Sean Carmody interview

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Sean Carmody interview

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Okay, so it's my pleasure to have with me Mr. Sean Carney. He's been on before a couple of times. Uh he's going to be fighting Breen Woods next week for the Flyweight Championship at Vertus MMA. Thank you very much for taking uh the time today to talk to me. How are you doing? How are you feeling? It's it's less than a week out now. How are you feeling for the fight next weekend? >> In terms of the fight next weekend, I'm I'm feeling good. You know, it's just the shittier part of every fight. You know, it's that week where we have to start the water losing weight and yeah, it's like the most uncomfortable part of it. You can deal with the dieting, but then when you're when you're dealing without the water, it's a bit different. But aside from that, we're all good, you know. >> Yeah. Know, how do you keep the discipline? Cuz I remember being with someone and it was over the night of it. They were way cutting just say for the Thursday night going into Friday to waiting for a Saturday show and they were like they had this it was like this much amount of water they could take because obviously like how hard is that especially when I know the night before a fight like you're going to be you're you you're like trying to cut the water out of your body. How hard is it for the likes of sleep and stuff like that? Does it disturb all that kind of stuff and then you're awake you can't drink water. What kind of a like is that a hard thing to deal with? I it like even me trying to explain it is hard to to even process what you're doing not drinking water all night. But um how hard is that to deal with? >> So it's actually easier than what I'd say people make it out of what it sounds like. Um it the problem is the cramps. Like if you stretch out in bed and then like your legs start cramping up. That's what happens to me. like and then you'll be up and then you've got literally nothing to fight against that cramp and you're just like dancing around the room and in my case like I've got a wife and two kids and I'm trying to not wake the house up like the but that's the worst part for me like I'll always go to bed like cuz we always do them weighins on the Friday morning normally um cuz I only do day before weighins I don't do day of Um because I just think it affects performance too much and you're never if you're doing day off, you're never going to be doing this again for the whole of your career, right? If you want if you like intend to go professional and you tend to take it all the way, you're never going to be doing a day of weighing. So why are you practicing with this, right? You need to know your body as an amateur, I feel, and like know what you can and can't do because if anything, this is the times where you can kind of [ __ ] up. If you do, it's not the end of the world. You know, you can agree and it's not affecting your purse as like a professional. So, um, yeah, I think it's important actually to be able to do that. So, I always make the weight on Thursday night before I go to sleep. And I normally even maybe cut a little bit extra so I can drink that water overnight to kind of uh keep thirst down. And the other secrets, a lot of chewing gum. A lot of chewing gum. >> No, I I get you as well. like the fact that if you're making a Thursday night a little bit extra at least I'd say cuz I say that's one thing that goes through a fighter's mind is when they're there because you know yourself weight can fluctuate and different things can affect it that a lot of fighters say when they go to bed on a Thursday night they might think right I've got the weight made but then they could wake up half a pound heavier or or these things do happen but uh you're going to be fighting for another t you're going to be fighting for another title looks like you're going to you you could compile a few by the end of the year have you looked into Breen much he's obviously from a very good gym He's two and0. H he's very he's very hard man to get a hold of or to talk to. He's he seems like one of these quiet people, but he's a very good fighter from a very good gym. Have you looked into his fights much or did you just concentrate on what you want to do in the fight? >> So we me and Breen actually fought on the same card um when I won the cage conflict belt. We fought on the same card. H fought against Jake Duncan who is an opponent we have in common. Uh so I was actually there for that fight. Um, I know some from team KF. I know that team from jiu-jitsu. No, they're a good team. Um, I only recently found out, now this might sound stupid, but uh that Ian Garry was from the same team. And I just I think Leon Hill as well, right? I just saw all these guys and I know Ben Harding from like the Grapple King show and [ __ ] like this. Like he grappled with Rean Bellamy way back when and uh just realized they have like a decent grappling gym as well. Um, I haven't don't know anything about Brain though to be honest with you. Like I've seen it like he was he moved up to 2 and0 against Jake Duncan. I was obviously supporting Jake for that fight because like Jake was my first MMA win but he was like we've also like we chat every now and then like I would say we're like buddies in a way you know I um yeah he was the first person to actually accept a fight against me because it was really hard for me to get a fight. So yeah, anyway, Breen, uh, don't know much about him. He seems to be the quiet type, but I'd say like he just likes to get his head down and get the work in, which is good. Um, he's probably means he's a quite a nice guy as well. Uh, but at the end of the day, like I'm coming for the belt. Like I'm not coming to make friends. If we make friends along the way, that's fine. Uh, but at the end of the day, like I'm going to becoming a double amateur champion next week and sucks him, I guess. Yeah, in terms you talked about uh getting matched uh because I remember at the start when I was trying to look at matches for you and I was getting told a load of nos you find now obviously the way I was looking at Daniel Clooney is another one you know the sort when he came because of his grappling we don't want to fight him and I was here if he gets one or two fights give him the belt like you know like give him a title shot because if he wins the belt if he's that good and he wins the belt then these people have to fight him and it turns out like you're getting a lot of title shots and obviously if you win these do you think then it's going to be easier to get matched because the belt is attached to your name because people are willing to take the risk for a chance at at winning the belt. >> Yeah. No, because I thought it would do that for me before, but then I had to miss like two shows at Elite as well because of that, you know, like not everyone still wants to get matched. Um, so it didn't really get easier as such. Like it's it's easier to get fights in North cuz there's a bigger pool, you know, you don't need to have as many medicals. Uh but we nearly didn't find anyone for this fight. Like me and uh Verus were talking. They were like, "Look, if we don't get a fight basically by today, we're not doing it, you know." Um and then he came to me about like 8:00 p.m. that day after we've already kind of agreed, you know, like, "Yeah, it's not going to happen, right?" And he says, "Look, Brian Woods has just said he's ready to go." I was like, "Thank God." You know, because I've actually been dieting like for this fight because I knew it would like I knew a tight fight could be coming up since June. Like, so I've been ready since June for this and I'm getting told like a month out like no one's agreeing, you know? So, and it's not just no one's agreeing like people have their own reasons as well. Like it's not always like not everyone wants to fight me because I'm a grappler or whatever, like or I've got like a grappling background. It's also like, you know, people have other things going on in their lives, you know. Um, so it's not always about that, but it just sucks when it's be get hard to match and you just want to like show your new skill sets and you want to like move on with your career if like people's timelines just don't match up. Uh, so yeah, the title didn't really change all that much, but you just get more title shots which is better for publicity of course. >> Yeah. You know, I get you cuz like you were saying with people like cuz when I when we moved show from November to September, a lot of people who are available for November aren't available for September cuz booked and stuff like that. And unless Joe like is a date that's is that's been out there for a while, people will obviously go about their normal lives. But you've got for the Vertus card is actually is is cracking. I'm not saying it hasn't been before, but I was looking at it yesterday because obviously there was a press conference. How does it feel to be on a card with that like with the talent and that we have in this country and what do you make of the talent that we have because we've got that next weekend then there's another show and then we're going to go into September and then all the shows will start running again and they all seem to have really good cars even if they're very close. What do you make of the pool of fighters we have? Although flyweight I think there's there's a bit of a get there's a lot of people kind of around with the record you have kind of with that experience and then there's like a vast gap in the middle I feel. How do you feel about the the flyweight division at the minute? Look, I'll be honest. Like, I think there is such a big talent discrepancy inside the whole division. Like, there's like the really elite guys, like the likes of Nate Kelly who's now just gone pro. Like, that was a fight we were trying to get originally, but Nate got a good deal turning pro. So, I I I'd be an idiot to like begrudge him against that, you know? Like, and what am I supposed to Oh, you took down good you turned down good money because you wouldn't fight for free against me, you know? It's a stupid thing like you know congrats to Nate for getting a good deal you know like I hope his pro career goes really well and uh yeah then there's likes of Kevin Walsh and Ben Matt and like those guys are like so experienced in comparison to literally everyone else. I think Flyway the only two guys in that middle ground is myself and Ricky. Um, aside from that, like everyone's on the up and cominging, like they're 1 and0, 2 and 0, and I struggle to believe they've got that kind of experience. I'm lucky in a sense of I had a good jiu-jitsu background, you know, I had good experience. Um, and this actually does help me like go through like I see like but the body language people portray like even if they're good before they hit the cage when they get the cage you know body language you know the way they act like they they're confident they want to be there but at the same time like they're not used to handling that adrenaline you know whereas I'm more used to this you know I fought like in world championships I fought in European championships like I'm also used to being like the not hometown fighter you know the away fighter so Like I'm used to all this and it doesn't like I would say it doesn't get to me sometimes because sometimes the moment it can catch you in the moment you're like oh [ __ ] like I remember the first time when I actually fought Jordan the guy in the main event he was my first amateur fight. I remember when I heard the cage jump I was like this this is a bit real now right and you know cuz I took that far short notice against Jordan and Jordan's very Jordan's very good and in fact you know like I don't know where he came from or like what experience he had but like he was just ready and he was scarily good for a guy who was also a debut like scarily good because I don't want to seem like a prick here but I I I couldn't see myself losing to any debut ing fighter, you know, without like a a background or something, you know, and John went out there and did it, which was the best thing that could ever happen to me because I learned I really learned how to deal with um like the losing already. I never had to worry about losing again. And it also showed me jiu-jitsu wasn't going to get me out of there every time. Uh I had to work on the other things, too. But yeah, the flyweight division, like there's such a there's just not many of us. I'm not gonna lie and say like everyone else is, oh, I think, you know, it's the one of the most talented divisions in the country. I don't think it is, or if it is, I need to go find another weight so I can become a champion quicker. But, um, but I I think there's there's the elite and then there's people who are on their way to eventually become something, you know? That's the way I look at it. >> Yeah, it's it's you get that with a lot lot of stages. It's like look at the way like obviously it's a different realm because it's it's females. Louise Brady she's at a stage where she's one of the most experienced and then at that weight at 61 there's not many and everything just goes through that transition phase transition transitional phase but like that by this time next year me and you could be having a conversation with the likes uh I don't know what Kevin Wan Ben man's plans are. I'm assuming they're going to be going pro in in in an early next year, but like you and Ricky and and all these boys will will then be at the top as well. You know, that sort of way. It's just it's just one of those things. But in terms of you you spoke about fighting in Cork there. Yeah. So, in terms of later in the year, you're fighting Adam Mcdana who looked very good. Obviously, he beat one of your teammates. How does it feel to actually have an MMA show matched for Cork? Are you going to wait until the day that it's there to make sure it's finally happened? Because I know you were saying obviously you beat in jiu-jitsu, but you wanted MMA Cork. How good does it feel to have something booked this far out? >> Uh, honestly like anything for Cork I'm happy with because I love fighting on the home show. I can have my kids, my wife, my mom, my dad, my whole family there. It's it was quite important to me. Uh, especially on the home. I wanted to have some tougher fights. I'm not saying that Adam's not tough, right? I'm just saying like I wanted to have some of my tougher fights in Cork. Um, but you can only take like what's on the table at the time. And Adam, to be fair, like Alex is a very good fighter and he managed to beat Alex. Like Alex is a good grappler as well. So, he managed to beat Alex, which I thought Alex was going to smoke him, but I think Alex was genuinely just off that night. And again, like this is not throwing shade on Adam, whatever or whatever, but um I'm not I'm not going to have an off night, you know. It's It's going to like We've been in the same jiu-jitsu division before. Like he knows who I am, I'm sure. And I just know that I'll be able to I'll be able to probably finish him either in the first, second round. I know he's in really good shape. He looks really strong, looks really good, but uh I'm confident against another jiu-jitsu based guy that you're not going to go all three rounds with me. >> How does it feel? cuz like you said, you're in the same bracket to have someone cuz when when you first came in that the problem was obviously your jiu-jitsu is leaps and bounds ahead of a lot of people. What's it like to have someone that's like in the same divisions as you? Is it like okay finally there's someone who can match me in jiu-jitsu? Do you think it's going to Well, no. I I don't know how he looks cuz I don't know what's like, but you know, someone who's kind of up around a similar similar experience. Is that where you're going to maybe try and showcase what you've done in striking or are you going to stick to jiu-jitsu or is that going to be something that you don't want to talk about until closer to that fight? >> Honestly, like people should just anticipate me to always grapple. Like I can't like I don't know cuz when you actually get put under lights and the pressure, you're going to like you're going to always do all the things you wanted to do. You know, instincts will kick in. You don't know what injuries you're going to have at that time. You don't know what you're going to have to rely on. So, I could lie and tell you like, "Oh, yeah. I'm working on my striking so much." Now, I have been working on it, but I'm not going to lie and tell you like all of a sudden like I'm I'm [ __ ] MVP. You know, there's still a lot of progress to be made there. Um, but yeah, sure. Like that's at the end of the year. I could show some more striking then, but I just look at it as this should be a more comfortable fight for me because we're both jiu-jitsu based guys. And I rate myself against any any jiu-jitsu guy. I don't think they I don't think they have enough to beat me. Um that again, Adam might have more experience in kickboxing than what I know of. And that could obviously lead to it being a more difficult fight, you know, but um I just know like in terms of grappling, I'm not concerned. And that actually brings in like to Daniel Clooney. Like Daniel Clooney is a very very very good grappler. I actually grappled with him a lot in my teenage years. We were going for like two for two as juveniles. And then recently, like I not recently, just was about two years ago. But I moved up a couple of weight divisions there to fight him. Uh because I wanted to get those back because I remember, oh, this guy beat me when I was a juvenile. And I'll be honest, like Daniel smoked me in both the ghee and the noi. Um he's a bit bigger than me, but he's very good. He's very technical. But he's going to do very well. Um, that's not taking anything away from him at all. You know, he's going to do very well and he's probably going to have the same problems like me and Shane are having where, you know, you have to climb the ladder. It's not always easy and you're going to have to take a lot of hard fights. Some fights you might not even really be ready for at the time, but that's just like if you have a good background, son, those are the chances you have to be willing to take. >> Yeah. No, 100%. and Daniel Cle. I think obviously they were talking about himself and your brother, but I know your brother got injured. I I thought that would be a fantastic match up. But look, I'm really looking forward to next weekend. H chances are I'm actually going to be there because I'm going to try and do a lot more covering of the shows with the new page uh and try and spread it out evenly because I was quite concerned that obviously I do a lot more work for the people who pay me, which like to be fair, they pay me. I want to try and create a platform again that's like equal to everyone, you know, the sort of way. But look, I got to let you know. Is there anything you want to say before you want go or anyone you want to shout out and thank you very much for your time? Can you hear me? >> Yeah, cool. Like thanks. Yeah, I just caught that. A lot of that broke up, but I caught most of it. Um yeah, honestly like thanks thanks for having me on, Dave. Um thanks my team like in MMA Cork. Like we work hard. We have a really good strong group of fighters down there. Um, yeah, like we're just we're just ready to take what's ours on the next Saturday. It's it's not an if, but it's a when. I don't want to seem like a prick, but I'm going in there with a goal. Like, I changed over from jiu-jitsu to MMA to have like a career.