Phil Campbell interview

Summary

David Farrell interviews Irish commentator and bare Knuckle boxing champion Phil Campbell about his start in MMA, transition into commentary on the regional scene to now international promotion and of course his next bare Knuckle boxing fight

Transcript (youtube_captions)

all right yeah I can hear you all right and see you can view here and see me yes I kind of Canada Visage as I say unfortunately for you you can see here I can block the screen if anybody requests it um thank you so much for joining me this one is a really really long time coming to be honest um I think uh I'm glad to have you on and to me when I started you were like the voice between you and Noel when I start doing all my research I'd go to bed and I just hear you just giving each other the the quirky zingers and the one-liners um but before that you actually fought yourself as well so talk to us about how you got into MMA how long ago and why you got in yourself oh mate for me um they I was I was a fan of the sport back before you know what it was considered almost like like fetish porn or something like you would speak to people about MMA and they'd be like people fighting in cage and you'd have to try and make the distinction between that and professional wrestling and there was a unified rule set um you know you're talking back in the time when guys like you know can Shamrock were like the Nobles and and Tina Ortiz and then you started to gather traction with the likes of The Ultimate Fighter and I started training maybe about 13 12 13 years ago mid so I evolved I've been involved in the sport as a practitioner for a very very long time um competed and then just progressed into commentary which is an incredible way to still stay involved and connected with the sport because I genuinely loved the sport from Grassroots straight up to you know like your UFC level and everything in between like it's it's uh for me it's just there's nothing like it yeah and like when you competed you actually brought you transitioned into the country because you actually got an injury wasn't it and Clan work then asked to step in so tell us what it was like being asked to step into to do the commentary as well what were your like emotions were your hesitant were you nervous what what way was that working out for you but you know it's one of the I always been seeing like MMA is one of the few things that I genuinely know like I genuinely feel like comfortable in my knowledge of do you know what I mean so being able to and I would be I was commentating for years without being aware of it because like I'm sure everybody does you're sitting with your friends and you're watching you're watching fights and you end up like just conversationally I think if anybody listens to the type of commentary that you know I'm that I do or that I'm a fan of it is very conversational it's not as perhaps polished as some other commentators or broadcasters just because I'm not coming from that broadcasting background I'm not coming from I don't study anything to do with broadcasting or presentation or media so I think the only difference a lot of the time is my commentary is that you know it does feel a little bit more conversational and perhaps a little bit more accessible to people when they're listening to it yeah I think so too I think when this conversation like that and you're talking you talk how you talk normally ah who you are and like that with null and then now we're Paul Brown like it feels like it's just too loud having a chat but you know what you're talking about and I find that the same because I never had a media background I would have done presentations of working people like how many questions do you plan on asking like and like like what's your list and I'm usually like I have a tree and then the rest I just I just I just ad hoc like you say something to me and then I'm gonna go that's interesting and then I'll just dive into that and I think it runs easier as a conversation in my opinion and that's why I like your commentary and I think that's what people like about your commentary like I said you're saying it in latent terms for like you like you're not over over complicating situations you know what big words that us MMA fans don't understand well it's like you see when like you you watch you can watch a lot of commentary and it can be self-indulgent you know instead of just saying you know I take time you've got or something like that and then you're already completely alienating a demographic that maybe Tuning In For the First Time second time third time or maybe trying to learn about the sport so if you can break it down just you know the the commentary should never detract from what's going on it should you know enhance embellish it should be it should go hand in hand whereas you like you know straight away as soon as you're commentator whether they're a fan of the sport that's another thing that really [ __ ] annoys me uh generic sports commentators like yeah um what do you call your guy from ESPN uh Stephen uh Stephen A Smith Stephen A Smith yeah he um he was on one of the broadcasts for the UFC just when it started the partnership with ESPN and it was [ __ ] horrible like it was just like stuff that you would get away with as a generic sports broadcaster you will not get away with an MMA because for my money MMA fans are the smartest smartest sports fans in the world because of how intricate and how Neons the sport is so if you're trying to sell them [ __ ] that they're not like that they blatantly know is not they are genuine article they'll call you out on it straight away and that's another reason I love the sport yeah and he did get called out he was actually quite horrible about Donald's Roney when McGregor came back he said is that Jordan I don't know what it was I think the the occasion probably got to Donald's he said he wasn't feeling Nicole and sometimes just you know yourself aspires that that just happens sometimes especially with the amount of fights he's had but like that I don't like like that I would have like you said the distinction between pro wrestling and stuff like that there was a pro wrestling compare years ago because I used to love it Jonathan Coachman that was his name but his angle was always to get into NFL or something like that I don't like that you want someone in it that loves the sport and that's what you can hear come true when you and Paul talk Andrew McGann um whoever is on the mic when Noel was speaking and and that's what we love us so not only that you know what you're talking about but you have a genuine interest and especially the amateur seeing yourself from Paul and Andrew and the others like you just seem so excited as are we all at the shows because what the level what you make at the level right now I think that the level on this island specifically like if you consider what realistically in terms of sport what a small island we have but yet you've guys going over to imath competition picking up calls you've you know some of the best guys in in the world you know our biggest export is you know competent athletes you know you look for example like just like women's MMA for example you have Danny McCormick aiming to become the first ever Invicta Women's Champion you've shown upon and on and Victor you've you know you've got a lot of guys sign into like Nathan Kelly doing great things for the pfl uh well flurries but uh to fights relatively soon for the pfl at recently key in cage Warriors she had Norman Park at 36 years old picking up again but then again if you bring it back down to the grass that's level you have guys like uh who is on the cost of going pro even who he was fighting Damian McKenna fantastic fighter you know you've uh R McDonald Kieran Brady Matthew frazed so many great guys young guys like Ben Bradshaw it's just it's it's overwhelming the amount of time we have and progression for future generations and amazing varies yeah it is and and when you see the likes obviously they know quite a good few Fighters there I when you see like I get really excited when I see debuts coming through on the hamstring because I remember at the start when I was trying to get the grasp on things and you know I understand to know certain people it's not a sort of way because I only started a year and a half ago really delved into it and then when a new person called me like I don't know this I don't like this but now I'm like who's the debuts who who's coming up next because people sending cokeley just made a splash onto the scene last year Dino Driscoll um like they just all of a sudden just came out of nowhere and all these guys are like five and one six and one five and all four no like it's crazy yeah again it speaks to Corner McCarthy who you've got on there is another great example what's he two two and a half years in his Armature career yeah if even two yeah two coming off an incredible fight has a silver from the MMA super cup and realistically he can't be too far away football improve like his last performance against Corner iur uh and Yuri it's as close as you can get to a Flawless performance you know the only critique if you're being super critical is that he didn't finish Connor but he never looked in trouble throughout the course of those those five rounds um I'm not great doing it very very comfortable is striking oh the ambition level is is fantastic so fluid so clean so fundamentally sound that he's a joy to watch yeah he is like that and Connor Nolan is a top pop fighter and and then when I seen that kind of impressive yeah I like that he must be made a granite as well because he just didn't like he just did he he wasn't ever really wobbled or like he was hurt but he wasn't like it didn't look like he was ever going down and I actually was talking to Conor McCarthy because he actually he's in SVG nase which is only a couple of minutes from me but I thought I thought Connor Ben I think me and decki McLean said that like just when you watched he only sat a year and a half two years ago he sat around just before me I think so you look about a year and a half ago if you just look at the rise of his performances and um like I said pro has to be an extra there's a couple of fights I would like to see him fight but I know he's in his last year at College I'm nearly sure so that Pro might just have to wait because he's still only young he's still like early 20s yeah we're going going back to to that fight with Conan I know there have been a couple of detractors saying that the fight should have been stopped for me that's complete edius here and that's you know that's like Monday Morning Quarterback and if you look at that fight you know arm Wallace was the referee who is for my money one of the most competent referees in the world not just in the UK and Ireland but if you look at that fight Conor Nolan was now as you say was never rocked there was never an instance there was never a natural sequence where you thought this fight could be conceivably stopped you know anytime Connor was hit he was never wobbled and he was thrown back automatically so again it speaks to the toughness and you know again after the fight anybody that's saying that should have been stopped that's that's hindsight and hindsight's the ability to look at your horse that's useless yeah it's easy to save something after because I actually like I was watching the fight and I was down back and forth post and stuff or whatever uh then I looked up it wasn't really to the fifth round till I noticed how bad his face actually was and I was like thinking I I didn't see anything that I thought was going to finish the fight at any stage I was like what like I know I've been watching it and I wasn't fully tuned in so I was like what what have I missed here like how was his face that by like like said it's easy to say after the fact that that happened um I think obviously now I don't think there will be another five round fight uh because of it but look it was we all wanted to see it anyone who said they didn't want to see the five round fight is a liar because I think that he put a poll up and everybody bought it again I think you know I have I have nothing against the the five three minute runs if anything I think for guys like Conor McCarthy this is a great transitionary step preparing them for the 15 minutes just albeit and a different structure that they're going to then compete in as a pro so for the likes of big title fights I have no objections to it's a five three minute runs at all and it's something that I'd actually like to see a little bit more of you had to do it in the UK I know the ukfc Jamie Abbott for uh uh five trees over for a title there just before Christmas which was a really good fight I remember to talk to him after he got his leg leg kicked off and bought um that was a close fight a tough fight and like that as well going into the pro I think like that when I think as you start you should fight kind of walk around wait as you're getting more experience then start cutting away then start doing these kind of things and prepare yourself because yep I don't know what it was like for yourself but years ago it would have been just like amateur Pro but then again there was Wild West rules years ago it was nearly not too too close it wasn't too far apart years ago was it there was there was I I was I was competing as an amateur bike when you were allowed me to the head and things like that so again I understand these knees to the hair being taken out but again it's you're losing something within that transitionary step for elite level amateurs who wanted to improve of course I understand that you're taking knees to these are knees are knees to the Head away amateur but then again I think at the very very elite level of amateur mixed martial arts there's there's something to be said for potentially including them yeah it would be hard to how would you make a distinction between wattley and what's lot like what kind of way can you it what variables are involved in what way it'd be very it'd be something very hard to say well you're Elite and you're not Elite and all that sort of way so yeah competing for a belt you should be considerably yeah true like look at Chanel dyer for instance look at her she came straight out I'm sure you were there to witness that finish with that my God how was that to witness she looked you see the talk to Chanel you know yourself talking too she's one of the most humble honest women individuals in mixed martial arts but even as an amateur if you look at her her accomplishments in amateur MMA and in kickboxing Muay Thai K1 you know she's a Savage but the coolest thing about that was the calm that she exhibited in her professional debut live on BT Sport and her corner I think it was Ash Grimshaw her coach called for the elbow with 10 seconds left and so for her to just hit that was such synchronicity I'm completely KO her opponent it was incredible and that's her at 21 years old wanna know as a pro at Pro I would love to see in a couple of fights her and Sean Ivan and run it back that would be I was thinking that and obviously we got to witness that I remember at the time I think it was maybe my second event and I always say Sean I know with h service here like I was glad I got to witness that fight because when I witnessed I remember Shawna dropped her with a head kick in the first and you're like oh this is like this is over and then Chanel came back and arguably won the second round and then obviously Shawna finished her then I was like there's something special about the the two of them have the kind of it factor it's not a sort of way like and Chanel's not uh allowed like she's not loud in your face she's so nice but it's just her fight and it's so good yeah I I reckon that you get some Fighters that like you know you get like guys that fight twice guys that fight three times and they just have this chemistry they have that engage chemistry that they just produce great fights and I think it's basically at the pro level it's I'd love to see obviously let the Chanel get a little bit more experience let her get that record up to 405-0 and then I'd be trying to find that fight one yeah I would like to see it somewhere like like that in the UFC hopefully if they if well if the two of them keep going on to Jackie that we think to the trajectory that we think they're gonna go that's potentially where the children were going to go and meet selfishly I want to see it somewhere I commented but that's because I want to be I want to have the best seat in the house no I'll be calling that you know but when that happened obviously did you hear the call and then see it happen and then we just like sitting there going like that was that was so cool it was all because there the corner was um just beside us in commentary uh it was and she's now moved to GB top team incredible incredible team Ash Grimshaw was in the corner I think it was him called for the elbow bump through it dropped and it was just so it was that almost symbiotic relationship between corner and fire it was so cool to see yeah she was impressive like I think the amount of white I fight and the traveling that she had to do for those boys I think all of them have really stood to have come to Pro because I don't know if you heard my interviewer yesterday she they they brought it to the wrong airport or you probably know they brought to wrong airport they brought to and it was like a seven and a half hours only actually to get back to where she was fighting as well so and she just said I just paid for the Uber and I just chilled out and I was like I'm stressed out listening to what happened it was two hours late you land seven and a half hours away from where you're supposed to be and you're just chilling in the back of an Uber and again like it was it was a Full Arena sort of Full Arena it's on BT Sport which is a huge platform like I'll be honest I have a [ __ ] in there wee bit being on BT Sport and you don't even see me or like I was I was just concerned right so to get in there and perform the way she did were incredibly impressive and also a huge short shout out to Norman Park uh 36 years old pickup was 39th when a professional MMA or sorry it's 31st and it's 39th fight and that was pretty cool to be part of that's crazy I actually I watched I used to go out with a Polish Girl and he uh her father loved ksw and I've watched the the park and Camera Wars they were like unbelievable like and just just through a whole career and then to get to that stage and then do like and then to still be winning is is amazing and take your first time on sorry to still be improving as well like yeah the best they've ever looked so it's not like he's like plateaued by any stretch his imagination he's still getting better yeah and it's amazing like that as you as you go on it just shows it's the determination and it's your mindset to keep that going to keep that because obviously when people get to a certain age or take their organ test the people I'm too old to do this now he's like no you do do what you feel you can do and do what you like you want just [ __ ] do it and obviously that's what he's doing like he's he where he had a couple of fights last year as well he had that one in Fame I think was that the Polish one I'd say yeah uh he had that as well and like to be going to delighted ksw which is for me a very underrated organization with absolute killers in like to come out yeah come back to the other side of that and still be fighting even yeah still being competitive you know like I would like to see him I'd like to see him fight for the welder we're built and uh and hexagon against a Guy Ahmad gay like that would be a great fight you know to to big scary dudes you know I think that would be a fantastic fight it was gay defeated Walter Gahanna another veteran of MMA to win the Welter belt on the same card so I think that fight would make a lot of sense to be really interested yeah it would hopefully he gets look at like gets a shot at Bell and is able to get a a win a victory and get the BET um was that your first time on hexagon yeah yeah it was first time uh first time on hexagon I was aware of hexagon obviously as a major European promotion so to get uh to get the call from their CEO Jerome and ask uh if I could comment on the show uh I was over the moon absolutely over the moon and it's I kind of it's it's nice when when um organizations reach out to you because you feel like you know well I must be doing something right if other promotions are willing to to trust you to to be the you know the the spin track if you will to the action Inside the Cage so Noah was was over the moon to be able to do it yeah I'd say that like that obviously if someone comes to you they've obviously seen you've been referred uh like that so that is obviously a really really good feeling and then like that when you think of the UFC you think of obviously Mike Goldberg Joe Rogan like essentially you're the voice of that company then which shows the amount of trust they're putting in you which is very nice yeah it's cool it's cool I guess like I say like for brave to be to be able to to have done that you know since three of 16 was my first show and I haven't missed one since you know so for them to have that level of trust um and they to to do to do the organization and to do the work Justice is is absolutely huge which like it's quite impressive from the smaller Little Island like you said with the The Talented Fighters we've got time to commentators that are going on to do stuff in other organizations like do like what's you love to travel is it exciting going around I wouldn't say you get to see too much of it at times but is it an exciting kind of Lifestyle go on and see in different places because of the sport you love you get uh you get to see some class airports with some classroom tiles usually I don't get me wrong that's that's not I like a gratitude of my part yeah that's just just the way it is but so to be able to travel like I've been in some countries but I wouldn't I had no right to be anywhere near all to call MMA like that's mind-blowing like you say I keep um I get a little pen badge I don't know if you've ever noticed but when what I'm working in a new country or any country I get a little flag badge and put it on my blazer so I've got like a little jewelry box that has all the flags in it and I'm just thinking I've been this [ __ ] mod places man you know like Indonesia uh Kyrgyzstan Kazakhstan Uzbekistan Brazil Colombia places that like this is all to call MMA this is all through mixed martial arts [ __ ] mad and then like oh and I'm doing it a lot of the time with my mates do you know what I mean like yeah I'm I'm doing it with eggy Lark and I can see Jess's on the chat it's probably the probably the quietest she's been she's raging she's not able to join in the chat I've been I've been rejecting her requests I want to talk she is gonna beat the [ __ ] out on me next time I'm only joked yet like big big Iron Wallace for example like you know Aaron's one of my best mates in the entire world and to be able to not only sort of travel the world with him but also to see his progression because me and I used to train with each other like years at least 10 years ago we used to we used to both uh Tree in and fight together so now to see him not being considered one of the best referees in the world like I don't know if you remember the the title fight in Brie it was Muhammad faculty talk to two of them catch up the late heavyweight champion of the world newly crimes and picks up his Corner man and frog marches them into the corner you know stuff like little moments like that that you can have and being able to share it with some of your best mates it's uh smart like yeah that's that was pretty cool that went kind of viral and I remember at the time and I see that and I was like I think I've been to one show and I was like is that the guy that refereed the show with cage let me see like two weeks ago from balik I'm from Lauren yeah and there have been times I've been picking him up to go to the airport to go to Bahrain or something like that's [ __ ] mild yeah that's great like it is it is so good that you like the likes to yourself Becky uh Aaron um and I do agree with you wonder best yeah yeah just there's so many and that's what I like about this community and that's what I found myself is talk to us about the Emirate Community how close they are because when I go to shows it's it's like a big family gathering every time we go back up there I'm sorry I'm I'm including myself in there but I really shouldn't be but you know what I like no no you certainly think under the table no you're entrenched you're in transfer only as part of the the community my friend thank you you think that's what you find as long as as long as people are involved in it for the right reasons do you know what I mean as long as people are involved in MMA whether it be um and your possession in the media or my possession of commentary or for whatever reason as long as they're doing it for the right reasons for the benefit of the sport to promote the sport um I'm not for the sake of say self-indulgence or anything like that you know that you're you're welcome with open arms and you're ingratiated and you become you know our athlete functioning contributing part of the community so it's great going to shows and seeing the likes of yourself seeing eme like falling in where your mates and your guys from the south that you only see it shows stuff like that it's lovely it's really cool it is good and then when someone's not there like if one of the people out there or or something and you're like oh where where are you like there was a shoe you didn't make and I was messaging you being like where are you like man what's going on I think that was the just before crew oh was it no it wasn't Premier was it no it wouldn't be no it wasn't just it would have been the case it was I was actually sick the weekend that um era era okay sexy Clan Wars all land on the weekend and I think that was time I was doing so much for so long like so many interviews and then and I think my body just had enough yeah no you know yeah I will and a bit like again I say it's I get it from traveling sometimes so if you're if you're feeling like that the best thing is to do is to take away better time like I always maintain that you know self-care isn't selfish so if you're if you're needing to take a wee break or something like that 100 okay that's the same one I've seen when I was fighting and competing if there was a day that I felt not even physically fatigued but completely mentally [ __ ] yeah I would have taken I would have taken that bag to look after myself and I don't think that there's there's any uh there's any shame or you know I think that's that speaks to to your benefit being able to take a little bit of time to look after yourself if things are getting a bit overwhelming or if you're just [ __ ] mentally yeah I like that I think with that I I took time because I was just going so fast I said right I need to just kind of slow this down it's also my own fault for not structuring it properly as well so and I kind of like here there everywhere so that's why I come back I'm having a big week this week and then I'm gonna tone it down and then I'm gonna set certain days certain times range views then I have certain slots for your own self here whatever short term short term goal planning yeah yeah because that's what everyone looks at the the long term but to get to that long term you need little goals in between and you're going to get goals that you never really knew you had in in the grand scheme of things and with I actually find that interest in what you said though about like what you needed a day do you think fight or suffer from because they're Fighters and their mentality that if they're not feeling the best sometimes or they might just feel a little bit after they'll go in and potentially aggravate uh an injury or even mentally just train themselves but I think that that kind of ethos of like you know you have to train seven days a week and and run yourself into the ground um is dissipating within mixed martial arts I think as we become more aware of you know the physicality in LinkedIn with with what makes martial arts and and a lot of the science behind it you see guys working with nutritionists you see guys working with strength and conditioning Coaches Sports Performance coaches the more we understand about the sport the the the more that's going to inform how we look after ourselves so I think my day is in the modern era you're seeing guys taking a day to recover to look after yourself it's such a cliche but it's about being in smarter not necessarily harder a lot of the time so I think you're seeing Fighters being able to do that now I think they're being more aware and more scientifically orientated about what they need to perform and again like there's there's such a there's so much more that involved in at night especially even at the amateur level you see amateurs working with performance coaches outside of MMA and it's it's incredible to see just the progression and evolution of the sport obviously your diet and your nutrition and everything is is intertwined with that but you know you've got guys that are training in MMA that know as much as somebody who's done a 12-week PT course do you know what I mean it shows just how intelligent these Fighters are and how much they do look after themselves now you had to do and even from an amateur level you see guys working with nutritionists and they like to yarn next to even Floyd there's there's quite a few and then a lot of people go to John Connors yeah and there's so many more and like that they have the site like Yannick Stephen uh John whatever they actually have the degrees they have whatever behind it to do it because I would assume years ago like you said when okay uh MMA was considered the cage fighting this that and the other the training wouldn't have been the best either and like that it would have been more you do as much as you can when while you can whereas these guys be like no you need to eat this you need to put take rest here because I went to see uh I interviewed um so for MMA and death and it was their day off they said no I've done so much during the week they actually told me I need to rest for that like that was his arrest even understanding things like barbs aren't the enemy like you need cards to function like see the people that tell me like I I don't I don't eat any carbs during flight Camp what the [ __ ] you do not to yourself for you're torturing yourself you need you need carbs in order to transfer end to energy yeah like you can work on restricted cars but if you're going to train them with I've done it myself going to training not fueled you're [ __ ] then imagine going into a fight like that not fueled you're not at your best performance and that's that's what all these guys do the nutrition is training conditions and then the MMA all kind of work in tandem together to then get your Peak Performance and that's what you want and I think that's what we're seeing now on this island is it's just hype before like the high performing amateurs high performance Pros like we had ganderson and Andreas go away the weekend as well and they won obviously unfortunately Joe and Ryan didn't get to they want but we've just got an Island full of killers at the minute I think yeah 100 like you say like like Andreas can't be too far away from a big call up and it's still it's still the only man to beat Ian Gary people forget that people people don't give andreas's dude like that man's a killer and the dedication that he has to the sport and he's never got anywhere by running his mouth either you know I think you're as pure talent and hard work and graft that is putting him in the crosshairs of big promotions exactly and then like that he's been on the couplings that are on flight pass one of the favorite fights you probably hate like thought actually who he went away with Jensen that was one of the craziest bikes what was it like you did call it I think yeah I'm really sure yeah um what was it like calling that you just knew you were looking at two super high level guys you know I've been I've been lucky to be involved in andreas's career purely as a commentator but from from the very very early stages of his amateur career so it's just and like I say like he's such an entertainment fighter to watch but he's also such a good lad you know what I mean he would never never pass you like without saying hello or without stopping for a chat or messaging or something so it's it's great to see someone like him perform but the the performances he had on some of the performances he had on wars were incredible yeah they were very good Anderson is another I love his style he's just he calls it it's killer be killed with him and he's never been in a boring fight so obviously congratulations to them we're talking about fighting you yourself obviously your fault but you were also a better knuckle Boxster do you want to talk to us about how that came about I'm still still an active paranormal boxer um the first chance we've still got still got a nice shiny belt uh but yeah that got involved because uh the promoter got in touch me and asked me if I would commentate for his show and I was like oh well um if you if you put me on the card to fight I'll do both because I had a real I was I'd always kept an eye on bare knuckle and obviously like with my my knees completely shot so any sort of grappling or anything has gone for me right um but it was like bare knuckle despite the aesthetic of it despite it looking so brutal it's so much more cerebral than glove boxing for me because glove boxing you can land like four or five shots like full Pelt and get out but you can't do that and better not go you're gonna break your hand so you need to be a little bit more selective with your shots and a little bit more strategic and trying to find openings um because I I miss timed an uppercut another paranormal fight um with with a glove I'd have been fine but because it was better not go smash behind the bits you know little yeah little things little things like that you need to think of and you know trying to find your angles by social protecting yourself that's so interesting just such such a chance yeah it's like that because we're boxing where you've got the gloves as well they they can that they're an aid of the fans as well like those are so big but like you said you have to pick your shots because some of them after a couple of minutes you just don't ever gone his hand is gone his hand is gone what what led you to want to do it um as opposed to traditional boxing I thought what I thought traditional boxing and I didn't really enjoy it I just thought it was too it just it wasn't I don't know what it was but like the bare knuckle just seemed a little bit faster a little bit more strategic um a little bit more Jeopardy as well which I find entertaining so I just yeah just I fancied it and thought because because I read my knee I focused a lot on my striking and slowly but sure like I'm not a good straighter by any stretch of the imagination but I'm quite unorthodox you know I'm a southpaw I keep my hands low um I'm more predicated on hair movement than I am actively covering up so little things like that I think make make it difficult to to get reads on what I'm doing because half the time I don't know what I'm going to do so and I promise it's going to have difficulty figuring out and I just like my all-round striking game was a better suited the bear novel yeah like that if you're not traditional um and I know like you said you're not a good Striker but obviously you are a good Striker but if you're not traditional and you're not what people are expecting so they expected just to come this way that's so hard to fight against from what I've seen that like like I said if they don't if you don't know what you're doing how did it like how do they plan for it and with the obviously you you won the bet but there was a last minute change as well the venue like did that affect your your lead up to the fight did that affect you preparing for the fight or you just knew it was going to work out well it was it was it was canceled initially so I had and me I like I died at like a madman for that like I got down from night I when I said the fight I think was 96 kilos and then I got down to 70. um so obviously I've been like really straight with myself and going about it the the right way um but I went on like like when I found out the fight was canceled like I hadn't had a beer in like 10 weeks so I went on it like chocolate beer and chocolate for a day but I'm because I was I was over I was actually over in Uzbekistan we're Brave want to find out it was canceled so as soon as the show was finished I was popping beers and eating bars of chocolate just [ __ ] Armageddon type stuff was in a wee bit of a throwing a bit of a petty party for myself and then the next day they were like oh we've got it rescheduled it was a hot Buck there's the 20 pounds you have to lose again after putting it back on in one day yeah one night set me back a few days normally made the weights I got on it but that was just that was just part and parse I love it to be honest like I was always confident I was going to get the fight um and I think me and Jamie put on on a decent new strap yeah I didn't see it now I said because it was actually the same night as a show I believe I I can't remember but if can you actually find it on YouTube or can you find it anyway yeah yeah it's on YouTube somewhere it's on YouTube I would put it somewhere I will I will give that a watch with the title you being The champ is there any word of another one coming back is there gonna be another one soon do you want to get back in there quickly yeah have you wanted to get back in there since then have you been like it's just get back in I have uh have a break just because it's my broke my hands were busted up so um but I'm actively yeah no I might probably look into the defender belt maybe once get back into full fight in shape and I'm training again look at opportunities elsewhere across the water perhaps um but again it's it's secondary for me like my commentary has to be my priority just because you know that's that's my full-time job now um full-time freelance commentator so that has to be priority and I can fit fighting in a round bat make it work great it'd be awesome if you could and then we could get to see a fight again and then hopefully it doesn't fall on later so we can go to it like that the UK is actually they have so many bare knuckle events so if you weren't able to get one uh here over in England London I think there's loads and it'd be nice it'd be nice not to comment here on the show as well because I did commentary for the the show that uh the show that I won the belt on so it'd be nice just to be able to focus fully on like prepare and get myself in a good headspace because like I won the belt get a push my energy then jump straight into commentary for the for the the main event so it was uh it was fun how was that with your preparations being on the commentary and then obviously when your flight's coming out like were you on the country for the whole thing before until a certain time then you had to pull out and get ready for like yeah I missed the only fight I didn't do comedy for was my own flight so you were literally sitting at the desk until it was time for your fight you fall and then with my hands wrapped and my shorts like has anyone got a picture of that please I don't know it might there might be one kick in the point but then I ran out uh ran out uh quickly hit the Podge with uh Henry Corgan he was doing the corner [ __ ] great porno man by the way um did uh did a quick warm up one open uh got it done yeah that's that's that's that's that's a really really cool story I didn't realize you've done it right up to your fight I thought it would have been two or three fights before tonight you go out to back kind of get ready you didn't give yourself much time to prepare did you Aqua in one way it was kind of good because my focus was elsewhere so I wasn't gonna be an overly analytical or because I can get the I can get I get very very on my head about things like that so it probably would have been like paralysis by analysis so it just kind of give me a little bit of headspace so I was like oh right [ __ ] okay time to fight let's go and do this huh yeah because a lot of Fighters say that they've no issues with fighting uh whatever or not even the occasion they said the waiting around on the fight day especially if you're this the co-main or main event like and you're there from like one o'clock and you know somebody so it depends on what time show started sometimes that are worn because they do full days like if you're there or because obviously you have to go and get medical as Rules meeting they said well you're there all day that's when it starts playing on you and then you just as weird as it sounds but like she's sitting around doing nothing can dream it can leave you absolutely Maggard which is mad like so by the time it comes around you're ready to fight you can see guys going in and you can see sometimes that they're not quite switched on because maybe they've had the set and we're about for a while yeah and then sometimes I think I talked to Brian Moore he said he needs to get slapped before he kind of it it goes back into him and that's why it was actually a sports psychologist said that he'd seen the fights and you don't wake up till you get hit so basically we want your corner to slap you before you go out for the first round to and that's the Zone back in performance yeah that's mine yeah yeah no that's it is crazy it's crazy how the mind works and how much mental there is actually in MMA that you wouldn't really I wouldn't have really thought too much of it before but from talking to Fighters and people like it is a really it's a mental game as well because you're fighting yourself all the time I think yeah like and trying to get like between diets and training it's not easy like what these let's go to is unbelievably hard yeah people used to people used to say to me it's like you know once you get in the cage or like there's a tunnel vision or are you an animal blah blah blah and I was like no like as soon as like I got in the cage or the ring or whatever it was my first thought was what the [ __ ] am I doing here so I mean I like my biggest fear was like oh [ __ ] like my sister has been there like practically every flight I've ever had as I almost said I couldn't get knocked out in front of my sister [ __ ] me I'd never let that thing just silly little things like that and it's mad the things you think of when you're in there like I remember at one I think I was I got I was on the ground in a fight I was looking and I could see like my friend I was like [ __ ] [ __ ] they did it I wasn't sure if they were going to be able to come that's class and these are just a little things that go in that are like in your head when you're in there sometimes it's crazy yeah no it's mad it is and then like that I'd be the same you're looking at the car going oh my friend's gonna see me get knocked out but obviously that's part and pastor and that's why I like kind of way the shows are finally gone at this bigger crowds and so people get used to that like we've said we need to be getting these amateur Fighters kind of used these stuff that that that is gonna happen on Pro because I say this there's nothing worse I actually seen a fight I don't want to say his name but he came out and he just looked like he like he was just kind of shell-shocked about like where he was and it seemed like before he got to the cage the occasion kind of got to him um I've seen him fight since and it was fine but I think it was just that first time that you're coming out just people screaming and then all of a sudden you're just like what is this like you're like like that you stand in front oh am I really in here me Underpants about to fight this guy in his underpants and especially because the the shows on the silent are so well supported you know you go to you go to um a cage Conflict for example there's one that jumps off the top of the head as having an incredible crowd like the energy and atmosphere are not place is amazing clown war is the same last weekend away at crowd packed out where are you are and another great crowd you know age Legacy always had a fantastic road so because these shows are so well supported you're guaranteed a big crowd and that big crowd if you're not used to it can be very intimidating yeah and especially if you're going to be fighting potentially because obviously the uh a lot of them like case conflicts were on by like like leaving Shannon and then a lot of them are run by clubs so they're going to have their Fighters if you're fighting one of their fighters on their home show that might be a bit intimidating as well like I said the Belfast crowd are Rogers they're Rowdy is I love it though I love it but I could only imagine if you're a debut or like it's your second fight you haven't fought in front of a crowd like that and you come out on and that place is rocking and they're booing you and like I can only imagine what's going through a fire's head at that time but then again this is something that if you want to progress to be like that top level Armature a burgeoning pro successful Pro these are the things you're going to encounter so they'll be exposed to them at the earliest level is only going to benefit a Fighter's career true because I think they should I think they should try and fight obviously it's nice to fly on home soil or in your own County or whatever but when if if like you said if you want to be the top of top you're going to be you'll see you're going to be in different countries you're never really especially in our country with the UFC unless something special comes around and Conor fights Paddy pimlet or something crazy happens that two Irish people fight you're not I don't think we're really going to see UFC back here anytime soon you'll get a Bellator um which is good because they actually bring the home guys in and give people like their first pro debuts but I think you need to get used to going away and not being the hometown person no I agree agree 100 so again being able to to like go so if you're a guy from the north going down south and fighting they're the local guy is great transversely A guy from the south coming up and fighting a guy from the North like um that's only going to benefit you going forward yeah perfect I'm Gonna Let You Go is there anything you want to say before you go or anyone shout out I want to thank you so much for your time I really enjoyed this is just like what we would actually talk when we're actually yeah yeah yeah at the show so yeah no just thank you very much for having me on you know I think the the work you do is fantastic giving Fighters a platform and being genuinely interested in the fighters um uh a little bit big shout out to anybody who's ever let me commentate on the show you know it's amazing the the the the the work I'm getting to do at the minute you know some Brave right down to right down to any show on the island that's that's harished me to work for them including new shows like uh RFC he'll be working with on the 25th of March they've got a spot card coming up with some great shoes um the eyes just lost it is good and actually one more question before you go how does it feel for you because you said obviously this is your full-time kind of gig now uh obviously what you've gone on with brave and all the other things but how does it feel that this is your job like like did you ever imagine that that you'd be getting paid to do something you love like this madness it is madness you know like as I say like I didn't come from a background of like journalism or or anything like that so again sometimes I think people get a little bit annoyed at me they kind of feel like I've locked out because there's the amount of times I get messages from people who are like a you know I've done my degree in this and I'm trying to break in the broadcasting you know what what university did you go to for broadcast and I was like I just happened to have a propensity for talking shy about a sport that I love and it's serving me so [ __ ] well but uh but yeah being able to do something um I love is something that I never take for granted um it's never never lost on me whatsoever and I just hope that I can continue to do it and for as long as people let me you know but like like you said earlier I think you people want you and like you because of not the hard skills of the degree the this the that the other but the soft skills you how personable yeah how enthusi are how much you know how interested you are like all those soft skills add up to a lot more than one of the highest because I think because like you said you can get someone who's just a run-of-the-mill they might be enthusiastic but they might be going to be too proper like you said that are kind of monotone or whatever whereas you can feel I can feel the passion with you when you speak when someone gets knocked out I'm like oh here comes Phil [Laughter] you know I learned everything um I learned everything about um commenting from normal case I was very much um under his wing and he was always so great with his time and if ever I had questions about commentary or anything like that so I really do a massive massive day of gratitude to know okay and actually when he actually done that if you didn't know that was happening did you or did you did you know that was common that he wasn't good that was his last show that they so it was um it was genuinely emotional do you know what I mean because you know it's been such a he's such a stable and rightfully so of Irish mixed martial arts and he's left an indelible imprint I think anybody you hear moving forward there's going to be like not nobody's going to be like flat out copying but I think stars are going to be or an Irish comedy have been informed by Noel and you're always going to hear like like little little nods in the same way that like in comedy like you hear people that have like little Bill Burr or sorry little uh Bill hexisms and you see because he was obviously the goats yeah people are kind of informed by that you know um I guess I'm calling Irish MMA that's that's a good way to look at it it's the same and Emma except moles alive so you know which is the main thing and all is an absolutely and stay alive though yeah Jesus the Christ Knoll is an absolute Legend like that he was always good with the same with me I'd only seen him a couple of times but he was always very good like everyone else is um like I said I'm Gonna Let You Go this is an actual pleasure I think we need to do more of these always enjoy chatting too perfect F uh we'll definitely do another one fairly soon thank you very much for your time and enjoy the rest of your evening and good luck with everything else in your career I'll be watching thank you very much man take care cheers thank you bye-bye