because like that at the end of the day, I'd say if he went to go down for the ground and pound, the ref might have stepped in. Do you know what I'm saying? Because he's Look, it is what it is. One of the things that you talked about, obviously Barry there, that you see the fighters you see there. But I've seen yourself and a couple have traveled to to MMA Cork. You've done some training. How did that come about? What's that like? Cuz they're really obviously like yourselves, a really good group of lads down there, very welcoming. How was that experience been? >> Yeah, I cross trained a lot. My entire camp was revolved around cross training as Um right after my fight my last fight, the next week straight back into training. Went up to C Mac for sparring. The same week went up to Charlestown for sparring. The next week after went down to Warriors. Did a few sessions in Warriors leading up to this camp. Um there's a gym right next to me called Coseia Grappling uh with Richie uh Polawski. And he opened up a gym called Coseia. So, I trained there uh like once a week in the mornings doing a competition class with older guys. So, basically same age, similar weight, similar skill level. And um I incorporated cross training a lot recently. Um and I feel like cross training is probably one of the best ways to improve and train. Getting For me specifically, what helps me when it comes to cross training is having that different style and that different look and that atmosphere, the different gym atmosphere, different coach, people you don't know, people you've never sparred before, people you're not used to sparring. And then picking up different things from different people, different ways of approaching the game. And then coming back into my gym and then seeing what I can take, give and take from what I've learned, and applying it to my game, and sharing it to my teammates. And the same thing with Ucha and uh other teammates and like Dano and whatever teammates we have. Most of us cross train in some way. You know? And with MMA Cork, you know, the reason big reason I went down was uh I wanted to spar some of the boys, you know, that familiar guys that I've fought, you know, I sparred Jaden Murphy, the guy I fought first with. Um Luka, Ucha's brother, did loads of rounds with him. He's a lovely guy and an amazing, amazing sparring partner. High level. You know, you have boys down there like Brian Manning and so, obviously, me and Yaz just popped down, little road trip, got some lovely rounds in. And that was a a great sparring session. You know, it's it's amazing to have access to all these gyms and they're so welcoming, you know? You were very surprised to see how welcoming everyone is to all this cross training. So, if I'm going to give advice to any fighter, especially amateur fighter, if you can't cross train, cross train. You know, go spar in another gym every now and then cuz you know yourself, you walk into a different gym very tense energy, tense atmosphere and then I feel like you go in and then the fighters there have a little bit of something to prove, you have a little bit of something to prove, you know. So, it's it's really it's really nice. It's a really good way to to approach the way you train and to approach the way you you know, train towards fights specifically cuz when you go and fight you are fighting someone you probably never stepped into the cage with, you've never sparred with. You actually don't really know what's going to happen. So, constantly gaining that experience of rolling with someone you never rolled before, wrestling with someone you never wrestled with, sparring people you've never sparred. Uh it builds a different type of skill in the being able to like adapt in the moment. >> Yeah, and I love you saying that. I remember when I when I started this a couple of years ago, one of the big things that I would have promoted was I think and I don't want to say smaller gyms and I don't cuz I don't want to be disrespectful way, but like no not everyone has the bodies of SBGs or fighter academies. Do you know what I'm sort of way? And when you go and you train with someone like if I'm training with you on a daily basis, when I zig you know when to zag, do you know what I'm sort of way? It's offering something different. Like you said, a lot of these people you might have fought you might not have fought their styles until it was there and the fact you're actively going and seeking this I think is really really good and you've got a really good coach there in Paddy who who has no problem with this as well because there is some gyms that do have those and that's their own prerogative. That's the way they want to run He wants what's best for the fighter, not what's best for him and that's it. Would I be correct in in that sort >> Yeah, 100%. Paddy thinks it's great. Every time we go into a different gym or some of the boys go to a different gym to train, he says I think that's that's great like you know, like he encourages us sometimes. He tells us to try and you know cross train, go to a different gym for sparring, bring people to our gym for sparring, you know, text a lad that's similar to your weight, tell him to uh we'll do a a rounds. Uh he encourages it. He knows the importance of it. You know, he's done it himself in his career. And uh there's none of that like ego in terms of like I don't know how to explain it, you know, as a coach maybe you feel like, "Oh, if he goes and trains there, he might like that gym and he might spend most of his time there." Paddy doesn't have that, you know, and we have that loyalty with him in the sense of like it's no matter how many times you train in other gyms, always going to be straight back to our gym. And then, you know, those final sparring sessions are going to be in in in the gym. Uh the lead-up to the fight, the planning, the drilling, the pads, all of that, you know, everything was built in in that room in Hooligan Martial Arts. And from start till end, I'm going to be there. >> Yeah, and and I love that. Do you ever surprise Paddy when you come back with some new moves that you you might have learned somewhere else that you're like, "Oh, oh, you're you're bringing out some surprises." Not not in a bad way, but like, you know, >> Yeah. >> he comes back and he sees and he goes, "Oh, yeah, you've improved there." Like, what's it like getting feedback from Paddy Holohan cuz he is such a legend? >> Yeah. Well, to be honest, like if I'm going to be honest, maybe this is my biases cuz I I I have a great relationship with Paddy, but like every time I get a new move with somewhere else, every I always tell this to him and he always comes back and he's like, "I told you." Um every time I go to a different gym and the only thing that I'd say I improves is like, you know, like details. That's all you get. It's little minor details in each position that you might have missed. But in overall technique, everything almost everything that Paddy showed also showed to me, I feel like every time I go to a different gym and learn something new from them, it just reassures to what Paddy has showed me that I think what he showed me is better. And look, if I ever think something is better, I'll come back and tell him, "Look, I think this works better." He'll be like, "Yeah, fair enough." Again, you know, but uh in terms of like him being surprised and all that, it doesn't really happen cuz I get surprised. I get surprised, you know, cuz if you're only learning from one place, you probably don't realize how good it is, if it's working or if it isn't. So, when you go and train somewhere else, that's kind of when you'll get to see and get different looks and be able to like know what's working and what is and what works and what doesn't. >> I love that. I actually love how you answered that. You completely flipped the question back on me, but your answer was unique and and like I really really like the way yours like I love that. Yours bites when you go there and what's working and what's not working and fixing minor details, but in terms of the gym and the community, we were speaking we we spoken about that. But how you actually I see you're going to be going to the IMs next week. Tell us the story about how that came about cuz I just find it so cool. It's such a cool story. >> So, basically initially like with the IMs um me and Uche for example are the same weight like basically very similar weight and he's like he I would want to do a 74.7. He wants to do a super lightweight as well. But then why didn't realize that like there's I'd qualify for under 21s because I turned 21 like right after the tournament. But and then kind of made a decision, you know, like he's going to do it at 74.7. I'll probably just wait and do it next year, you know, like I've I'm only 20. I don't have I don't have to rush anything. So, what had happened was I remember going to this first squat session or whatever and then like I went there just with the intention of training and just making you know, myself familiar in that environment and then I was asked like what what you want to do the Europeans the IMs was I'm I'm just here to train. And they're like no, you have to do one. I was like okay, I'll do I'll do whatever to be honest and then they actually told me that I qualified for under 21s and if I go and do it I'll be under 21, so I was like oh that's happy days, but either way I wasn't planning to do it cuz even when I got selected I was in the changing room afterwards with Nathan Chambers um Irish taco and I was like I'm not going to do that. Like how are we going to pay all this money to go like that's just in this short amount of time that's impossible. That's when he was like don't ever let like finances hold you back from going and competing and stuff like that and get sponsors. Get sponsors. You can go get sponsors and you can actively try and find a way to fund it. You know, he said, "Don't let that hold you back." And after he gave me that talk, that really serious talk, I just made a decision to go and do it. And then ever since, big shout out to my sponsors. I got to show it off, yeah. >> Yeah. >> Got all my sponsors here that sponsored this journey and sponsored this camp and in funding me to go to the IMMAF's. And then we're here now, you know, with like what, 2 months ago being like there's no way I'm going to be able to go. And then now I'm actually here and I'm actually able to go pretty comfortably. >> It is I'm going to ask you a question and with one I would say I love Dean Chambers. For me, he's he's really a standard at the top of the division, especially 100% >> 100% >> submission rate, not just finish rate, submission rate, which is very rare. >> Nine isn't eight or eight rear naked chokes? >> So, man, it's all I know is he is he is cleaning up right now and he's he's someone that I would have followed from from I remember watching him in Cage Warriors a number of years ago. But, one of the things I want to touch on is obviously he gave you that kind of thing. Like before that talk and that really good talk which is obviously spurred you on to get to get sponsors. Was sponsors something you didn't think about or were you more hesitant about or were you more apprehensive thinking like who's going to want to sponsor? And I don't mean you in particular, but a lot of fighters say they feel like they they they won't get sponsors. Did What was your kind of Was that your thought before or was it just because you didn't really have to pay to fight here? It wasn't really a thing you even thought about. >> To be fair with me, I genuinely just wasn't very familiar with being sponsored and just didn't really have much knowledge on it. I didn't know like how it works and and then obviously, as someone who's like at that time never had a sponsor and never really looked for one, I just thought it was like not possible, you you know, I didn't know how easy it is sometimes and how possible it can be if you do it the right way. And then at the time, for example, like came across Access Sports Management and then that's kind of what helped me actually go and reach out to the sponsors and um especially with the IMMAF's, you know, being on a world stage representing Ireland, that was a huge thing for me and I'd say for sponsors that would be able to be like, "Look, this is something you can actually get sponsored for." Cuz I feel like being an amateur fighter in a regional scene, in my head it was like, "I don't know if people be willing to sponsor someone like that, you know?" It's kind of like putting myself down, too. But then when I when I when I like opened up my mind a bit and asking some people who went to the IMMAF's before telling me that they've got sponsors easily and they didn't have much issues. Then when I actually went and looked for getting sponsors and I got sponsors very quickly, I was very surprised and now I'm able to see that you can actually do that and you can actually get paid in some ways for fighting and then it kind of like changed my whole approach to how I'm going to go by like social media and getting sponsored just from now on even after the IMMAF's. Big plans, big targets. >> Yeah, cuz cuz there's there's so many things that you can you can do with the extra money. You can go travel for a while. You can go do do loads of other things. So, it is really good. But look, with the IMMAF's coming up, you've got you've got the team there with Hooligans MMA. As we we named them actually we were talking about before we came on, I believe. What a good crew to go over with. How does it feel to have so many of your teammates? Obviously, you're going to be happy going across with Team Ireland and cuz you wouldn't know the guys from the scene, but to have that many from from one gym is is unreal. How does that feel? >> It actually feels so cool having to be honest, what is it? 10 people going to the IMMAF's and five from Hooligans MMA? And and and I'm Paddy going over with us. Um it's I'm actually now that you're saying I'm excited. But having, for example, even your training partners coming with you and also competing, it feels more comfortable. I I I couldn't imagine going alone now because of just having the camaraderie and traveling with them, you know, staying with them and it feels more of like a team anything. I feel like if it was just me going over a team Ireland with people I don't really know, um I'd say you'd feel less comfortable. Probably enjoy it a bit less. You can imagine, you know, imagine going on holidays alone or random people versus going on holidays with your friends. It's the same thing, basically. >> Yeah. I I I I never >> Yeah, great as friends, yeah. >> I never looked at it like that. But, is it going over cuz you've got Paddy there, Sarah's been to the IMMAF before as well, and you've got other people within your team, Shauna Bannon, obviously, you know, who would have went and she's done loads of IMMAF as well. Because there's there's certain different things like the weighing in every day. Obviously, you you've moved up slightly to super lightweight. So, is it good to have the likes of Paddy, Sarah, Shauna, obviously, in the gym at the moment, she won't be over with you, but to bounce kind of your worries and concerns off them, and they can reassure you of of the ways to do it. What's it like on the with the experienced people as well that have been there before? It's Calum and Sarah have >> Calum as well, probably. >> Calum, I think most recently has I think he's went twice or three times. Most recently, he won the Europeans, I think. Yeah, so having people that have went with you, oh, like it's actually so much easier cuz this week I'm flying out on Friday. I was stressing. I was like, "How am I going to do all this?" Like, keeping staying on weight and all this traveling along with the fighting. It was actually like cuz my first time ever doing that. Um >> [snorts] >> you can imagine how hectic and how stressful it becomes. But, them having that like just one text message away, "What should I bring? What should I do? What are we going to do on this day? How are we going to go about this?" Man, what a lifesaver, honestly. It's uh it's amazing to have just that that experienced people around you that know what they're doing, that been there, done that, are able to kind of guide you and help you. So, it's kind of doesn't feel like it doesn't feel like it's really your first time going to do something like this because you have all that help. >> Yeah. No, 100% and like that I love that because I never thought like that going on holidays with your friends and I think that's a really good way to put it. And then like like that you've got the them to bounce ideas off on Caleb. Yeah, he's actually he's actually done a huge amount of I maps. And I think that he he competed against France as well I think in the MMA elite at the start of the year as well. >> No, Uche competed Uche did it yeah, yeah. >> Is it the Hoolahan martial arts are everywhere I'm getting confused with who's competing at what but we will talk about your team obviously right now we talked about him going to the IMMA switch as well. One of the things was you've got a league coming up in the middle of November obviously you're going to be in thing you were originally stated to fight down and defend your belt. His hands on them just going to be able to fight as well. What do you make of that card cuz I'm looking at that card man there's so many pro if you came back unscathed would you still be willing to try and jump on it? >> [laughter] >> We don't have to answer you don't have to answer. >> No sure what No, no, look. Honestly, what we've I'm back here on the 9th EFC is like 5 days later or something. >> Oh no, that's too good I thought that was a bit more. >> After just fighting a few times getting that fresh experience and you know just being in the cage a few times I'd say like honestly why not if I if I get a text 4 days out and the weight gets changed a bit or something you know. That can obviously I'm not going to be able to make a lightweight off the bat. You know I probably would be able to actually if my weight stays down. But if I get a text saying look we have this fight for you here and on top of it I'm unscathed and I feel good I don't see why not you know I don't see why not. It's only amateur in the end of the day just hop in get another one. >> Yeah, if not you can go away you can actually enjoy the show as a fan for once as a fan and as a you might be you might end up cornering as well. >> Yeah, yeah, I will be I will be end up cornering so that's you know what honestly I was even saying I was like look it's actually nice for to have just to sit down in the stands and and watch." But, obviously, I prefer being in there. So, if you were to ask me, "What would you rather do?" I'd rather fight on the day. >> Yeah. Hopefully, like if you came I didn't realize there was actually I forgot how close it was. So, I'm going to let you go. I've really enjoyed this conversation. I want to wish you the best of luck going over. That Elite card, whether you're going to be on it or not, is an absolute stomping pro amateur card. >> 100%. I'm surprised. That must be the biggest regional card ever. >> Yes, I think the highest pro fights was Cage Conflict. I think I done the thing on it there recently. After 2001, you know the outside one, the the fella. >> Mhm. >> Yeah, that one, yeah. Shauna Bannon competed on that at the time, I remember. She fought Carrie Ann. And I think they had six pro fights on the main card and I think that's the most. So, Elite like they had nine and I think there's one been announced that fell out. I think >> more, yeah. >> And >> I think there's they have one more announcement, they said on the story, like another pro fight announced. >> Man, they just every day they just keep surprising us and surprising us. It's a mad card. They've got Chaos the same day. They've got four or five pro fights as well. Your Fighting >> Oh, really? >> Yeah. You've got Who's on it? Blaine McGill's fighting, James Gallagher's fighting, Shauna Kelly's fighting, um >> Wow. >> There's And then the next week, you've got three I think already announced. And one of the fights is Kieran Brady. So, for Your Fighting Championship, it's it's Kieran Brady versus Owen McDonald, which is a stomping fight. Like, it's mad that on such a small island, in a week, in the span of a week, we've got potentially nearly up to 15 to 20 fights, pro fights. Like, how do you feel as a fighter that there's that many shows that has you've that many options? >> Honestly, like that's especially with the way Elite's going. Like, sometimes you look at it and you're like, "Wow, nine pro fights." It's like Is that even an amateur show? You know, it's a platform. It's mad if you think about it. It's a platform from people all the way down to under 18s, novices, kickboxing fights, amateur fights, then pro fights, people of ex-Cage Warriors fighters and from different continents all around the world coming in, even for amateur fights. Like it's it feels amazing to have that opportunity to to be able to like, you know, be a part of something like that. It's a big It's It's a big promotion in the making, obviously. That promotion kind of made me as well. And I've good relations with them. But to be able to just like even I you I haven't fought in a promotion yet. You don't have I you are up there. As you said, chaos. You have Virtus. Um it's it's actually if you look at it from kind of a fighter's perspective, it's like options is and options. Usually when you go pro, you have contracts and stuff like that. Of course, we don't have none of that. You can hop on any card you want in any week, any fight week. So to be honest, it's a blessed opportunity. Definitely got to make the most out of it. >> Yeah, and it's all well run as well. But look, I am going to let you go. Is there anything you want to say before you go or anyone you want to shout out? And thank you so much for your time. It's been a pleasure again. And I'm looking forward to next time we talk and we can see the amount of progress you've made from this interview to next interview. No, cuz that's I genuinely like seeing that and seeing what's happened with it. Have there been highs or lows and what happened through your lows, what happened through your highs. I I this is I this is what I love doing. So, the floor is yours. >> Yeah, look. Shout out to all my sponsors, Lamba Lamba Token, Vanta Coaching, Josh Green, uh Grafton Barber, all lovely lovely sponsors, big help. And obviously, shout out to everyone who land martial arts. Shout out to Ko Grappling. And uh shout out to Rack City, keeping me nice off my strength and conditioning. And then, yeah, obviously, shout out to Fanz MMA. Big covering the Irish MMA scene, honestly. They People don't give you enough credit. >> Thank you. Thank you. No, and to be fair to be fair, people actually I do get a lot of messages. And I it's like it's nice when it's said publicly as well though. So, thank you very much for your support of me because without fighters being on my side and helping the channel, then I wouldn't be around to do it. You know the sort of way if if I didn't get the support back. So, thank you very much. Best of luck and I will Go ahead. >> Big shout out to Ray Visuals, videographer that's been covering my camp as well. Sorry, I forgot you, Ray. I almost forgot you. >> I actually was going to mention Ray and I forgot, but we've less than 1 minute here, so I'm going to have to cut it out. I'm actually working with Ray this weekend on something, so you'll see that soon. >> Amazing. Sick. All right. Look, Dave, I appreciate that. Thank you so much, all right? I enjoyed that. >> Yeah.