IN DEPTH | EPISODE 34 | SOLOMON SIMON

Ringkasan

Dave sits down with professional fighter and Cage warriors contender Solomon Simon for a chat about his career.

Transkrip (youtube_captions)

okay so I'm here with Solomon Simon currently running through cage Warriors all finishes he had an uh decorated amateur career but to get to where he is now he had start somewhere so I want to thank you very much for your time uh what led you to MMA and when did you get in why and how MMA started I think it was 1920 at the time uh My Brother Sam and cousin Opie they were they were already doing it at that time period like so they were training away in I think it was called Waterford MMA at the time and that was good like uh he had a couple of fights in and I remember I just went to the gym like it will come back home and start you know the usual Big Brother [ __ ] just start coming home and like I'll be on the couch and he'll be like trying [ __ ] on me punching mainly and I was even at that point it was funny enough like I hadn't um I hadn't gone in yet but like I enjoyed the grappling side of things a bit went to the gym with him and uh I told Anto was the coach at the Bobby was actually there as well and Gaz but Gaz was a fighter at that point there's so much so much going on but um they went there told the coach like how long did my brother how long did it take him to have his first fight I think it was like 6 months or some [ __ ] or maybe 8 months and I was like I'm going to do it like 2 months do do it quicker that was my initial that was my first training session trained for a bit during that summer like uh summer I was 19 that summer so I don't know what year what year it would have been did uh moved to Dublin then for college like that was my last year in Waterford came to college came to Dublin four years and in that four years I was training under uh ocean macab where DC DCU MMA eventually now it's called compound martial arts so that was that time frame of uh of starting and even then like cuz I was injured as well like playing soccer t my ACL destroyed my knee whatever whatever so I that was what brought I went in then just boxing and kickboxing for a good bit and eventually after college moved back to Waterford under Tim Ry Waterford Bobby made and Gaz is now the coach there Gaz is also the coach there now and that was when my first MMA fight happened or before that I was training away done grappling the O bang but it was all the fights were all kickboxing and boxing then and then when I moved to wford that was when I made my amateur debut in MMA was and obviously you had compete before like you said but what was it like going in and competing for the first time as an amateur MMA because this is where you had to put it all together different facets what was like the emotions going into it like I would presume you were excited like you've been waiting a long time from what I've just heard to get in there what was it like leading up to the fight the emotions the ups and downs the mental side of things cuz I don't think it gets mentioned as much as it should like what's going through your mind fight week of your first fight believe it or not like uh the first MMA fight uh cannot remember his name but I know it was OPN like U very like I was very cam like I think that was the first time um raan I forgot his name the commentator no no Keef like that was the first time he was like uh Solomon is like a man going to the shop for a point of milk cuz I was so chilled and this is not because like Oh I'm a chill guy kind of thing before that I've had like like let's say maybe I think it was 10 and 10 and something like around 15 to 15 kickboxing fight uh maybe around six seven boxing fight so I've actually had time in the ring like the one that was bad was my first kickboxing fight cuz I came in there like thinking everything was going to be okay the ref said let's go and it was just me Swinging and just kicking around that was like where the nerves actually that was my first like nervous experience of it at that point just with the experience experience and getting onto the MMA fight it wasn't it didn't feel as bad anymore and like I was just noticing you're actually better off being chill going like not necessarily chill going in cuz their nerves all of that still going to be there but when you're in there the cam you are the clearer your mind is and easier to they you make better decisions when you're in there so actually wasn't as bad MMA was but kickboxing was when my the nerves was at day but the first MMA fight I was actually Prett true yeah cuz you obviously described there that you like the grappl side and that's something that we've seen heavily within your game and it's one of your one of your strengths and we all said uh when you went pro that was going to be uh it was going to be much better for you CU that suit you more but we'll get on to that later as you went through your MMA career like what kind of fights stand out to you in amateur there's a couple to me obviously the four nations I think was a was a was kind of one of the turning points when we were like okay it's kind of time for him to go pro but what kind of fights were important to you before that stage yeah um I think every uh the all the amateur starting out be the beginning phases of it like a lot of it I'm I was still trying to discover myself a good bit like cuz sometimes I'll be too Camp sometimes I rush in a bit too much like all of those little things make a like it just it adds up and experience all help I think Co like took out a big chunk that was like for all of us like uh that 2-year period like obviously I had to like make sure my mind is in the right play I was still training away on whatever but at that point I was like okay I need to actually start picking things up straight away after that was the fight outside of coover was against Dar Kelly to fight in the sense of like that it was I haven't been I haven't had experience in like two years and I was like I need to fight they were offering this one and I don't I didn't even know D at the time believe it or not like but when I after I fought him like everyone was talking about about him I was like oh wait okay maybe I should have thought about that a little bit more but like I beat way with I'm giving a [ __ ] but like um uh that fight there was like a good like point for me in the sense like that was my first loss finish wise like uh and I'm still alive not the end of the walk and but I was like straight after that then jump back in again I think those that from that point on was when I started noticing big jumps in my game or in my like I'm translating what I'm doing in the gym It Go a bit more into the fight uh I think I fought ER Mambo Eric Mambo then up nor again really really impressed with that fight for myself cuz I felt like it was it just I showed a bit more Defender takedowns everything was going well again jumped in then I can't remember what fight was after but I just know that that time period was very good I think M have traveled to the worlds or something in between but all of those this was in a space of like a year or two that I was just smashing in as much fights as I can and then leading up there to the four nations and that I was very very very happy with that for myself cuz in my head I was like I can't like I know how good I am and I just I need to go out there and show it that all if you notice with all the three three fights or two fights that I had in that weekend it was all I was I'm going to just press for still be smart with it but like I'm going forward to like Implement myself on you I'm not going to wait to try see what you're going to do and think of an answer to it or whatever I'm like you're answering to me out and like it was a sh shot at really that whole weekend very very happy went back down again when I came back fighting uh Dennis because like I just again just taking whatever fight I can to like get me to the level I want to get to my head like uh Dennis fight was very good as well again in that one I was just like [ __ ] it I'm just going to fight there was no tactics it was just walk forward and swing at him all good I learned that don't do that cuz it's just longterm like it's not uh sustainable like tactic fighting wise and then this is where I'm like like this all Balancing Act is all it's where I'm trying to figure out all of this cuz then in the dentist one I was like a bit too like going forward trying to just go in so then the next fight after that I think was the Mario fight and the Mario was okay maybe I need to C down a bit more I was way too Camp I was like chilling on the outside for way too long and then he came in and pushed me on the fence and whatever whatever and that was where like all of them I'm like okay okay okay I've taken all I can from all of this now let's bring it to the pro side of things and then let it let it all work out but I don't have necessarily like a specific fight I'll be like this changed everything for me cuz every time I learn something I'm like oh I oh that was good that was good sometimes I end up messing up the next uh the next fight like making the same mistake that I've made before so but overall my old amage career was what got me to the point where I I'm in the Pro game now and it's working so far so I'll take it yeah it is H all the finishes as well cuz cuz like that um you talked about implementing your own game and do you find a lot of amateurs especially nowadays cuz there's so much footage on Fighters even at am I think you should be focusing on yourself think people think too much about the fighter as opposed to what you're going to do like you said you started to implement your style and that's when the success started coming and especially in the four nations cuz like you got ploted from everyone everyone said it was probably the best per best performance overall the whole weekend uh and we knew at that time it was probably time to turn pro would you if an AM fight was actually would you say just Implement your own game and don't worry about the opponent because like that you've taken fights and wins and losses and you've learned everything from them yeah like on the amate side of things like you need to develop yourself as much as you can like with the like you need to know what you're good at you need to know how to do what you're good at in there and things like that obviously I could see why you want to watch your opponent cuz like everything like with all the videos now like you there's endless videos and you could end up getting paralyzed I I went through that point where I'm watching and everything and I'm like okay he's doing this and I'm trying to literally I'm trying to break him down to like a tiny detail that if he steps left I'm going to do this that you don't have time in there to be thinking that a lot of time you're just in a flow state of just letting it work and letting your body just do what you know already so Amy wise for sure I would like say there's a time for you to work on your skill set work on what you're good at what what's what's your body type do you feel stronger when you're doing this do you feel like you feel do you feel better when when you're grappling you feel better when you're grappling where do you feel more comfortable you need to discover all of that in the amateur side of things like don't worry too much about him don't get me wrong I won be like ignore him oh he's a jjo black Bel don't watch him and then you just go take him down and get ched there that's silly but at the same time work on your own like work on developing your own game as much as possible L there and take advantage of the amateur side of things like people I think maybe because the notor like the videos they like you just see Clips everywhere everyone wants to be like let's come to the pro let's go have fun let's go there's no money really at side but that's a different conversation um but the people are rushing a bit too more take advantage of the amateur CU it really it's really really really really beneficial like everything I'm like achieving now I credited to all the experiences I've had before like like 4 and0 but like I've had I said I'm close to like 30 something fights at this point like like actually close to 40 fights at this point and that's not that's years of graft to Lad to that point so take your time on the amateur and like develop your skill set yeah yeah no and that's true as well because like that you've had that many fights you jumped in with these people you fell to different bodies different positions different different issues that might come up in the Pro and I think uh a lot of people do they do want to rush it because they see they think it's Glitz and Glamour and it's not it's it's it's not and it's not all get list and Glamour and like you said it's not much money at the start and even as you go into UFC you see what they get to it Reds are actually done an interview I think he got two grand out of his 12 Grand so that's that's what he was left with but like through throughout the amra game you done so well and your style was obviously grapple grapple heavy as well like you could use your hands but did you feel in that time the three minute rounds were just too short for you to be able to advance your position because we've seen like we've seen you come out the gates at Pro but did you feel that when you went pro that was going to suit you a lot more yeah like Amy was like like I was striking striking a good bit on the Am side like the grappling was more like um like defensively like I was stock a lot on there like so if like like if I try to start let my hands go a little bit like within a few seconds I'm getting shot on and I'm not getting taken down necessarily but I'm on the fense for maybe a minute trimming arounds like I've lost most of the round in that point and then even at that if I decide to actually engage in wrestling and like get someone down again not that much time to actually start working on stuff so the that like that transition like in my mind or like how my head works I like taking my time to build stuff up sometimes people just don't let you do that and like again I have answers for that and right sometimes people don't let you do that on the amateur side of things they could Implement that a lot more like in the sense of like they could just rush you and like just eat away at the clock or whatever on the pro side of T I have a longer time to work with but at the same time I have different weapons now where you can't take the risk that you can in the you can't just run in at me head in just just because you want to pinch P me to the fence cuz you will get hurt in between that and now I have different weapons in the clench whereby I could do a lot of damage with you and that's like if you uh the fight where Marco s Chevy don't know I can't pronounce the second name but I was on offense a good bit but I was one cutting him because I had that weapon even with the last one when it did push me up on the fence I still ended up cutting him because I had those weapons that changes things you don't want me you don't want to be pending me on the fense now and then you can't take me down now I could start implementing my own game now I have five minutes to start working my own things with you so like and I'm still only getting start I'm still only getting used to this kind of thing now so I definitely think it suits me better but the the biggest addition for me was for sure the extra time the extra weapons really makes a difference cuz now I could nullify love the things that they're trying to do so yeah happy yeah cuz cuz like that especially at amateur the cage is so small you take two steps back and you're up against cage like you said they run in now you've got knees you've got elbows you've seen people go in to try and get the to clamp their hands and you can actually finish people with your elbows from that position and and we I just kind of had a feeling once you went pro like it was going to completely change and like that like you've come completely out the gates obviously when you made your first uh professional debut when you made your first your professional debut H at Premier was there any different feelings than you've had before to the fight before or was it all more the same just knowing you had this extra time and extra Edition or was there anything there mentally or was it just yeah like I would say maybe after the fight I could have thought maybe maybe there was a bit more pressure than I thought there was like uh but leading up to it again similar with everything like my mind was fairly clear like I did not feel like you not like it's a fight like of course you're going to feel a bit of nerves but didn't feel that bad I wasn't thinking about it too much either I was I wasn't I was trying not to get into my head as much as I could excuse me because um like I'm bad for that like when I start think like my brain is like a little like there's so much thing goes on in there and it's problematic in different ways but like I tried not to think about it too much so I thought so I think that was Grand I didn't feel crazy nervous I didn't feel anything like and it was near enough to my own town I had a big big enough crowd there with like most of people from Waterford like and then being like main events like all of that kind of thing buty again was deal with a little bit of that in the amateur side but I didn't feel that much pressure I like I'll say I think it was Grand and like it's been grand like the second fight the third fight the fourth fight I just I'm surprised at how chill it's been like in in my head cuz as soon as like I step in my music start playing I'm like I'm gone now I'm like let's go have fun kind of thing so it's been good I'm going to oh I don't know what I think I um I'll give credit to the experience to for what it's done but for sure I think it's fairly it's been chill I haven't felt that much nerves with any of them so far not crazy nerves of course I've been ours yeah no but like I've talked to you lot of times you're probably one of the most chill nicest guys I know you're just so ass it is what it is but like that once cage Warriors come calling what's that like yeah uh first fight uh for fight was over go back into the dressing room like chilling celebrating and then Bobby was like yeah kage War on the fight in April I was like really like and being honest with me I I wanted like uh a bit more time in between my head I was thinking I have maybe two or three on the local Regional scene and then go on to the Big Show kind of thing like that so but like the opportunity came in I think dabby uh yeah dabby no no sorry uh Constantine was meant to fight at that point but something happened and they couldn't fight and like the opportunity came up I was like yeah let's jump on took it and from that point obviously it's been good but the again I I don't know maybe it's just me in my head but I'm trying I'm trying not to think of it as big of it as it is you know what I'm trying to say like I'm trying not to be like oh cage war is this and like I rate like you know K they're the best in Europe kind of like that but I feel like if I put that pressure on myself it really it forces me to try and do something that like is out of character for myself so I am it was a great it was a great opportunity at the time and I just took it in my stride as it came in and when the fight uh the fight that I did end up um when that fight happened then I felt like I was able to show myself a bit more again because I wasn't like thinking of it as big of it is cuz I like looking at I think you hear those things sometimes like oh like the UFC Jitters or whatever it is for like a different place kind of thing but I just think it's all in your head how you make that L Tob and how the vision you put in your head of what that is cage war is massive but in my head I'm like it's a cage like at the end of the day the everything that's happening outside of it it's all good but once we're in that cage it's the same as the amateur side thing it's same as cage Legacy it's the same as Clan Wars it's the same as Premier it's the same as all of them because like no one is coming in there to help me the production significantly better the staff a lot like more professional whatever but once I'm in that cage it's still the same feeling so I'm trying to focus on that as much as possible and not let my head make it all big a lot bigger than it is cuz that's when I feel like you start putting unnecessary pressure in yourself and then you start making mistakes that you don't want to make or you try to do something that's like like out of character for yourself you start like trying to show off in the sense of like I need to get a mad finish or I need to do a jumping tornado cake just to like cater to the show you know what I'm trying to say so yeah I it's good I I'm very grateful for the opportunity they've given me and like so far it's like it's really allowed me to Showcase myself a lot more and it's definitely the best path for me to get to where I want to get to so very happy so far yeah you see him a lot more free in there you see him a lot like you said I like the fact that you say you don't put it on the pedestal because when you give it that much respect it becomes something like you said it is a big promotion it is the best in Europe but when you put it up there like that it's it's like you said it's going to make you think differently whereas when you get into the cage this is your lifestyle this is what you've done this is what you've worked towards and you've done quite well like you've done like you've come out to G this like and these finishes are opening up for you rather than you trying to force it as well and and like obviously you're signed you got signed to multif fight deal what was it like once kind of that happened then as well I'd say like after they were happy with the first fight and then you get the multi fight is it like oh like this is happening or is it just again okay right just to go fight some more yeah like I literally looked at it got I take like uh go five fights or something like that like go few fights and just like okay Bo boom this year boom boom boom next year this should get me to where like and it's like it was a perfect it's it just works out cuz it allows me now to be able to I like having something to work towards like uh not necessarily stuck with I think I might have said this a few times before but I'm not stuck with the like oh what I said out exactly like that has to happen but now that I have that it makes it a lot easier for me to make decisions day today oh this is what I want to do you need to [ __ ] get up and go to the gym you need to get up up and do your stretches you need to get up and go for whatever it is you need do you need to do and that's because I have that like that goal there or whatever that path that I need to get to it makes it easier to make decision day by day to lead to that so that's why that's there so once that contract came in those fights came in now I'm like okay like if I could get trade fights this time get another trade fights here boom boom boom that's this I could see I could see a pat then because of that so and that's been good like I got two fight last year like one so far was it yeah three no three fights all together like but two fights with them last year and like um one so far this year and going to try get if I could push in for another two that would be perfect because now like U it would be Clos to the end of the year now okay now we're at that and it's at that point I don't know if my contract is up at that point or not but it's really it's it's set me up it's put me in a really good position to make better like now okay I could make uh I could I could go on to the next step now because I could plan out a lot better so but yeah I was very happy with it but it just it allowed me to make a decent plan uh more visible plan I could actually because you know on the local sometimes you might get a fight sometimes you might not get a fight but you know with them especially in that fed weight division like you're going to get a fight The Killers is everywhere like and all of them are looking for fights so like come true yeah it's a stacked vision and like you said on the regional scene it's usually lad coming in just to have one fight and not necessarily that they don't want to go far but they're trying to just get a fight to fight and you've seen like as shows with yourself the fights fall out all the time especially at Pro like KJ XI last week you had two fights Fallout I think the week of my boy like Lois like he was meant to make his Pro debut on clan wars in January I think and it was like the week of the fight or the like a week and something out and I think it was a Visa issue or something like that but like that's just like that and he's been training lead like he's been coton he's been he's he was coton already and all that so it's it's it's a lot like um yeah safer to get like it's just there's a lot more opportunities like when it's a set or a big organization as well like they have a lot more to pick from you know what I mean so yeah no it's good yeah and like that fighter is going to want the fight like you said that that division is stacked everyone wants to go towards the title with your last fight or your last even two fights uh your last one was obviously literally the the buzzer beater but when when I was going into that and I was talked to one of the guys from sever qu we were looking at that fighting your opponent and go this is like a real kind of whoever wins this fight is like so is is going to get I don't know if you're going to get pushed forward but it was kind of like a real test for both because he both had decorated amateur careers um what was it like when there was one second left and that happened or did you even realize the time I like grappling wise like and he's gra I think that was that's his biggest really then like on the local scene like grappling scene is well known even on the amateur side then go few finishes grappling wise is very good like highly R him but like just from and this is why I'm saying the confidence my confidence in the grappling side of things it's not because like oh I just feel like I'm good and whatever it's like I know who I'm train I know the people I'm training with and I know how I feel against them and I know the positions I'm good at if I get on top of you most of the time you're [ __ ] and that's what I with all the fights I wasn't even trying to necessarily get there the fight got there and once I'm On Top you don't your options starts to get very limited and the fact that I could actually strike you as well cuz got on top nearly pass the guy I started striking they gave me the mount I was striking from Mount again he gave me the back I was like trying to choke him out he came back to M like like everything that was happening there all I had to do was just control him and like let him give me whatever he wants like I wasn't forcing anything and I heard The Clapper at that point got the once the hands went in I was just I'm just going to squeeze like it doesn't really matter at this point because I've had the I have the CH it wasn't fully in it was a little bit under his chin the last second I squeezed a little bit more and I got it but I wasn't necessarily like open to finishing before the round was over or whatever it is at that point it's like my hand is here the next step is to squeeze and I was just squeezing that was all like I wasn't thinking oh it's nearly over it's this is whatever I was like okay hands is in oh I have my hands locked okay let's finish it now and yeah lucky enough to cuz I if I'm looking back on I feel like if he knew exactly it was 1 second left like it probably would have Ed out that little a little bit longer but look I'm going to take it I'm not going to complain about it yeah no like like I said that was a it was a fantastic win and the way he described it was you just fought and when it opened up it opened up and it just sounded like he kept turned into bad decision after bad decision give him the back give him Mount give him back um but like that you're on this win streak you're going forward I feel like you could be potentially pushed like said if you get a couple more fights this year who knows where the title li like that's obviously what you want do you have a number of fights do you think that you get before then cuz obviously we all these finishes uh you're really highly thought of do you think you'll be pushed towards that soon with maybe one or two more finishes or are you just going to keep fighting until they tell you it's time yeah like uh they I would like to get another two fights this year right like uh it will be a tight squeeze like cuz my summer is like a bit booked off now so I'm trying to squeeze those two in end of the year if it's like September December or whatever way it is and at that point there like if I'm doing what I'm like I have in my head to do that's the only option left it's rather like my my maybe not the next one maybe the one after that being TI that's me pushing a bit I'm chatting a bit there like realistically two fights do what I need to do in my head that's the only option that there is there after that really like cuz I don't know I expect like another tough opponent this next one coming in and then do whatever I need to do with that one and then another tough opponent coming in but more and more and more like I just want to keep being able to show what what I'm doing what I know I can do I want to be able to keep bringing that in there and every fight I've seen like it is getting that much better I'm getting better at my own game cuz I like I said before I want like with the Dennis fight I thought like I was just a little bit too aggressive with the Mario fight I was a bit too Camp trying to find a balance in between where I'm trying to hurt you but at the same time I'm not being Reckless that's a game I'm trying to play and I'm figuring it out fight by fight the last four fights has been like a blessing like I've been able to show myself a lot more and I think based on that trajectory that's only adding to my confidence in my skill set and I have evidence to pack it up like I'm not chatting [ __ ] go back and look at it I am doing what I'm saying so when that is happening that's just keeps bringing it up in my head which means now I will keep on showing up a lot better again so that like Snowball Effect is really starting to build and I'm looking forward to see I'm looking forward to see what I can do myself cuz once I get in there at some point like you're not than anymore you're just like flowing and letting your body do like translate what you've been doing for the last 6 8 uh 12 weeks let it show up in there so it's been good so far like a title willcome um the only way that title welcome is for me display my skill set as best as I can in there and that's what I'm trying to do and that's what I'm going to keep trying to do yeah and you've been doing it fantastically so far it was like that obviously you're talk the way you're talking it's like muscle memory you know you go in you like not that you're not game planning but you know when he zigs to zag stuff like that and like you said you credit that to all your your amateur experience well I can't wait to see what's next for you uh what your next fight is uh we're all excited to see what's next I'm going to ask you one more question before we go when it's all said and done and someone says Solomon Simon what do you want to be remembered for what word would you want Associated or sentence or phrase would you want associated with you H I like the patience kind of thing because like it's difficult to be calm in chaos like so like if this that is a calm tanken fighter that's a good compl cuz like I I want to be able to like I really really really like there's a lot of knowledge on fighting out there there's a lot of like you see breakdowns you see so many things like and all of us like so many the higher the level you go to they're all very good at like um like they they know what to like they know their defense and stuff they they know how to game plan they're smart at what they're doing but it's very very difficult to translate that into the fight game itself like I want like I really really really want to be able to do that like so like if it's a case of like fight IQ or like uh just patience or like is I I want I like just that patience and cam kind of thing because I think it's difficult to do that and if I'm known for doing that I'm being able to display my skill at a high level but in like a cal methodical way I would like that but like it's not always going to be like that like um I don't know like I'm not I don't want to be in a case of like oh he was one of the greatest fighters ever he's one of this like that's not it's difficult cuz that changes from error to error that changes from person to person like definition of greatness is very subjective but like if people were willing to say that like it it was cing there even when it was even when it there's a war going on there's everything going on it was still able to think about the next move he was still able to like make the correct decision even when like he it got rocked it got dropped his El he's get but he's still making the right decisions all the time like that's very difficult to do but I want to be able to do that I want to be able to make the right decisions all the time this is me asking for Perfection but if I could do that as much as possible I'll take it so yeah that's good I'll take that yeah cuz like you said people probably look at A's Camp it's not that easy when you're getting punched in the face you're getting taken down you're getting rocked you're getting point in submissions be able to just sit there with a clear head and go right this is the next steps and go forward and you've been doing it beautifully so far it's been a pleasure to talk to you today I want to thank you so much thank you appreciate that