Éabha Cruise interview

Summary

Éabha is an amateur fighter, representing SBG HQ she will compete at the IMMAF European championships next week having competed at a few international events including the first ever MMA supercup. We talk about her experiences and learnings from previous competitions bringing…

Transcript (youtube_captions)

[Music] so I'm here with AA Cruz is going to be coming at the who's going to be going to the upcoming IMF competition she's no stranger to them she's no stranger around the regional scene how are you thank you very much for your time and how how excited are you for the upcoming competition I'm brilliant yeah thanks for having me um I'm awesome yeah really really excited for this one yeah no it's a good competition there's a good crew going over I've got the list because I'm going to interview a few more people people as well but you're no stranger to these you you've been to you've been to these International competitions before so is it easier going into this one after having the experience of the past ones yeah so like most of my career has been imath made me debut um on the imath and now six out of nine me fights have been here so because their tournament style like they're obviously different and uh having being to trade them I I've now learned some things that I'm taking into this one and that I actually I I haven't really taken into any other ones um CU it's tournament style you know you can't you can't prep who who you're fighting um so in the past I kind of just would have went in and like you know had a fight and been of one one fight and all them but I haven't gotten Gold N of them yet so me me switch now with this one and want kind of taken with the experience that I have [ __ ] the opponent that that's kind of where what what what my strengths are but um more so on the physical side and I've taken on a lot of pts now this this year so um one big thing that I've never really done as consistently um as I probably should have been over these years is meting condition I would have done it would have done it but uh now I'm walking it out about three times a week and I've actually two different strength condition one more offer strength and more s for condition and um I'm really seeing differences with that um along with mardio running is another thing that I've not done as much of over the years I would have always done would have done a lot of cardio over the years and more than string inition but the cardio would have been doing which is still beneficial you know with with Sprints or kind of machine work and so like assault bike rubers and all that but I'm finding the running really really beneficial really really beneficial and I'm doing that now two three times a week as well so with those two things since the start of the year I I've been really consistent with them and I've really been seeing results uh with adding those two things in as well so I'm just looking forward now to with a mixture of everything um putting it all on display yeah like like obviously you have the technical skills you've been doing that the whole time but adding these to your game is going to help obviously with your gas tank and and different things going into it as well um one of the things about these competition formats is the day and day way and day after another how do you manage that what's your your way do you have much way to cut coming into obviously because it's day of I wouldn't say there's that much but how do you find the day by day it's definitely harder it's definitely harder um and especially like that when when you win the first one and then you know you you have to do the same then the next day um I I I fight uh in the imos Flyway 56.7 so I had been 62 um and the past few weeks I've been cutting down on 58 now so um I'm only like one point something off so I've not much to go at all and so I'm happy we're at but uh yeah I started the C earlier this time as well this is another thing I'm actually doing a different for this I'm off I would have H dropped carbs uh a bit later on up about now I would have kind of just like dropped carbs and started to get the way down about a weeko but I W carbs up the days up until I fight this time and not just like weigh in and get like your porridge or whatever like I want to have carbs uh the days leading up to to fight not just trying to get the weight off quickly so uh hopefully that will have a difference as well starting it earlier and with that how are you feeling now you feeling better and especially with carbs because they kind of fuel your workouts and obviously they'll fuel when you're going in like how do you feel now starting that earlier does it does it feel a lot better than you would have at this stage out previously when you didn't start as early yeah it's a it's a bit of a mad because like way I would have done it in the past tra would have had me carbs say up until about now and then I would have started dropping on V now for the next week but then I think maybe I would have been feeling that more so when it comes to day two and the fights do you know when when when when it because it catches open and you can take a bit for your body to kind of get get get back to it and stuff um you know they can be longer to digest so power just isn't really enough and but up until now I've been having carbs with doing the weight loss I've been having carbs I haven't dropped carbs I did for a couple of days to get a bit down um but the past like two weeks I've been having carbs I'm going to be having carbs up until lifei and after the weigh so I'm going to have a lot more carbs in my system to feel me this time and but now I do feel a lot better yeah I know I'm going to feel better in there compared to the way I was doing as the last time definitely yeah know that's good because everyone says about C carbs OB say they do it the week weigh in for me weighin just sounds absolutely torturous I couldn't imagine doing it but it's what you love to do is fighting and that's part of the game but you've like like we talked about you've been to these competitions before um do you prefer these type of competitions or with the regional scene is it you find you find it hard to get match or is it you like fighting in the tournaments because you're fighting the best of the best and there's less chance of a pull out then as well because of the tournament style yeah now you said it there that's that's the big reasons why I do focus on these uh not not to have pull outs and in you are getting the best you know what I mean you are getting like really you're guaranteed hard fights and that's what I want like I've never taken an easy fight and I don't want to to ever take easy fights and especially like amateur if anything you know what I mean I want to get them in here because when I lose it's all just experience um so I don't like taking easy fights and you're not going to get an easy fight at the IMA um and then you know to get the goals like that that would set me up a lot for G Pro as well like I do I do want to Gold Medal a lot like you know what I mean it's going to be me four one now I'm just chasing that goal to be honest yeah I do I would like to be this is going to be the European so that'll do but yeah there is going to be I'd say there's going to be four nations at one stage and then the worlds are obviously going to come later in the year they usually come around no yeah they come around November I know during Co everything got a little bit messed up and it was a little bit messy to be back on track now but um how much do you love representing the country because you've gone out to this much you go as a team obviously you've got Northern Ireland and the Republic but we all come together for this like what kind of is that to to come together and to go out represent your country with other teammates I just love how on the flag to be honest like I really really do I even got it out there yesterday and I had it around me and all there just something so special about it you know what I mean something so special like I'm I'm really really proud uh where I come from and uh it's it's an honor for me to to be able to represent the country h on such a high level and then yeah it's great to go over with with Team Ireland as well and then you have the north mixing in out as well so that is great to see like yeah um so it's an honor it's an honor every time yeah and obviously in the gym you're in you're in SBG you've got the like said Danny D Begley schnake hav I you've got all these all these ladies that are in in prominent promotions what's it like being around these people and train around these people because obviously whims MMA is is growing and growing as it goes on what's SBG like at the minute with the the bodies that you have to train with I love my CH honestly I really do we had a recently we had a ER UFC number 14 Flyway in with us training for a couple of times but even aside from the girls that we get coming in the girls that are there every day you're always guaranteed to to get someone and that's that's just a really really high level and every day I go in there I'm challenged and and there's always more than one girl you know what I mean this is this is what I do love like I do think it's important for women to train with with women not all the time but I think it is important H women fight differ than men they do so yeah no I really do love me JY um every day I'm push to me limits and it's only going to make it stronger you know it's only going to make it stronger it's like it's like the fights that you take you know what I mean putting yourself through these through these Paces it would only it would only bring growth and so yeah it's great training SBG yeah no it's a fantastic gym you see between pfl Bellator everything that there's SBG everywhere and it just goes to show that the level is there and in my opinion Danny should be in the UFC I think think she's defended so she should be she should be talk to us about the grow of MMA like when you started MMA how many females was there compared to now have you seen it grow and evolve yeah so yeah yeah like I'm 22 now and I was 15 when I started like and yeah there really wasn't many at all and there's some that that that were knocking about at the start like I remember uh me first actual like MMA fight was novice was FIA Maguire and she's still still H she had a fight there a couple of months she she's still fighting and so there's a few that are still knocking about um but like then you're seeing girls in different parts of the country kind of just popping up out of nowhere and it is great to see because um I know how much this Sports can can change anyone's life especially when they take it to this level and really just put your whole life into it um but yeah female was H definitely there is more and more coming on and it's great to see yeah it is like I I think it was Sarah Ellie Sheran and imer Dari for me last year was probably the fight of the Year obviously Em's to cage Warriors Sarah's going to go on to big things as well she's she's got a good good few fights as well what's your aspirations what what do you want to get out of all of this where do you want to end up um the UFC is the goal yeah um the UFC to go but I want to enjoy the journey do know the kind of way like even now people do be saying to me like oh I'm not going to go cown all like I don't want to rush anything like do you know what I mean I'm happy with where I'm at at the minute there's still things I want to work on um I am still young um but I just want to enjoy the journey like I'm I'm not I'm not in this really like I'm in of a passion you know that kind of way like I really just love it um the USC is the goal and I will get there and uh I I will make him work on on the biggest RS I'm constantly going to go up and up but I just love training and that's is what I'm going to keep do and I know we keep down that and keep putting what the work outside the gym I think is what you do is really really important it's not just what you do in the gym and I know what I'm doing outside the gym so I think the two of those things I'll get where to where I need to be where I'm supposed to be that's that's where I'll end up yeah I like that I like that passion because a lot of people say I want to end up here but people would say is the journey to the destination that is usually is is the bit that if you enjoy the journey the destination is going to be so much sweeter when you get there as well and you're you're only 22 when people are talk about going pro it all depends on yourself when you feel 22 you're still very very young like you know the sort of way you've got so much ahead of it and with obviously you're in this competition there is the regional scene there is a lot more girls popping around so are you going to try and stay active this year CU we do have a lot of shows on youve probably seen yourself for the last six weeks there's been shows nearly every how do you feel about having that many options and you looking to fight more in the regional scene after the competition yeah 100% 100% like you know these AR M are great but are really [ __ ] expensive as well so uh no I definitely will I'm actually matched um for May 11th over in Scotland um so that's just under five weeks after I come back from D maath so uh I have a few days off but I'll be gone straight back into Camp then after that um so yeah that's my goal just to to stay as active as I can this year um so my coaches know that that I want to be get matched on the regional scene as well um so yeah definitely definitely definitely I will be looking to get matched on them yeah not this I there's a couple of shows in Scotland that have recently had Irish people over as well and and the opportun outside Ireland how do you find that would you like to fight more in the UK and Scotland or England and Scotland and places like that and Vary up because even though it is growing you could end up it's kind of a circle that there's only a certain amount of females that you can fight here would you be looking to fight abroad and stuff on their Regional scenes as well well this is it like um it's it's just about work and I get match like I'm not fed to really about of a fight in Ireland Ireland Scotland or England like none of that really matters to me um I just want to get fights and even when I got matched with this girl now in Scotland um me coach say said to me he was like a clan wars are looking for you as well and and that's on the day after um this one in Scotland and he's like you want to maybe start looking for someone there and I was like you know what no I'll just leave it because I actually have a match with this one so I'm just going to stick with this rather than possibly getting a match here um like really there's only two girls Tre maybe in Ireland that I can think of to fight so um after this fight in May I'm going to ask for them yes so you're going to look cuz like that you fought quite a few guyss on the scene anyways um that you you're going to run out and especially there might be new guyss coming through but you have an experience level that might be great this is problem like yeah yeah nine fights now and so it wouldn't be fair to have someone that only has like a couple genot in so that's when it's getting even trickier now at this level as well um when you have this amount of fights people don't really there experience as well do you know what I mean so uh yeah um it does get trickier that's why the IM off AR Go um but like I said they're expensive so um it's just about saying otive and wherever that that is I'll go yeah no and that's good as well like he said they're expensive like to go there a lot of Fighters I've talked that have gone there previously said they're expensive how like obviously I believe you work full-time yeah still yeah yeah still so and how hard is that to balance and then you're putting all your money from from that to go there like how tricky is it to balance yeah it's it's like my job is great now if fairness um my job is great like it's in an office but I'm in the office twice and I'm home three days and like they let me work flexi time H so you know I get I wake up I work and then I go training then I come back and I work and then I go training so I I feel like I've I've gotten a routine going um and it is again just great that my job are so so flexible and they do support me um but now like even just now like I'm just back from the office and it was a heavy day of like physical lift and and organized and stuff so it is like yeah it is a it is it is hard to balance all but it's just priorities isn't it really like and and just list to your body I think as well is another very important thing um but like that it's it's not really like the the physical stuff I done today that's like once a month do you know the kind of way like it's not overall a physical job like it's it's a laptop kind of job so uh yeah that's another thing that I do think is a benefit with working full-time like you know there is people that work full-time train full-time but they're doing like you know a lot of manual kind of kind of stuff and manual like to me could even be work on retail because you're standing on your feet all day you know what I mean like that could be fulltime and that's that can be heavy as well so uh I can't complain to pay the builds uh but yeah also can't wait to not be working full time that is V you see there's some Pro Fighters that I know that still work full-time and I just think it's mad obviously that you don't but he says I don't do do it for the money you do it like you said for the passion and the job is there to support that passion and it seems like you've got a good routine and a good structure to what you're doing but um I'm going to let you go but I want to wish you good luck we're all going to be cheering for you we're all going to be watching and hopefully you can bring we know you're going to bring home that gold and then see what you're going to do on the regional scene I want to thank you for your time is there anything you want to say before you go or anyone you want to shout out um shout out to all my teammates really really do appreciate them um and uh my family as well every support so we're yeah grateful for them perfect thank you very much enjoy the rest of your day and I will probably be talking to you or I'll be sharing stuff uh for you before you go away so it was a pleasure as always and I can't wait to see you compete again thank you thank you see you soon see you soon thank you