Emmet Corr interview

Summary

Emmet Corr is an amateur fighter training out of ZKJ Competing on the first ever Cage Gladiator Ireland for the lightweight belt. We discuss his preparations, this year and plans for next year.

Transcript (youtube_captions)

[Music] okay so I'm here with emic cor we're a week away from him he's going to be fighting on H cage Gladiator Island it's the first event uh it's going to be the he's going to be in the first title fight for the lightweight one H how are you thank you very much for your time and how excited are you for next weekend and to be the first person to fight for a title on that show and being part of the show it's gonna be part of history for the show yeah yeah I'm buzzing like I'm really buzzing I've put an extreme amount of work in you know I've want to keep the ball rolling from the last one um and it's it's a good it's a cracker it's a cracker title as well to get to get um to add to what I've got so buz I just I'm wor that week away now so just just get it going now I'm ready to get I'm ready to get in there and just start scrapping like yeah it's it's been a while since we last seen your fight it was that fantastic finish of Damen McKenna how like it's been a while since you fought like are you looking forward to this because I I when I was talking to you you wanted to have a couple more fights this year yeah has kind of Pann out that way how frustrating has that been with the year that's gone by with the amount of shows we have yeah um yeah no I was I was trying I thought I thought I was gonna get a fight on H clam Wars there um it just didn't come through for whatever reasons like um but I was I was ready to make a quick turnaround and defend the title came out of that fight the only injuries that came out of that fight were the ones that I had like was nursing previous to the fight you know what I mean so I had to take away bit of time to them recover but um I I've been training really hard like since the last one um not letting that performance um you know almost get them ahead and be like okay like let's take the food off the gas here and I've been pushing extra hard I think I've genuinely put more effort into this training camp than the last one just because I think it's given me a bit of action motivation to uh like keep them kind of performances coming you know what I mean but yeah as you say I was ready I was ready to make a quick turnaround didn't hop didn't P out that way for whatever reasons as I said but got a big opportunity here on Sunday to put myself back out there again remind people again how I've been performing yeah and and it was a fantastic performance and there has been that substantial Gap and I find in gaps like that Fighters prove levels and levels especially at amateur have like are we going to see a similar but a more improved version of what we saw last time yeah um I I'm in there and you know what I'm not overlooking Alex whatsoever he poses a few threats um on the grind Etc and stuff like that so um I've been doing a lot of my wrestling my wrestling hasn't been showcased that much recently but I'm really strong in that area um I'm ready to put everything on display next week whether if he wants to Grapple I'm ready for that um but I'm ready to I'm sticking to what my bread and butter and I'm looking to put him away here on the feet so I've trained extremely hard so the levels up at the gym now are crazy like we've got so many guys so many high level guys that I'm working in with daily um really hard rounds like like really hard and it's what I want like you know what I mean lots of bodies similar we um lots of different skill sets and stuff so next next week is a big opportunity for me to display that kind of similar skills to what you seen last time yeah no and I can't wait to see it like said you've got you've there's actually been a few that have gone to the gym the likes of Jason who we seen last who was fantastic you're actually gonna be fighting on this show with your brother who's GNA be fighting fresh fight how does it feel to be on this for the first time with your brother a family affair what in the gym coming up to it when you know both you you're fighting because I'd say you're doing extra training at home with each other B yeah yeah H yeah we're we p so much like any any Spur time I've got I'm doing something I'm either running or I'm doing a bit of extra extra pads and stuff um I know he's training extremely hard like he's put a lot in for this one as well um the vibe around the gym we've got so many guys up on this we've got 12 guys fighting I think next week here um so the atmosphere in the gym is class I'm really looking forward to being in that kind of environment next week everyone buzzing you know um but yeah it's going to be class be able to share card with each other um hopefully be able to actually get back in time and be in his Corner as well so that's that's what I'm hoping for like so be good yeah no and it is a fantastic card there a couple of really good fights on it to sh I'm really yeah that that's GNA be a banger like there was another one I seen the other day forgive I'll have to look it up but there's really good matchups on it um and like that is good because you've got so many guys competing a lot you around kage conflict I see your gym is anytime I go to a show anywhere in Northern Ireland I see and your father or Jack either um how much work do you put in and especially your father he does he does an awful lot behind the scenes that no one SE uh what's it like to have that family unit as a team in MMA I yeah like genuinely like the the talent and the work that gets put up in in zkj right now is insane like I think in terms of I think we're generally one of the best like homegrown gyms in the country 100% like the like the guys we've got coming through the ranks now as well like there's no absolutely no easier rounds in the place like like we've got so many guys you look at like um we Michael not we Michael as unit like but he jumped in on kage confict there couple of days noticed like Michael's a beast like and that's his debut do you know what I mean like he's like we've got so many guys like that as well who are pushing me as well who haven't even been seen yet so I think it's just starting to come through I think they're going to work my dad put in as well I think that's that helps with the recognition we get in the gym and that's why people want to come and join and you know people see the kind of environment that we train in it is a really big family environment like I think the biggest thing about ory is everyone that's fighting is cared about as much as the top of the gym as someone just starting out you know what I mean like my dad will care just as much about some making their novice debut as me going like the the later end of my Amer career my brother fighting like that I think that's the biggest difference in our gym everyone gets the same amount of attention no matter what yeah and that's good because like that you see that in some gyms that are big let's take SVG for example John C has so many fighters he can't be be whereas that means so much to an noest Fighter for the coach because a lot of people will go there for the coaches for let's say John C for f for Liam for p whoever name Jim and and means a lot to them and I think that Fosters that atmosphere if you feel that you're valued as a fighter and as a person that's just that's really good but going forward uh did next week do you do the study on your opponents do you let your brother and your father do or do you try and keep them just doing your team I yeah I mean the biggest thing that we've been I've been focusing on last couple of years in fights is like it's all it's all on yourself like I've been focusing on what I'm going in here today um I bew like you you You' be worry of what they bring you know um my dad and stuff he he watches plenty we take we notes and stuff um we adjust like sparring and like our Shark Tank rounds are adjusted the people maybe trying to Grapple me more things like that um but the game plan stays the same I'm not in here to I'm not in here to play his game I'm I'm here to perform how I shoot and I'm going to here to do what I plan on doing I think that's the biggest f for any fighter I think you should be focusing on yourself you know I mean obviously you need to know what the risks and stuff are and you know what the GU is looking to bring but I'm here to perform on my own level and focus on my skills and try and put together things I've been working on yeah do you feel that some Fighters when they're starting off that they might try and play other people's game rather than their own yeah that that that that that's a big thing as well people play into the games you know what I mean people play into someone game plan like like like it's no secret that he's probably going to try and take me down or try and grapple me and stuff like that like what and I'm absolutely 100% confident in my grappl and my wrestling but like why why some people get sucked into certain games you know and that's where problems can come like I'm in here to start my own game plan on this fight I'm not here to play whatever he's looking to do do you know what I mean so I think that can be that all comes with experience too you know it's easy to get it's easy to get love into stuff and think you're safe and do something here that you're not usually doing you know what I mean so no you're right yeah no because like you see that a lot of people might become a bit obsessed with what the other people are doing and if you do that you won't establish your own style have your own game plan yeah and if your game plan to try and stifle them doesn't work where do you go from there um yeah but obviously you're not looking past Alex but there's going to be really no more shows there's a couple more shows after whether you'll be able to complete them or not but what you look for next year uh are you looking for a more active year uh what what's the plan I think I everything goes to plan here in Sunday I I come out perform how I do as put on a big performance as you say I'm not looking past them at all like um that's when you you can never treat anyone as if like Alex has come here to fight Alex come to win so I'm not I'm not here taking them lightly whatsoever but I know my talent and I know how good I am and I'm here I'm here to like I'm here to get another finish I'm not here to try and try and earn out a decision I'm ready for it I'm ready to go three hard rounds but uh I want to keep my finishes coming so um yeah as you say next year there's so there's some big amateur fights out there that I can still take um I think I'd like I think i' would like to prove myself again against another couple of guys we probably back down further um get them done and then we'll see to towards the end of next year probably and maybe moving to Pro yeah and like like you said I like that that you want to if there's a couple of guys in the division now the fight that like we were talking before we start here take these risks take these hard fights because you know when you go pro you face all this if you look at uh some of the pros starting off uh from Ireland yeah kind of levels above kind of people coming in with the same experience and I think would you put that down to just the levels we in the country at the minute yeah I think I think I think we've got some of the best guys in in in the world like genuinely like the amateur scene here is crazy like it's hard it's hard to find someone now who generally isn't isn't half decent like I feel like everyone like right from novice like like there's as I say there's some novice guys in my gym here legit Killers like like they haven't they haven't fought yet or anything but I think I think because the level of people just here the interest in MMA the amount of people that are putting the work in I think it's just that's the reason why it's Rose So High um so yeah I think as you say I'm more than game to take a couple more amateur fights against guys out there here de to be top of the country you know what I mean um I think there's a couple of fights out there for me that in the amateurs FWE and lightweight I'd be willing to jump between the two um I'll be back to F 100% for pro but um I'm more than capable enough competing at like amateur um so so yeah either or like with food I think there's a couple of amateur fights out there that I can take that will do me well in terms of like the resume and stuff so I'm not done yet with amateur but I'm not far away from going pro yeah it seems like not in the not too distant future and I think like said maybe three four more fights you'll probably have all the kind of top top guys be like the the new guys com in so I wait to see your fight next weekend I'm going to be there I'm nearly sure 100% or 99% um I'm going to let you go thank you so much for your time is there anyone to say before you go um yes shout out to everyone that's actually helped me in the training camp um my dad of course for everything he does he cooks all the food and stuff so he's the nutritionist right now uh and every everyone at the gym everyone who's bought a ticket all the sponsors um Dean Samuels Barbers um Bobby Shephard showed me all my nutrition and stuff um Andrew rans actually came on board started sponsoring me there um coming up with this fight um cantic Sports Bast he does all my massage and stuff like that and um Neil maski tyin as well he's sorted me out um they all supported me loads during the training camp Oh and big bran as well s with Flur so done us plenty um a lot of help going into this training camp with just sorting us out um without them it would have been a lot harder um who else think we've got was oh and capture he's sorting our training gear so yeah all all good looking forward to next week putting on the show hopefully see you there yeah no hopefully I'm near 100 since I'm going I just need to sort out to travel up there but um thank you very much for your time best of skill and I'm like I said 9% sure I'll see you next week and thank you your evening no baller thank you see you later