Denis Frimpong interview, Fansviewmma

Summary

Denis recently competed in the Oktagon challenge where team Ireland competed against team England where competitors had to live in a house with each other, we speak about how it was in the house among other things there is no results given away as the show will air shortly.

Transcript (youtube_captions)

[Music] thank you so I'm here with Dennis the Menace fringpong Dennis by name Dennis by or Dennis Menace by name Menace by Nature so obviously we all know what you uh arm and Aaron Matthew early obviously Paddy and Sham as coaches uh what you're all doing a knock-on challenge obviously we don't know results we can't know the results but I just want to get a couple of your thoughts on on what happened in there so how was it being brought together for something like this it's pretty cool and how was it like being put against one a former opponent and two other uh fighters from the country to to make team Ireland um so yeah like first of all obviously I never got to do an eye math um and represent my country in the sport and like Slide the tri-color and represent my my home nation you know um so that side of it was that was a big part of what I decided to do it um it was an opportunity obviously and uh walk back or country to do it against in [ __ ] England you know what I mean um the colonizers the the most hated country in the world [Music] um yeah you know hey look I live in Manchester I don't live in England but um yeah you know it's uh it was a good opportunity I I I I was I was straight onto it when someone so I got told about it um and obviously when I heard about some of the people that were going to be on I uh that excited me as well um you know um potentially having to fight a former opponent again obviously like you know I won the fight so I didn't really do anything too much of it and um we'd kind of been sad with each other since then so oh my God we've kind of been signed with each other since then so um yeah it wasn't like I knew there wasn't going to be any sort of tension like we're kind of we'd kind of a bit friendly after our fight we kind of squashed the beef you know what I mean once you've spent uh three rounds on the cage with someone you sort of you gain a certain level of respect you know what I mean for each other so it's mad after you fight each other and you see this with all the fighters they usually become like that they're friendly with each other you see some Fighters become great friends after do you think that's a magical thing about MMA because I think it's it's so it's so mad if you it me and you went out and had a fight in the street we probably never talk but when you do it in the cage it's probably because you know the process that you've gone to to get there is it yeah yeah exactly we know that we're both in it for the same reason we like we're part of like less than one percent of the world that do this sport so we probably have more I probably have more in common than any of my opponents than I do any other random person that walks down the street you know what I mean so um yeah it was uh look I mean certain certain opponents I'm probably never going to be friends but you know what I mean uh I don't think me and Chris Morris will ever be mates uh as much as I'd like to be made to him you know what I mean I think he's a cool guy um but um no I don't think he ever wants to be mean to me me um you got a little bit too personal on that one but um yeah other than that me I'm I'm really like or I've earning my former former opponents you know what I mean once we've once we've spent time in there together I also feel like he didn't really gain my respect Chris Morris he he got knocked the [ __ ] out of me he didn't he didn't even get to the final Bell so yeah no that was you said a bit personal it sounds like maybe you regreted your your actions at the time but I don't think that would be you because no I don't regret anything me um you know I went personal and that was it you know what I mean he had every option to knock me out he had every option to finish me and embarrass me and then me make me look like a [ __ ] boy and said you looked like a [ __ ] for not son enough for his mom so Jesus Christ you're all was that um also we're Team England there was someone in there as well that you've been calling for for quite a while I believe uh Tennessee yeah nah nah Teddy Stringer Teddy Stringer Miracle no you know we had a Grappler match we had a bit of a chat he's actually all right I wanted to still have a fight with him in the in the cage but we never never materialized don't think it will materializing the near future anyway um George stains it was mate oh that's who yeah young boy George um so yeah I have been calling for him for a while I actually have um you know I've been I've been messaging on dming them for about a year I'd say since even before Chris Morris you know when he was ranked number whenever he was ranked number one in the UK in Ireland and he hadn't fought for like time he hadn't there was a sage you hadn't fought for months and you saw ranked number one uh and I was like calling it call him at me like look like you have to [ __ ] defend it if you're gonna call yourself number one have it in your [ __ ] Instagram bio like I'm number one mixed martial artist and you can all right and you've got a [ __ ] back it up you've got to defend it and I'll look if I was number on me if I was a champion in any promotion I'd defend against anyone I'd defend against all like anyone can get it at that point I'm like I have to prove that I'm number one you know what I mean I have to prove that I'm still number one because it's not what you've done it's what you've done what have you done lately do you know what I mean so yeah it's one of them uh but yeah I got I you know I got to I got to finally meet him in the flash theme face to face he got to experience what I'm like as a person so yeah I can't wait for that and there's one thing I just want to touch on what you said obviously he was number one he hadn't fought in a while and I seen something that Jon Jones said recently so obviously you're of the same opinion someone asked him does he think he should be ranked pound for pound number one and he said no he thinks either Alex or Islam should be because they've been the one more actively fighting is that the way you see if if you're going to be the top dog you can't beat the top dog and then take months off and you have to defend what you own like yeah exactly you know what I mean like there's a lot of people that claim number one this and that um but you know you gotta back it up you've got to back it up against the best as well you can't be fighting number 15 and still saying you're number one you know what I mean you can't be 12-0 fighting a one-and-old guy with no grappling and then going to decisions and saying you're number one do you know I mean you can't be you know you can't be fighting [ __ ] guys you've got to fight the guys at around two through ten to remain and beat them guys and then you can really say you're number one you know but the fact of the matter is George swerve me he swerved Curtis Campbell he served a couple other fights in that top rank there and um that's it you know so who was actually on the the team from the UK If I can't remember exactly because I was obviously English too the english team so they actually only had two English fighters on the team uh in fact I I I'd argue that they only had one English fighter on the team which was George you know what I mean um they had a Frenchman uh Slash Congolese guy called Hassan karlesi um from GB top team they had two scousers who are basically Irish they're Jake McHugh and they had Bol Garvin now you know they might as well the Irish them was you know what I mean so they should have swapped the [ __ ] kit and got our green kit you know what I mean so yeah they'd you know George James is the only real Englishman on that team yeah and I like what you said there with the Scout and the Irish you know obviously we both know Shem and we bought no scouts or whatever it's a very similar kind of personalities very similar and what was the reaction to obviously Shane was over coaching team Ireland what was the reaction to that from the English so yeah there was a bit of a there was a bit of a stick given you know um but I think real scars do not consider themselves English they consider themselves scouse um you know they hate the queen just as much as we do and it runs deeper than just a cultural thing and like a banter thing that were similar bro most of them have Irish blood in them you know what I mean they're only a generation or two removed from being fully Irish and the Irish built Liverpool you know so um yeah uh I think Hashem was the only one that made a true skills um decision and decided to Don the the track color which is um you know Noble of them and uh obviously him being Jake McHugh's teammate and have been another on the other team that was a bit awareness there as well but you know it is what it is I I can imagine everyone so talk to me about the Coalition team obviously he had Paddy Hulan and Sham you're quite close with Sham before before the Octagon challenge but Patty Houlihan is obviously for Irish people or people in the MMA you we've seen them on our shows he wears his hat on his sleeve he's like a man of the people in Ireland's obviously a politicians trying to change things for the better and how did you find Dental as a dynamic and how did you find paddy um so obviously uh I'd only really Matt Patty a couple of times since different shows and stuff like that um yeah I know you obviously I know about all the stuff he does with the politics and that like you know he's really he's really trying to change things like you say he's a real working class hero like as cliche as that sense um a real man of the people uh really trying to you know get these lizards out of uh Power uh in the doll um but as well as that just before that even he's he's a guy like when honor was coming up he was coming up he was in the UFC you know what I mean he um he was someone that I watched when I first got into MMA I first started like training martial arts myself and that like and uh for a certainly noticing that there was Irish MMA so he was like one of the first like an Irish MMA Pioneer like would have been like Conor him Neil Siri Joe Duffy um artem later on you know what I mean and like uh you know caught up Hendrick and these kind of guys they were like the Pioneers so to have him as a coach and like have them like coaching me you know commenting on different bits that I do well different bits I do I don't do well and you know what I mean just fixing up little things it was it was just really good it was uh it was surreal mate to be honest it was really surreal you know that's cool because like that Patty you can see how much fights when when his Fighters are in the corn you can see how much it actually means to him because I'd see him nearly every show I go to but like that did what kind of an atmosphere was there with Team Island was it just you were all together all United um even with the potential of potentially facing each other in that that might get weird obviously we can't say but that might get weird uh if that's what it comes to but do you just focus on what was ahead of you straight away um yeah so the way that the show is set up um obviously can't give too much away but um yeah there was there was a real team unity we actually use the British oh classic British tactic tactics against them um we divided and we conquered you know what I mean we we use dividing con we were a team unit um and we we see we've seen that like they weren't you know they weren't the same they didn't have the same level of camaraderie that we had um so obviously me me particularly and the rest of the lads we played on that and don't get her twisted like the rest of the Irish lads they can [ __ ] talk too you know what I mean like I I might just take a notch above and I might go a bit beyond what most people are willing to say but Matthew Elliott's called The Boogeyman for a reason you know um Aaron McDonald he's well able for the [ __ ] talk as well we've seen that in the middle of mine in his fight and Iron Man as well I mean he's you know and the people might look at him and think certain things but like he's really about it you know what I mean so yeah it's um it's gonna be a good show it's going to be a good show it's not just it's not just me here just to put it into context that was [ __ ] talking like I I might have just gone a bit further than that one else that wouldn't be like it at all Dennis I must say it wouldn't be late yet but um what what can we expect from this because it is the first time running when I heard about this I was like this is this sounds amazing obviously with the Octagon they've really come in and they're really right like they're pushing sham obviously as you see um and they're really making trying to make a mark and with this the way this happened um it is it is pretty cool like what can we expect like so all the boys are still talking to all the English um like is it gonna be a very very fun watch oh listen um I don't know if you've been watching The Ultimate Fighter this last season but I've I found it a bit dead to be honest I think it's like one of the seasons The Ultimate Fighter I've ever seen um obviously Conor is like oh and seven now um as far as the fights are gone but like I just feel like he's lost that he's lost that bit of uh sharpness to his tongue it's gone a bit Rusty you know and I mean he's just a bit yeah I don't know um this is gonna be another level and obviously they have the other Dynamic of like the team challenges and stuff like that so um yeah and you know the the producers that are doing this show they come from a reality TV background um so they know how to put a show together I don't know if you've seen some of the some of the the stadium shows an octagon that they've done in Eastern Europe and Germany and stuff like that they're doing like 20 000 Series 22 000 sold out super stadiums families coming and watching and all you know what I mean it's not just a lot of drunk Lads so um yeah it's gonna be it's gonna be proper proper good and then branching out into this Market you know what I mean um obviously the arena 18 000 Seer um I believe biggest MMA arena in in the UK like biggest indoor Marina in the UK if I'm not mistaken um and obviously they are they they probably have big plans for future shows in London Birmingham Dublin you know um at some point and I really do think that they're they're they're gonna they're gonna take over and they're gonna you're going to show the likes of cage Warriors and these kind of guys that they're they're on the way out you know what I mean I think people are just kind of not sick of cage Warriors but it's all that there is there's no competition you need healthy competition for that like if it was just McDonald's people get sick of McDonald's you know you need to you need her to be Burger King KFC Subway and all that for it to for it to be healthy competition because then they all compete against each other they're all they all have to up their their game do you know what I mean so as a result I think cage Warriors will have to up their game you know what I mean I think the FL Europe will have to up their game Bellator Europe will have to up their game you know investors be honest Bellator Europe to the SPG show at this point so I'll give another platform for Irish Fighters and UK Fighters other than SPG guys actually get fights um on big shows yeah no it is good and I hope it does do that because I don't know you might not be old enough to remember I used to watch wrestling so the WWE and WWE WCW went against each other the Monday night Wars and it just propelled both of them to just get better a better week and I hope that does happen because one thing I've noticed about octagon is their Mark and it's actually quite good you look at the UFC their Market machine and then you look at the others that they don't tell the story is quite as good whereas I say if I'm looking at the article and stuff it looks like they're able to they can take you and someone else and they can tell a story yeah because like I say the the guys that run it they they come from they come from a TV background and uh sorry I'm just moving about but um yeah they come from like like they have background in MMA but they have backgrounds other than MMA so they really know how to build a narrative um build the story and like show that we're not just [ __ ] you know we are savages but we're not just [ __ ] Savages you know what I mean we you know when we get when we get out of the cage there's months and months where we have normal lives you know what I mean we have like you know I live in a house just like the rest is I don't [ __ ] live in a pit under the [ __ ] cage waiting to [ __ ] come out and fight a tiger you know what I mean like it's it's not um you know like it's we're normal human beings as well and then like just goes to show that like any normal human being is capable of doing what we're doing if you put the work in and you just dedicate yourself to it um so yeah yeah and that's that's what obviously you've done you've I've interviewed you before and you've been in that stuff that's what I want to try to portray to people is it's not that nine minutes or the 15 minutes in the case people have put their lives into this and like that out of one percent of everyone that's in all the gyms are probably [ __ ] the 99 are usually humble you're probably in that one percent I'm that I I'm definitely not one percent mate but no do you know what to be fair I'll even I'll even I I give a bit everything like all the lives in the Irish team once they actually met me um and spent a bit of time around me they all said look like you know actually not as much of a [ __ ] as as people would think you know what I mean because like if I'm not fighting you if I if me and you don't have the potential to fight each other if you're not my weight and you're not a a possible opponent or you haven't signed the contract to fight me and we're waiting to fight each other you know I'm just a normal guy like I'm actually prop probably sounded in most of these other cons that are all trying to be humble and like khabib's probably a [ __ ] more than me in real life do you know what I mean like it like you know he's [ __ ] giving people money to do push-ups and all this [ __ ] homeless guys money to do I've never done [ __ ] like that you know what I mean I give money to a homeless guy just to give him money you know what I mean like um so yeah people have to understand that at the end of the day like this is this is show business as well as a sport and um you have to sell a fight you know what I mean so all these guys I just think oh I'm just going to be the quiet Samurai I'm just gonna go out and be respectful and all this sort of [ __ ] and yeah that's all good but unless you get to 20 and all 30 you know no one gives a [ __ ] mate no one gives a [ __ ] you're just going to be paid 400 quid to fight on some [ __ ] show against the Killer maybe get back you know what I mean maybe even fight someone like me who's gonna talk [ __ ] to you you might beat him and he gets paid more than you you know what I mean like so Kobe covering is a perfect example mate look he's lost three of his last four fights he's fighting for a title do you know what I mean and Bilal Muhammad's there oh I'm a respectful guy you know what I mean he's got like an eight or seven fight win streak beating some top 10 guys and he's not fighting for an old title so if people don't learn from that then that's their problem as far as I'm concerned as well I think he should if he talked more he would have had a shot by now he wouldn't have to be oh you're gonna face this guy then the next one I wanna please obviously you look at obviously Patty was your coach John abandon five and all um she markets herself quite good and she's in the UFC like there's a host of lads I think the women's division is different I think they they Market themselves a little bit differently I'm not going to get into it but uh yeah but she's got the whole Mama B single mother she markets herself essentially she's got she's got a great story she's got a great story behind her and she you know like yeah yeah and she got her skills like let's be honest with the women's talent pool isn't as deep as lightweight men's you know what I mean like by the way lightweight and welterweight men's divisions are stacked that's the majority of males on the planet even though don't do MMA are within that those way categories so you've got to stand out from those guys you know what I mean because there's a lot of good guys out there you know what I mean and you know you're not going to get the opportunities unless you [ __ ] make something different about yourself you know what I mean um obviously you know like as a heavyweight man you can probably win four or five fights in a row go UFC four or five fights in a row there you're fighting for a title you know what I mean whereas as a lightweight man you're probably you know 15 fights before you get UFC you know um and then you're probably talking another 10 fights in a row before you fight for a titles you know what I mean so yeah no it is it is like that you have to like that you do have to stand out but I gotta let you go in a minute but I'm gonna get on to you said obviously we're octagon coming over and like the task of a potential Dublin so is that something you'd love to get on because a lot of your fights wouldn't I don't think any of your fights were in Dublin were they I have never fought in the Republic of Ireland which is [ __ ] disgraceful considering I'm the best lightweight in Ireland um yeah it is what it is um yeah I'm hoping they get a Dublin show going uh I'm gonna push for it anyway um yeah obviously you know there's a certain uh there's a certain high ranking member of Irish MMA that has a bit of a Stranglehold on um you know who what shows go where and what shows get to go in Dublin and whatnot and they push that whole safe MMA thing as the reason for it but we all know it's about money um and yeah you know uh I've ended up as a result having to fight a lot in Northern Ireland and obviously in the UK um but yeah we will uh you know hopefully with the backing of octagon behind me um I'll be able to push and get a you know get a man an Irish show going hopefully I've made enough of an impression on the show that they'll uh that they'll want to push me and you know get me on there I bet you have made an impression and like that we'd all love to see if I end up because like that I've seen you fight once I think and I was at your fighting championship against uh Solomon but other than that because your fights have had to be in different uh in different countries like obviously up north I wasn't doing it when you were when you first started I came in just after so I only got to see you once so you would have a lot of a lot of fan base here so that's something goes and not just media but I think fans would push more amazed what we need in the country we need more of these Top Class shows and hope yeah we need more than just cage Warriors and [ __ ] Bellator Europe let's be honest the SBG show channel so yeah so it's going to be um when does this do you have any day on when this airs or anything like that just that kind of information if I'm not mistaken it should be airing um the start of September uh it'll be on the Zone uh which is like a pretty big uh box in an MMA stream platform octagon TV and as far as I know there's some Rumors in the middle that um it's going to be on uh an even bigger uh broadcaster I can't speak too much about that but um I think that should be confirmed in the next week or two you know that's what I've heard um that's and that if that gets out Brian Lacy had just said that on an interview a few days ago so you know I I believe that I should be okay to say as much as I'm saying so um yeah if it gets on there mate it's uh it's gonna be wild um but yeah yeah perfect so I want to thank you very much for your time I actually can't wait to see this um because I know what you're like I've met you in person and me and you'll get on like a house on fire anyways but I know what you're like coming out to fight I'm like Dennis do you think you're crossing the line there's no line Dave today all I'm saying is yeah all my previous opponents have gone [ __ ] talk but it's all been online you can just [ __ ] ignore it easy to ignore do you know what I mean easy to block me if you have blocked me if you just ignore me not open the messages but when you're living in the same house as me and you're eating your breakfast and I'm sat at the breakfast table with you you're in the living room and I've sat in the living room with you you know what I mean we're training in the same gym we're walking past each other every day we're in the car together you know what I mean like it's hard to get away from and um it's a death by a thousand courts so I mean it's uh daily torment um every every single member of their team at some point lost ahead with me Barrel one I'm not gonna say who but um yeah every single one of them at some point during that show during the filming lost their head at me and um yeah it's what I do you know I couldn't think of anything worse for one of your opponents to be in that position to be with you day in day out I could I could think of them I would rather go in and clip everyone's toenails with my teeth and have to live in a house with you if I had to fight it I I can't wait to see it um I want to thank you so much for your time um I'm looking for I'm really looking forward to seeing I'm really looking forward to see how you get on his team uh how how the fights go and just how to like the commodity camaraderie and everything went and and how sham and Paddy were which is is really really exciting I'm really glad octagon I've done this and that they took Ireland and the uh England to do it so I want to thank you for your time is there anything you want to say before you go um yeah I mean obviously shout out my sponsors um kept me going throughout this whole thing you know they're the ones that make it possible for me to even train full-time and really dedicate myself obviously while I was away I wasn't able to do any pts I wasn't able to do any work you know so obviously they paid us and stuff like that but while I was away you know what I mean like you know you're away um so yeah share it to all of them they can all be seen they're all tagged on my bio on Instagram so um go check them out um share it with the fans view MMA you know believed in me from the Stars been there from the start from the amateur days and everyone just keep in mind as well yeah I have only been trained in MMA two years I made my amateur debut less than two years ago and I believe it was August uh 2021 now on cage cage conflict so some of these guys have fights coming back years and years and I've been training their whole lives so um just keep that in mind when you see the shores are yeah there's some Banger fights on the show um yeah as well as all the drama like forget about the drama you know at the end of the day everyone's here to see the fights and the fights are all bangers so can't wait for it to come out can't wait for everyone to see it and I hope everyone enjoys it and then obviously um there's uh the first octagon car in the UK and Ireland is going to be on in Manchester Shamrock's already on it uh obviously Jake um Jake is it um Paul Smith and Jake quickening quickened it I'm pronouncing that right um that's going to be on a uh the finale of the show it's gonna be on it and then as far as I know everyone everyone from the show is going to be fighting on it um you know on some level so that'll be uh that'll be a good a good uh a good show as well so expect to see a lot of Irish fans over there it's only like a 30 quid flight over so yeah yeah and it's a lot cheaper staying hotels there than it is to say here let me tell you 100 100 what did you think I left 300 spend a night in a hotel I nearly died yeah I I pay 100 sure for taxi home instead you know what I mean it makes sense well yeah I appreciate you having me on anyway Dave yeah for Ken as I say you've been you've been there from the start you've been you're one of the first people that got me on um but first people that got the interview so you know I'll always have time for you um even when you know the bigger the bigger people start knocking on the door to ask for interviews you'll get you'll get first preference lad yeah hi Man live man absolute gentlemen it's a pleasure to talk to you again it has been a while we need to keep it a lot shorter than this and have interviews every couple of months I'd say you need to get me on your yeah you need to get me on an impersonal mate you've been interviewing some foreign get me on that