John Mitchell | MMA Cork | Energized "One-2-Watch"

สรุป

What is up and welcome to the latest Energized "One-2-Watch" Show! On this episode we have John Mitchell on the show to discuss Living in Dubai Sparring Thor and Conor McGregor, His upcoming UAE Warriors fight this weekend & more craic. Check it out, enjoy, subscribe for more…

ถอดเสียง (youtube_captions)

Okay, what's going on guys and welcome to a brand new episode of energized one two watch. Ross, introduce the guest. For live from Dubai, Cork's finest, the undefeated UAE warrior, that is John Mitchell. John, how are you doing? You're dead right saying Cork's finest, man. That's the one. I'm flying it. I'm flying it. How are you? I'm great, man. I'm going to get straight into it. You've been training with two of the most famous people in the world over in Dubai. We've seen you with the world's strongest man Thor and Conor McGregor. The question is, who hits harder? Straight into it. The difference is Conor could actually hit me. No, no. Thor is a Thor is unreal, man. He's He's strong. He's 155 kg. He's a beast, like, but Conor's got a good bang in him, too, so they both hit hard is my answer. That's absolutely epic. It must be totally different from training down in Cork over in over in Dubai. Like, how how did that sort of come about? So, initially, I was supposed to fight in Cage Warriors and I injured my knee. So, like, I was only sitting around Cork and I was done college and you know, I knew I wanted to pursue this. I wanted to be a professional fighter, like, I've known for ages, but now I was done college and I had to make It's not really as big a thing in Cork, so I I kind of felt like I needed a maybe a different environment where I could train full-time. So, I got offered this job over over here in the Middle East, like, and I went for it and it just worked out really well. I just met the right people and uh lucky to get signed by MTK, start training with the right guys and now I'm staying here. That's unbelievable. Congratulations. Yeah, and just for just for anyone who doesn't know who's watching this, um John was an absolute beast on the domestic scene and not only that, like, he fought up a weight class on numerous occasions. Uh he he beat Andreas Bender up at welterweight in his amateur career. He also beat uh Kenny Mokhonoana, uh who fought there at the at the weekend at Clan Wars as well. He actually beat him twice. So, like John was an absolute beast on the amateur scene. He's now gone pro. He's 2 and 0, and he's here to make a name for himself. So, with that being said, and without putting too much pressure on you, John, what are you expecting come next weekend? John, I'm always confident like I'm always confident like and I'm not confident just to be one of those cocky guys. I I work my ass off. I think I'm going to I think I'm going to stop him, you know, and he's good name. He's a glorious kickboxer, but I just I think I've improved tenfold. You know, I've I can't wait for it, man. I think I'm going to submit him or I'm going to finish him. Whatever way I choose, you know, so I'm really looking forward to it. I feel really ready. Yeah, you're kind of that rear naked choker, aren't you? I am indeed, yeah. And you know, I feel like my standard's gone up a lot here because I'm training with UFC lads all the time. Like I live and breathe it now. Like I'm not in college. I'm not working. I just train full-time and I coach full-time. So, I I'm really uh I've always been well prepared for my fights, but this fight in particular I feel more than ready, you know, so I'm just counting down the days now. I know that I got Coco and Cali over here, man. It's just it's all come together perfectly. That's what I was going to say. That's what I was going to say. How's it feel to have Coco over there? Great Coco Cockley. Just been training with Craig. Amazing, Nick. Two of them are my guys. Like like like Cali was in my corner for my pro debut. Like they've been with me through many many fights now, and really good, man. It's some buzz. It's some buzz like the the John Mitchell fighter dorms are here for any other fighters that want to come over as well, you know. Absolutely epic. And you said you were training with some UFC fighters as well. UFC fighters were you training with? So, Manir Lazzez is my main training partner, you know, and he he just fought co-main event of his on the on one UFC in January. And now he's fighting again at the end of in July, and he's an absolute monster. He's one of the best lads I've ever trained with. So, Yeah, we saw his debut. We saw his debut fight in the UFC. It was unbelievable. He's a monster, man. He's so good. Like I cannot wait to see him and Craig's fight tomorrow. I'm living for it. Yeah, yeah, okay. There's There's There's videos of you yeah, start alone. We're actually doing this interview on Friday, so like videos coming out on Monday, so we'll see in between. For the people that haven't seen it, they're going to go back to your highlight histories as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so that that'll be a that'll be a great score. And there's other UFC lads floating in here that I get to spar like like uh Justin Eianni, he fought Darren Till before and a few other guys like so I always get to measure myself up against them cuz back home you know there's not that many UFC lads and it's like pipe dream. Then you go out here and you spar with these guys and you can see it's much more realistic for us Irish fighters like like our standard in Ireland is massively high. It's just now I can have I have a litmus test to measure it off, you know. Yeah, well there are some unbelievable training partners. And tell tell us this, how much impact will Craig and Colly have knowing that you're fighting a kickboxer? Oh man, jeez this kid's nothing compared to Craig Oakley. Do you know what I mean? Like like uh like like Craig will come out and school this lad and I'm going to try to do the same. So I I don't really care he's a kickboxer. I've always trained with really elite level kickboxers since I started. I came from Thai boxing myself, so uh yeah all good. And and then even having Colly for the last bit of my camp just to fine tune some details before I go in there is perfect. Yeah, Colly Mahon is not Yeah, Colly Mahon yeah the main man. Yeah, just give him the shout out cuz uh you know we've said Craig's name like 10 times, so shout out to Colly. Yeah, Colly actually yeah their their team won a belt over over in Clan Wars. It was a Shamrock Shamrock. Yeah, shout out to Shamrock. Yeah, uh John John when did when was that moment when did the penny drop or the sense drop as we say here in Ireland? When did that when did that moment finally click and you're like this I can be a I can be a real harmful for a lot of people in this game. Well you know Owen Maguire is still my head coach even though he's back in Cork. He just can't come over cuz of COVID situation. He always um he always thought like you know we could do it like and we were just a bit quieter than the other guys, but like like I never lost in Ireland, you know I went I went through everyone that I fought in Ireland all the time, you know what I mean? So, since early days, like I always knew where I was going to go and I'm determined to get there, you know? So, um I I think really way back into that beat Elliot Levy for my first amateur title, and then I was having a chat with Aaron after and I was like, "Look, this is just what I want to do fully like." And that that that was only when I was four and oh as an amateur, you know? And what what is it that you love the most about it? Uh man, I know it sounds so cliche, but I love the whole thing like I love the pressure coming up to fight camp. I love that. There's not many people doing this from Cork and you know like that I'm moving on to a bigger stage. I'm bringing these guys from Cork up with me. Do you know what I mean? I I love now that I can get this platform over here in Dubai to bring other fighters like Craig and Caley over and get them to fight and train. I love it all, man. I just love what I could make this for Cork like, you know, what I mean? because there's plenty of other kids in Cork that are animals, man, and they can see what I'm going to do and what I'm going to do in the future and they're going to do that too, you know? So, Yeah. John, I'm not I'm not going to lie. I I remember when you were fighting on Cage Warriors and I knew you were you were fighting around the same time as like Ian Garry and Paul Hughes, and I was looking at them and I felt like they were getting a lot of the hype and I felt like people weren't talking about you as much, but I think when you got that rear naked choke win, I was like, "People are going to start talking about John Mitchell the way they talk about those guys in terms of the next big thing to come out of Ireland." And I think, you know what I mean? You're probably coming in around the back to come in into the big shows fighting over, you know, over in the Middle East, but I think come two or three years time, everyone in Ireland will know who John Mitchell is the way they know who all the top MMA prospects in Ireland are. Yeah, even sooner, man. Even sooner, I think like I think if you knew me from the other guys that train in the gyms, they know what I'm like to spar and they know what I'm like to train with. And I think they know that already. Like the cream always rises to the top in this sport like and even though I was a bit quieter, I was still the number one amateur there in Ireland for a long time like and it's going to come out soon, sooner than two or three years, I think anyway. Ross, Well, I mean household name, or household name. Ross, Ross, isn't it great Isn't it great to see the way like Irish fighters just They used to just train around and then just go like and learn like What What was it? Like use the techniques they learned off each other. And now like like it seems like a lot of fighters are going over to the Middle East as well. There's people going to Brave. Even Dean Barry, he ended up on UAE Warriors, got the win, and then he got called the call up to the UFC as well. I know we I know things have not gone so smoothly, but like nothing really does in MMA, but it's great to see that UFC always or brass are looking at the UAE Warriors as well. It's uh This This is a big fight for yourself, John. How How do you feel going into this now next week? I can't wait, man. Like, you know what? It's It's It's all relative like like that They're all big fights to me. You're like every one of my fights felt as big as the last. This one's the one I feel most prepared for, so I don't feel too nervous. Like, I got Ian Garry over here, so I'm just looking forward to it. Like like the the fights I've done best in are the ones that I just went in and really enjoyed the experience, and I can genuinely say I can't get can't wait to get in there. So, I'm I can't wait for it. Like, what you said there is a very good point about Irish fighters. Like, even like Blaine O'Driscoll has come out here and fought one of the hottest prospects I've ever seen in the world, man. Went and had a war of a fight with him, you know? And that was on short notice. Like, Irish fighters are as good as any of these boys, and that's what we're going to show. And Cork fighters are, too. And I especially want to say that to The langers. Money up Money blows my mind here. Yeah, but like John, like like obviously over there now you're getting You see, this is the one thing like that people talk about in football. So, obviously like we're we're big football fans as well. It's like Back in the day did did people would have to earn their stripes and then like gradually go go up through the ranks. And now like people can go to the boy or they can train the stone and just be like sort of Owen Nolan one and oh or just sort of get get a lot of the the great things that you get can get from the sport without really earning it. So, like what will keep you humble now living this sort of lifestyle now being two and oh and knowing that the like you're realistically going to end up having about 20 fights professionally. Well, John, I I work my ass off to be here as well. Like like like the thing about being from Cork is no one was handed you at all. Like like all the boys from Dublin always get way more hype and way more publicity always than me, you know? So, I'm I'm making this whole path completely myself. Like Like you know, like in amateur I went through everyone was UK and Irish number one like I said before and still didn't get that much hype and now I'm one and oh once I get the night cage warriors two and oh. So, you know, it's going to come like so I'm I'm hungry because like this is all off my own back and doing it myself, you know? So, it's it's all it's all hard work. Like even the Conor McGregor spar like that was me going out and getting that and working hard for it, you know? So, And and how did how did you feel sparring Conor and how did that spar go down? I really wouldn't have given too much now. I really good like man he's he's a gent and I I learned loads loads from him. Like he he was a such a nice guy and he helped me with my Instagram following a lot and like Like he he's so the biggest thing I learned from him is he's such an intelligent fighter. Like you know what I mean? Like he's always looking. He's always looking to see what you're doing. He you can see he's that next level. He's not just going in there trying to have a knock. Like Like he's very very clever, you know? And he composed so so so composed, man. What was the What was the one thing you learned from him as well? Cuz obviously he's so meticulous from his from his eating to his sleeping to his to his drinking. The his composure. His composure like at any point in the rounds like in we were going hard hard at it. Like like they were hard rounds. Like I'm not really known for sparring light. Like and he was just always relaxed. Always super shoulders relaxed. Always looking to see what I was doing, you know? Like sometimes when I like I go hard Yeah. Oh yeah yeah. Like my Yeah yeah yeah. Like my heart's on my sleeve a bit when I fight and I go a bit mad and I learned loads from him how clever he was when we were sparring, you know? And he can certainly check a leg kick. That's that's very good here. Hopefully he doesn't pour his heart out listening to that. But uh make sure to check out John Mitchell on Saturday the Sorry sorry UAE UAE Warriors 20 on Saturday. This video is going to be out on Monday. so it'll be decided the weekend. Yeah. But uh John, like like what's going to be the final countdown? What's going to look like in the build-up to Saturday? Just cut the weight now, man. Like I'm a big 70, so I'll get down to 70, weigh in, and just enjoy it. Like I can't wait. Like and it's some buzz having my two lads here with me. Like so uh Yeah, Coco's great, man. Coco. I'm calling you sorry sorry, but I Coco like watching his videos. Obviously, you hear the fighting of it felt through. It's just uh That man That man's mind is bulletproof. Oh, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure, for sure. Like I like we're we're three of us are cut from the I think for our mindset. So, it's it's great having him here for the last little while I can. John, is the final goal and final destination UFC or Bellator or Brave or where is where do you see things ending up? UFC since I started it, man. And I said that since day one. It's UFC or bust. That's the mission. Like so, you know, nothing else will do. And do you think fighting in UAE Warriors gets you there faster than any other route? Um I think my good management and my hard work gets me fast. Whatever route it is that I have to go to there, you know what I mean? So, I think I'm going to be there next year if not the year after. I think it's going to happen soon. And you think being with someone like MTK and them having clients like Darren Till gives you gives you more of an in with the UFC than if you were different management? Yeah, well, I'm still with my management at home as well, Alpha Fighter Management from Cork like. But I think like I was saying earlier like the the thing about being from Cork is we don't get as much publicity as the other places. So, we And but now I will. Now I will get this publicity because I'm signed by such a big organization management company, you know what I mean? That's absolutely brilliant. And like we'll be shouting you loud as well quickly up to Saturday to make sure everyone knows who John Mitchell is, Cork's finest. Yeah. I'm telling you, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like like Sean Sean from Severe MMA's always been really good to me. And he said it before after my things like I think I'm one of the most underrated prospects in Ireland like. And I'm just I'm happy to have that position and keep proving it. Do you know what I mean? So. Yeah, well, the thing is myself and Ross love doing the show and we love giving giving people the opportunity to speak out to their audience and their other fans and it's just uh like this way we love this sport. But like I I just want to This will be my last question for you, John, right? I was listening to a podcast and Dylan Moran was on it and he was saying that um sometimes it like Instagram shows people on their highlights, right? And like sometimes it is very hard to get out of bed and really push yourself. What Do you ever have them moments? And then if so, what like really pushes you to get up and keep going? Yeah, man, points that it's it's tough to get up and um tough to get up and do it like, but it'd be even worse if I had to get up every day and try being an accountant or something. So it, it's all right. You know, like it's grand. Like you're doing worse. Man, I I love I love your attitude. I love your determination. I love your self-belief. Um ladies and gentlemen, John Mitchell is certainly one to watch. Um if you haven't watched this video, make sure to like, share, subscribe. Barry, anything else to say? Don't miss John Mitchell on UAE Warriors. Come here, before I go, say hi to Collie man. Collie, come in for a sec. Come in, come in, come in, come in, come in. That's the head man behind it all. Collie, Collie, congrats Collie winning with Shamrock last week. Congrats winning with Shamrock last week. I'm sure there was a big party afterwards, wasn't there? Great on party. Straight back to the gym. Straight back to the party and then to the gym. And then a few of the lads from a few of the lads from DCA as well on on the on the on the event last Sunday as well. It was epic. Enjoy, yeah? Yeah, yeah, it was good. Yeah. Right, guys, Every combat sport, but come up for everything. DCA Dubai There we go. Yep. Right, well, everyone make sure to check out John Mitchell. He's fighting on UAE UAE Warriors 20 this Saturday. So, John, best of skill this this weekend and I'm sure we'll be in touch soon as well and enjoy the party afterwards as well. Ross, anything else to say? Cheers, lads. Thanks very much for the call. I appreciate it. Yeah, so John, you make sure to like, share, subscribe and as always stay energized.