Shea Leathem interview fansviewmma

Summary

Shea is a high level amateur fighter from Ireland, training out of Team Sanda he takes on Paul Buckley for the IUR welterweight title

Transcript (youtube_captions)

[Music] [Music] thank you [Music] okay so we have a little Shay leading them here he's gonna be fighting for your Welterweight Title against Paul Buckley and he's got eight fights in total he's fought if you look at his topology he's fought the best of the best so he's fighting another one of the best this weekend um how are you feeling how's fight week I'm feeling good man fight week kids going recording the plan we're just doing the final preparations for the fight obviously we're dropping away it slowly and uh yeah fight which it's going good it's going good yeah so like this would be your like ninth kind of fight week at amateur because you've obviously fought eight times four um how easy I don't want to say easy but like when you talk to us about your first one like what was that like compared to now did you notice yourself getting better and learning things throughout those weeks that have brought you to where you are now being so calm and everything on point yeah yeah just the the more you experience like fight week in itself the more you become accustomed to it and then obviously with that you'll come better prepared uh what's your workout but and my first night uh I'm a mayor fight it wasn't too bad because like since I had so many K1 fights and obviously it's the same process so it wasn't that much of like a was a shock to the system it was just the same [ __ ] really just uh in my first Amazon fight I implemented water loading that was like I think it was the first time I've done that because beforehand it was just like dropping away slowly and then stopped in the last couple of days to win but now we just implemented Water Road and which is a lifesaver but it's it's growing at the same time it is I've seen people do I've been there in person and it's not something I obviously the same like one you're probably sick of water during the week and then as it comes to obviously closer to where you're and you have to cut that out you're probably like I love a drop of water so it's like two two extremes that like that must be harsh on the body but you're fighting part you fought a teammate before as well when you're coming up to fight a fighter do you study them or do you just want to implement your own game or do you look at bits and pieces or tell me how you do or does Darren do most of the to studying for it I feel like it's necessary to actually assess your opponent just to see what their Tendencies are um of course I want to implement my own game because you know you always want to fight your own fight but uh uh what that Tendencies we just like we just walk on how to counter them Tendencies like you know like the tag dance obviously because unless what Paul is going to come Sunday uh but yeah it's just it's me and dads we walk together throughout the weeks and uh we just fine-tune it uh closer comes to the fight firefighter and obviously four but this is the second bet you fought for about and back to back fights obviously so you're up there and then so I look at your record as well right and your record it may be a losing record but I have talked to people that have gone to your gym and trained for more videos they won't say their name and they can't understand how you've actually lost a fight they said they've never seen like they said the levels that they seen you in the gym is unbelievable and talk to us about Santa obviously you've got Jess who's up there in the top as well you've got arm and obviously we can't talk about what he's doing after gun like taught us what the feelings I can dance and talk to us about down he seems to have this he wants to instill this Champion mindset in everyone that's what I've noticed talk to us about obviously your teammates and Darren and what they mean to you well my teammates are down to me and everything to me uh I wouldn't be like kind of have to fight I'll have the passion I am but every single one of them they all contributed to everyone great ethically but it's it's high level in our gym that's that's just the way we train we always train high level we train small and we try to we try to train to like to prefer the two professional levels so that's what guys wants to implement was that professional Championship mindset and being able to like um so I didn't know I was going with that but like uh dies just always wants to just that always wants us to have that winning mindset as well going down with this go into the cage run what Supreme confidence and all abilities because obviously it's all mental in this game if you feel like you're just you're not like with it and and that you're gonna lose like obviously if you're having a negative mindset going into a fight it's gonna have a negative outcome so we just wants to push that positively Championship mindset professional mindset and um yeah that's mainly it really yeah because I've seen them obviously guests of the fight with Brian Manning on very short notice and I think I've seen it with you then I think like when you're standing there and you're not sure because sometimes I know yourself like sometimes I understand I go and what's this decision going to be and and I say you're the same dance like head up hands up you're a champion so that's what I really like really like about them and uh like we're Aaron obviously gone to do the Octagon thing like how exciting is it like obviously you want to go pro eventually that you've got the likes of octagon pfl all these other show because obviously I would presume the goal is UFC but there's so many more outlets now for when you do turn pro like when you see Amazon to that like stat me make you excited oh yeah because uh that's kind of like Paving away for us and obviously like uh with him going over down there and if he gets a contract obviously that's going to put sander and and the light on as well as one of us Goes Pro uh Octonaut might lock that and be like oh yeah [ __ ] we'll pick him up since oh man he's been been with us you know so it's it's good to see that online's with a professional company and uh and it's very good that nowadays that there's a lot of professional companies out there and not just not this just the UFC battle or just like you know like the top ranks yeah you know always on TV and [ __ ] like that so it's good to see that there's many like different options once we go pro yeah because there's there's a huge amount in Irish MMA like I said we could see it here and and just name people in your way class for about 10 minutes that are very good like yourself Paul obviously Liam Jess there's laws of them but to get to where you are now to your nine fight another type of like we need to go back to the start what when did you start and why did you start uh like completely like since like any combat all the way uh well have I got in the actual Combat Sports is that my my dad actually brought me down to the gym mainly because you just wanted me to defend myself for when I go to secondary school so it wasn't really me that walked in the gym I was kind of like trailing to the gym like as a kid but um over the years just learned to start loving it myself and and uh just yeah just it's just it's it's a game to where like you have to try it three and all it's like and uh you just it's it's hard to explain but it's um uh [ __ ] sorry sorry it's like I say because you won't be able to explain it because you need to because I always you need to be in there like there's things that I might experience in life that I might say to you and you're like explain that and I'll be like no but especially because fighting such a small amount do it that someone said to me yesterday put it to it this way like your your your hobby or your profession like is being punched and kicked in the face right yeah how bad does that sound it's actually matter like I always I always paint this picture on my head I just find that mad that like all of us we just meet in The Sound area for a certain time just to kick the [ __ ] out of the shut off that's it's brilliant like it's a brilliant concept but it goes back obviously to the old days traditions and obviously there's a lot of rules and regulations now and like if you look at Irish MMA what do you think of the scene at the minute because if you look at MMA in general how is involved evolved in such a short space of time when you're looking at like the images around your weight class is like what you like what you think obviously your high level pause high level like what you think was compared to other countries do you think we're quite High because I believe we have adapts me obviously being biased now I'd agree I feel like Ireland uh has one of the best amateur um scenes at the moment it's just everybody seems to be high level like the amateur level is just like completely different to what would have been years ago like if you compare it to 10 years ago when like pros were just like there wasn't really an amateur game like years ago like 10 years ago just people just it straight away harp in the Pro like pros back then probably wouldn't survive with some of the amateurs off today just because it's that high level now and you probably have to thank like learning what Alexa UFC and obviously like Conor McGregor who paved the way for like who like inspired like a lot of the younger generation now like yeah you really see that I feel like most of the fighters especially Irish Fighters will probably say oh like Conor McGregor would be like my idol or like the likes of Jon Jones you know all the top level [ __ ] uh like UFC fighters MMA fighters yeah because that's what I get a lot of obviously why did you get into MMA and what I find now is a lot of the fighters that are 18 19 20 21 22 kind of are like we start because the Conor so you can actually see what he done has actually this is kind of what's coming true now but um I want to talk about like your first ever fight it doesn't have to be MMA it can be K1 or whatever because I believe it was K1 you were fighting at first when you went in to actually compete for the first time you get into the ring like what kind of nerd is the nerves is it excitement like what's going through your mind then well since I was very young when I started like fighting uh it was really a lot of like networks like I was like Loki I was like kind of I was scared to fight because like since I was going to try like I was a child as well so like I don't really have that money aggressiveness uh in me to fight but I just fought anywhere because well if I'm going to be trained why not [ __ ] fight like you know what I mean but uh now it was mainly nervousness and uh in my early career okay one especially that like the nails would be that bad in between runs I'd be gagging like I just got that gag attacking like I remember one of the fights that that is time to run me point to write my face and said don't get [ __ ] sick I swear to God I'm gonna [ __ ] sick someday like this [ __ ] right face but uh yeah that was that was mainly a lot of hours but now like I don't really get an album I I just get excited like I I love to fight like I just get this serious Buzz uh like every time I'm about to go in the fight and all that like it's it's brilliant um uh yeah yeah I just I'm always excited if I don't want to get nervous anymore because I know what I meant I know what I'm in for like so like no point yet obviously not like obviously like so what be times or like like a tiny bit of an hour to kicking but it's it wouldn't really bother me it wouldn't affect me mentally physically now yeah because obviously you use it there is going to be a small bit of nerves but I think if you didn't have a small bit of nose because you didn't care but like you know how to control it now and due to obviously with the shoulders the way they run now even for like amateurs coming up for the first couple of fights do you think uh obviously if you go and you could do rounds or you could do inter clubs or whatever do you think amateurs overlooked the actual like the day the day in itself is an event like you have to get there early get your hands wrapped stuff like that to waiting around do you think that's something that amateurs don't anticipate because like if you're on the top of the card like you will be you're gonna have to do a lot of waiting around like how did you manage to to use your time efficiently and productively that because I know a lot of people like I want to go and then they end up spending their energy before they actually go out has that ever happened to you and how do you manage your time because you're usually on on the main card so you usually waiting a while and probably like years ago like I used to fight main cards on or like main events on K1 show so I had like my first ever like uh like main event it was obviously it was weird because like usually like I would have been used to like turning up fighting within the first five fights but uh when my first uh I think it was a co-main event like waiting now I'm sure and then the anticipation building and all that and now I was getting like red like getting high on higher since they're becoming closer to my fight um it's all due to experience I feel like whenever you first experience like fighting late on a card like like yeah what is it dear John and what they kind of kick in and weave it because you're just ready to fight and then like you'd have like a weak dump that's what happened to me like I I was just there I was trying to keep awake and all that the nails kept getting at me and then by the time came to fight it was like I was we were sleepy you know just like just like get it's like very tired it wasn't all there and like that would cost me like the first round because I wouldn't have been into the fight but uh yeah I think it just really comes down to like experience like how many times like you're you're fighting lit yeah there was a girl who told me and it's actually I I couldn't believe it she said she'd go in and she get her and she'll have a nap because then when she kind of gets up closer to a fight the adrenaline starts kicking in then rather than having the dumb myself how can you have a nap before you have a fight like you're like that's Madness but no uh it's you've had so many fights now like I said you've always fought the best people like is that something that you look for if they gave you a name and you thought it wasn't going to challenge you would you turn it down and look obviously for the better option that's what it looks like has happened or have you always just been offered the best because of your level I feel like I've just always been offered the best because of my life man because uh Sarah like obviously being like a club that's up there with high level Fighters and but no I wouldn't necessarily turn down any final like if that show like gives me the name I'll say yeah [ __ ] it when is it and then yeah that's like we'll just start going from now but now I I wouldn't really like turn on like a fight but like if it's the best then I'll just I'll always go for it because uh What I Hear trying to be the best professional not like the best amateur so I want to like basically iron out all my mistakes Now by fighting like top level and then by time comes the pro like the smash snap yeah I'm saying because when you go pro with zero zero the slay is clean like you could lose I I always point to Karen Clark for as an example he was 13 and 10. so he had like a 50 50 record kind of an amateur now look what he's doing like like all all the mistakes that you're making or I don't want to say mistakes that you make but the the gaps maybe that you didn't realize you had are you learning a lot from these wins and like from the losses and the wins as well like do you look back on your wins as well and pick out things that maybe you could have done better because a lot of Fighters seem to just look at the losses where someone said to me they actually look at their wins more and say I could have finished it here do you look at both to see where you can improve for the future oh yeah for sure I feel like it's necessary to always like to watch any of your fights back just to like fix all the mistakes that like you've made win or lose I feel like it's very necessary to grow as a fighter um but uh yeah like I I feel like the records in amateur it shouldn't really matter to anybody like I don't think like I don't give a [ __ ] about my record like I just want to get in there fighting like become better as a fighter and um though obviously the more I fight them like the more I'll pick out my mistakes and uh obviously that'll benefit me more in the future when I find pro because when I go pro I won't be I want to make and I'm like amateurized mistakes yeah and like that because you're fighting the lights the top like the Liams the Conor McCarthy's you you're fighting the highest level like the likes of Conor I think he's going to go pro very soon I think Paul will be going pro very soon after this so the question begs now when do you plan on going pro or do you just want to kind of take it fight by fight with amateur or do you have a plan um I'll take a fight by fight for another I haven't really like done myself about a plan like I'd like to I'd like to actually Tom Pro within the next two or three years that would be like the slightest bit to a plan I have but um like until the opportunity arises I just want to get every fight over and on with just the iron out all the mistakes become better as a fighter yeah no that's that's exactly because like that you could have three or four more fighting or I feel Ready Or you could go for another 10 fights and especially with the amount of shows and here and the talent like I said do so much opportunity for you to get so much experience in such a short time and I know you're not looking past Paul this weekend because Paul lovese is a good competitor like that's why your boat in a title it's like do you have any plans for the rest of the year or you just looking at this fight as it stands like do you have any fights booked I mean sorry yeah after this I'll have a fight booked on kids cage conflict uh I'm not sure if you've seen the poster but that's foreign that's all the time to play it right now and uh obviously like after this fight I don't know if I'll get another offer it just it just it just all comes at me and then just wait and see what the edit is really and then it happens when it happens because sometimes you could lay out a plan for a year and then something happens in the first month of the year or a sort of fighter pulls out you get niggly injury and it doesn't go to plan so I kind of like like have a I have a kind of a plan in place and then just kind of ad hoc it like you said whatever comes out it comes at you so um obviously you're gonna be fighting this weekend um I'm Gonna Let You Go I want to thank you very much for your time because I know it's fight week there's a lot going on for you um I want to wish you the best luck I can't wait to see your flight again because the last flight that I seen and obviously with Stephen Curry and I love the way you opened up that fight I was sitting here whoa is that something you do regularly actually I've seen have I seen that yeah you watch back on my face and see I like starting off that weekend because it's just it's it's a good mood set or realistic I just I just arrived I just I just arrive up in the office like yeah let's go like you know I remember seeing it with you before and then I'll see when it happened on the day I was like yeah he does that before because at first I was like because I think Steven did he go to touch gloves but you had said you touch gloves in the middle or something I went no touch gloves or something was it and then no I I kind of touched gloves like before the fight starts because before I'm touching gloves because like you know some people use touching gloves to their advantage to like really like like close the distance because like you know whenever like people when they're touching gloves like it's just your guards down but I said the fight's stuff I don't I don't believe that you should really touch gloves at the star but I obviously the respect and Sean before and after fight but why is [ __ ] fighting like each other's head yeah that's what Alexander Yankovic to say and he said like I don't think he even I know I think he might touch close but he'll he'll give you the stair and that's what you know joined around someone was trying to he goes no no no it was after after yeah there's no respect but because you could end up like to remember Wonder Boy and was a Wonder Boy in downtown all he did it seemed like it was touch close for the whole fight and you're just like what it's like fight after the fight like just two fights you want to see so yeah I can't wait till you fight again in person it's gonna be a national pleasure I can't wait to see Darren and all the guys there again is there anything you want to say before you go uh I just want to shout out my team my coach my family my friends everybody that's coming up to the fight on Sunday and my sponsors as well I appreciate everything he's doing for me uh you just don't understand it's a massive app all the support you guys give me so that's uh that's that's all I'd like to say perfect I want to thank you so much for your time again and I can't wait to see you on Sunday thank you so much for your interview man I'll see you on Sunday perfect it's been my pleasure