Chris McCarthy interview

Summary

[Music] okay so I'm here with Chris McCarty after a fantastic uh finish at the weekend at the first ever Elite Fighting Championship in Cork in his hometown um how are you feeling after the victory it was H quite quite the TKO uh yeah I know it was a really good show T Fair the…

Transcript (youtube_captions)

[Music] okay so I'm here with Chris McCarty after a fantastic uh finish at the weekend at the first ever Elite Fighting Championship in Cork in his hometown um how are you feeling after the victory it was H quite quite the TKO uh yeah I know it was a really good show T Fair the first one in Cork um Le play Champion so I really enjoyed it like especially it was my first time played in Cork so it was great to have like my friends my family there like you know and yeah I thought my performance was quite good there so I was very happy with it yeah one thing I noticed was you come in and you hit hard and you come in and you you hit punches and bunches you hit a couple of shots at a time at one time as well did you know that those shots were taking effect on them and wearing them because I could kind of see that they were wearing on them over time and time and time and that you were eventually going to get him out there did you feel that you were going to get him out there before if it went to a decision yeah I thought honestly in the first run I actually nearly had it but I was just like I didn't want to rush anything like you know I felt like I could have maybe I had him dropped in the first round and I was like putting pressure on but then I was like I just wanted to back off because I didn't want to like exert too much of my energy as I knew I could have had it in the second or third so I was just gonna keeping patient and waiting for the right opportunity for it you know yeah which is good because a lot of people would try rushing usually gas themselves out after that it's that's what I was worried about yeah yeah so I just thought I just just take my time even leave say and I was working a lot now especially for this fight a lot of my boxing like trying to work that because obviously from Karate have like quite good kicks and stuff from that but just trying to transition a bit more into like the boxing side of it you know so and I felt like you know I'm getting better every fight when I do it so it certainly come together now yeah know you definitely are we we've seen your fight before but you're training on now but you had to start somewhere obviously you've got karate background talk to us about the Kate background the accolades that you that you you got over the time and and what made you then transition into MMA how young did you start K karate at sorry uh I started karate when I was seven so I've been doing it and 22 now so quite a while U but yeah I started with that yeah and I kind of got competitive around like 145 I made the national team at that age and then went to the Europeans world and uh yeah I transitioned around M I think I kind of started around 18 uh like kind of getting into a bit more uh but I was still training like aara at the time as well because I went to the Olympic Trails before Paris um so I was still like mostly heavily focused on that now and then around I think my 20 when I made my amateur debuted so uh I know he's getting more into MMA there like seriously and then I took a break because uh from MMA for about I think a year maybe year and a half roughly about yeah and uh because I had the world inced so I was just focusing on my training but now after that I just want to really focus on MMA from now on you know and you're transitioning quite well into it but you saw talked about with the karate you like going to the world champions what kind of a feeling is that to go and and to go to the trials and to go to these big competitions after sacrificing your whole life up until this point for it like what's that kind of feeling like yeah it's I think it really helps like because obviously competing at like very high level in karate like does help when you go into MMA as well because you know you've been there before but you know like a lot of people watching you like you know the spotl and stuff like that like you know so it helps a lot like even with the nerves and stuff like before my first like my last few fights you know so being able to compete at high level that like does help you transition I think over quite well as well obviously it takes a while to get you know hang out the grapping the wrestling and other stuff but like you know for that like you kind of pick up things quite quicker I think when you know you compete a high level and another sport like so it's easier I think to transition over then yeah no I definitely think it is easier to transition but you said one thing that kind of interests me there was the kind of the people watching you and the event sort of a thing CU When a lot of people just train MMA and they've trained MMA for years they do like the likes of the Nationals at the MMA leagues and stuff they don't have the crowd in that there so you would be when you were going into these shows the likes of the Premier the cage legy stuff like that you were used to having that crowd because that's a big factor in going into a fight as well and do you think it's overlooked when people transition into MMA especially like the likes of K SE that they're in event it's not just going in for a fight and that can be overwhelming sometimes but obviously you've been there do you think people Overlook that part of the of the fight yeah I think that's like a really important part like is like because you can be training well doing everything right like it's completely different when you get there into a fight like scenario where like you know everyone's watching there's a lot more pressure a lot more nerves like you know so being able to like even starting from a young age competing you know you're kind of from like I was seven I was even or I think my first competition I was eight so like literally from that age you know being used to like being able to compete under like certain like censes but you know like a lot of pressure and other stuff like so it does something you have to like you know be prepared for before you go I that will have a big factor in day and like how you perform like you know so definitely getting that experience from like the last like good Fe years and Kate like did help a lot I think yeah know and like that you have transition over quite well you went into your first your debut fight in Premier which I want to say was fight of the year it was an absolute back and forth yeah I think that was concussion Central I know obviously time out for to take uh obious you said for the karate Brian was out for an extended period of time as well after that as well yeah I think we were both like [ __ ] after that fight to be honest now you know it was a good fight though it was fight the year in my opinion or or definitely up there with one of the fights year yeah there so many good fights around but how did it feel like what were you expecting for your first MMA fight like had you seen BR were you expecting that sort of a a fire fight is that what you were expecting wanted to go in and give people because obviously you the karate background uh yeah like I think uh going AF obviously it's like my first fight so like you know I had trained M for uh probably like a year and a half i' say before anyway so kind of obviously it is a lot different than your your very first one like I knew obviously you know SP and stuff it's a bit different than actually going on fight but um no I knew Bri because I knew he's a good guy and you know he's tough like he hits hard as well like so I knew it was going to be one of those fights where like you know it's just going to be like a war for three rounds so but it was a good though you know no it was good obviously like that you said you took the break you came back this year and you're after fighting twice in two months obviously you fought cage got decision there you got the TKO here so your three kind of Victories or three like very very good victories uh looking back on them as well are you looking to stay really active now in MMA it looks like it because two two fights in is it two it's two fights in two months isn't it yeah about that I'd say nearly yeah I just wanted to get like as many fights as I can possible like you know right now like because obviously from the break I just want to get I hopefully now i' have another one in seven weeks in premere and I just look to keep doing ones after that as many as yet this year yeah and with the amount of shows that we have I know a lot of them are up the nor that's why it was it was refresh to see Elite going into cor Premier like to move around as well they've done yeah they potentially I think they might be looking at Waterford you've got Kenny now uh Clan Mel um what like with the amount of shows obviously your C conflict pan Wars Etc I could they could go on for a chaos how does it feeli to have that many options know it's great cuz like it's really easy to stay active when you have like a lots of shows in Ireland so I think it's great for all the fighters there because you know we get to fight kind of whenever you really want to like you know it gives you a lot of opportunity like you know yeah no and then especially if you get on this premier card um one of the things that would attract uh me if I was a fire is it's real gladiatorial kind of like outside what you make in the venue the venue is unbelievable in my opinion yeah I seen a video of the ven it look sick to be fair I'm really looking forward to fighting that card I think the like the whole setup of it it's going to be it's going to be a really good show I'm definitely looking forward to it and then obviously if you form like you have in your previous fights and getting another knockout would you be looking to go for title soon because I reckon obviously in the welterweight division um I'd say well Brian's middleweight but in wewe division there's a couple of people still kind of around there that you probably have your eye on do you reckon if with another good finish or another good performance that you could be propelled into title shots or is that the last are you just going to go in and perform and when they come they come uh I definitely will be looking to fight for like tit later I don't know who's the premier Welterweight Champion is right now but like I feel like after this fight you know when I get to win the next one I should be looking for that so definitely and then I would like as well hopefully on cage Legacy as well I think um hopefully maybe fight for a title there their next show would be something I would be looking at but you know I guess I'll just fight I don't know I'll just take yeah no I think I want to say Jess I think Jess bet Jordan sking I don't think he ever fought again after that for Bel i' have to check that out but I know cage Legacy is Alex but like that just take the fights win the fights and then that will come to you um yeah you're looking to stay active as well you're in SBG cork Lee MO is a fantastic coach one thing I I love about Li is his game plan and he's very technical he told me Dan s's plan for playing playing Mill before the fight and that's how exactly how it played out what's it like having a coach like Li above you you've got Marlene in JY you've got like Desa o who's like a a team captain for everyone he was there the other night what's the like with with those kind of those people around you coaching you yeah I know it's great because they're always like even whenever a fight come they always like going through stuff with me like oh like this is what you do even like in any train session like if someone has a fight coming up like like for me against Ryan D like obviously very good jitu so like like some session we okay just going over things that he's good at we just do like H and rounds of that and like getting like people like heing me you know to come in and do like just say if he's on top like you know working different positions so it's really great to have that because like they're very tactical when it comes to fights coming up so it really is easier going in there knowing what the game plan is you know and it's very easy them to do because he always he'll just say stuff to me during the fight and I'll remember okay make sure I'm doing this and that or make sure I'm thring here you know so it does help a lot yeah no they they're fantastic coaches and then and you've got a you've got an abundance of talent in the gym in terms of Fighters as well youve got keran who looks like she's going pro very soon H you've got Fufu who's just become uh European Champion you've P Lan who needs no introduction and Dan Sullivan who you can see his level just getting better and better every fight what's it like training with guys like that and of course you have your brother who was supposed to make his debut on the car just gone hopefully we he's going to get on to premium what's it like having these people as training Partners day in day out and and do they push you and motivate you every day when you go in yeah it's great to have like so many good people in the gym like because like each session like you always you know have her rounds and like you know it's great to have that like kind of level in the gym and like it really pushes everyone you know to go like get better and better like so it is a really good Factor you know yeah no that there is like that fufu I Fufu is just mentally you've got abenue as well we're looking hope he'll have a comeback fight now as well because he's been out for quite a bit but yeah I think he's looking a comeback as well now so yeah it just it seems to be sometimes there's issues getting matched because I know he was matching I think the fight fell out on cage Legacy and and just sometimes there there's a lot of shows but sometimes matching can be a bit of a pain in the ass yeah with injuries and stuff like that but I'm GNA let you go um is there anything you want to say before you go or anyone want to shout out and I want to thank you so much for your time it was a it was fantastic to watch your fight again in person the you're ni because like last time we would have seen you fight in person would have been CL Mel so it was great to see bit I then then have the chats and like that hopefully I will be seeing more of you as the shows continue this year because I'm GNA be going back to shows but is there anything you want to say for you go or anyone want to shout out and thank you for your time oh know problem thanks for having me on it I just say thanks to all my you know friends family and my team as well you know perfect perfect thank you very much and enjoy your evening thank you you too perfect