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Summary

Dave sits down with Bellator professional fighter Daragh Kelly for a chat about his career and life to date.

AI summary AI-generated from the transcript

MMA In Depth Episode 21 features Darragh Kelly ahead of a Bellator Ireland bout at the end of February 2023. Kelly describes a long camp through Christmas, his path from Letterkenny—where coaches Brian, Rory McShane, and Paul Pike built his base alongside Jordan Fury—to SBG, where he moved in March 2020. He recounts a 9-0 amateur run with all finishes, including Chaos FC debut support from roughly 100 people, Clan Wars success, and a grueling featherweight title cut against Constantine Blayney that ended in a roll knee bar. His last amateur bout against Solomon was delayed repeatedly by COVID from a planned February 2021 date to June, after which coaches John and Dave turned him pro. Kelly details IMMAF trial plans derailed by a three-ligament ankle tear, a costly north-of-Ireland operation roughly eight and a half weeks before a Bellator card, and Junior withdrawing ill on fight day before they met on Kelly’s pro debut in front of roughly ten to eleven thousand fans, with Conor McGregor and a large Donegal contingent present. He reflects on his first career decision in his second pro fight, hiring Yannick for nutrition while dropping back to featherweight, ESPN top-25 prospect recognition he did not expect, and his ambition to be remembered among Ireland’s best MMA fighters.

Transcript (youtube_captions)

foreign [Music] got a fight coming up at the end of the month at Bellator in Ireland again with the Irish crowd so I want to thank you very much for your time how are you tired glad now it'll be coming towards the end of Camp you know it's been hard what would we say I started my Camp really Before Christmas like took a week of you know rest and recovering and then hard from New Year straight through so I'm looking forward now to the the rest and get in the fight and with with egg doing it to Christmas as well did that mean some of your favorite foods is you get to actually enjoy Christmas with the food or will you did your taper back a little bit because you knew you'd be going hard at it after all right so like before Christmas maybe even end of November I was I was eating clean I was eating stretch because I knew if I wanted to have a couple of days over Christmas or you know so I put the work in before Christmas my diet and got myself in shape and then I get myself two days over Christmas eat whatever I wanted so that was my so when if I was watching this stuff if you want to have a Christmas and you've got Camp through it that's what you're to do so yeah obviously you didn't just get here where you are now uh in the likes of bed as well with SVG uh take us back to the start like when did you find MMA how did you find it and where did you find it um my older brother was uh very interested in that he is the he has all the DVDs of like tough and you know he used to watch all the old all the old ufcs so he got me in there like he showed me what it was then I fell in love with him and uh yeah I started late and I was I was 18 by the time I started and I heard there was a good Gem and Letterkenny they were jiu-jitsubish but I knew they had a lot of fighters in the past and that was uh hilly and Gracie and the head coach up there is Brian called Elisa I think he's hey what would you be now a couple of stripes in his black belt I know you know he's real high level Grappler and he was a great coach um so he he went up there on Saturday 18. I think I'll let them and then I must have been Mohamed for three years and uh he he showed me a lot now they might detain that man put unto me he got me to the races you know what I mean um then we had boxing coaches coming down to the club and uh Rory McShane was our Boxing Club and me and him clicked very well you know again hit them with the effort he put on to me and we had a kickboxing coach uh Paul Pike once again all the work that he put in uh and Jordan Fury it was me and Jordan came up together like you know since day one um they went around me in Ham's Garden so you know all those old coaches up there they mind the work that they put and to me and Jordan and then having him alongside me pushing each other the whole way along that's that's what got me down here so I can't thank them enough do you know yeah so they basically put in just the basis for you to become what you have now on especially you talk about Jordan who's I believe it's gonna be in this last year of amateur this year I think he's going to go pro himself like having someone like that like he's he's a he's he's a big man he's and he's quite skillful did he actually make the journey to SPG together yeah so like I moved down first of all um I moved on March 2020 a week before covert had of course and I went home for a few months and came back down June I think I trained and told about must be November and I was up by Arma Jordan Letterkenny and I just I said he was planning to come down the following year I told him just come down there you know what's the point waiting so I think that one live in he was down as well and everything he must be doing two and a half years now as well are coming on you know so yeah it's good it's good to have someone like that down with you and then yeah so you got the bases open letter Kenny he said oh the coaches put that much time into it talk to us when it came to competing like when you went into it were you planning on competing like did you see that and go I want to be one of them or was it you just wanted to train like one of them and talk us to what led you into competing on your first let's say amateur uh debut in MMA no like I I had this idea in my head and I was you know I had no no goal in life and uh no ambition to do anything really for a couple years you can would you say I got lost for a while from maybe 16 to 18 I just started drinking all the time smoking you know just like in Egypt they're going nowhere and uh the back of my head I always I always had this plan I was gonna start MMA that's gonna go for it from day one it just took me away the Stardust so from day one when I started I started training twice two three times every single day that was it I'm just gonna go first and then obviously that got you to spin that got your focused that gave you something to strive towards and obviously it's done quite well because look at which yeah we are now so when you go into like just obviously you would have competed at novice level and stuff like that but kind of now the damaging is quite big in Ireland and it would have been when you were because you fought on the likes of chaos Clan Wars you fought on quite big shows in Ireland what was your amateur debut like um I believe it was chaos wasn't it yeah so it was chaos um now from overall so like you know I was fighting on their age 25 minutes up the road from me so I think there must have been 100 people up you know so that was that was a special one obviously your debut and everyone coming to support me it was a song I'll always remember and you know I went down there and uh I proved to myself that I could do it and I I took a lot from that like you know a lot of motivation knowing that I've seen that I was more physical than most and went down and put it on them for two rounds and finish them already in front of everyone so that really let the fire under me as well and then especially having like 100 people with you to cheer you on and also it's in the Millennium Forum as well which is a fantastic that was in the Millennium Forum I would believe yet no I that was actually uh that was beside the Brandy well I can't remember what you call it no it's just a wee local sports club or our local Hall whatever you call it no my wee brother thought uh he started fighting though as well so he's only 18 he's 3-0 he his last fight was in the Millennium foreign that would have been nicer now but but yeah no like that bringing 100 people which are getting you when when you went in did you have any hesitations any second guesses when you were making the walk when you're standing in the cage what was that feeling like actually being locked in the cage and going right this is it now before obviously you finished them like what was it like did you have any hesitations any second guesses or or were you confident that you were going to do what you ended up doing um I was what would you say I wasn't like you have a little bit of nerves but I think I was even more aggressive back then so I was just ready to get along you know I wasn't nervous no you know I've been fighting my whole life wherever it's been as well yesterday you know perfect and then like that the story of your career as you go on you finish people you fought Clan was your clan wars Champion you've had belts um tell us what I was like then go and show your creator when you finish the first one then you finish the second one and then you just kind of finished everyone after that tell us what that feeling is like going on and not going to a decision through your amateur career yeah well like uh I got the ball rolling as you said and then I kept it going the momentum I think momentum someone that carries you on it's don't think it's locked out enough but people always talk about uh your amateur days don't matter and your record doesn't matter and wins and losses and blah blah but there's something to be said for going on the streak you know um that that kind of becomes who you are like I look at myself as a one or no you know I'm I was nine and always an amateur and that really set the bar for who I am you know if I had to win five wins four losses you know I'm well used to losing at that record so I think there's something to be said for a Bolden confidence and gone out and trying to do your best to win every single time you know you can take your losses in the gym and whatever else but I think your amateur reckons record's very very important to keep it uh keep it all green you know set yourself up for pro defend Who You Are that makes sense yeah no 100 it does make sense so I like you're building the momentum you're not getting obviously you haven't got that losing feeling yet and we I don't think you will if you continue on the party yeah so what you're saying is basically it was important for you to build momentum your confidence and then did you get more confident where every win that you got then and that's what has prepared you to just just keep finishing people and keep going on yeah so um every everyone every Financial again as you said I got you know I took more confidence from each one and uh not only that it was like every fight Camp I level up I become uh what would you say my work ethic and everything like every training camp I keep pushing the bar Higher and Higher and uh not letting myself plate hold you know like the training camps I I done back in the day when I was amateur I just thank God these are these are hell like you know just get through them and the work on the annoying comparison to the end I'm probably doing twice as much you know I just keep adding on doing more and more um so I actually forgot the question there yeah no yeah I know you answered it yeah so basically we're uh going on like you just you've been to conference online and you were saying with um the training camps back then you thought well hell but that just shows obviously a sign of improvement and and where you're going and your work ethic like 9-0 is quite depressed to streak at amateur I'm not sure if it potentially has been done it would be something to take wives look into it but is there in in those fights is there any fight that really stands out to you or yeah it was uh I think it was my first fight um I've told the story a few times you know I was um I was on the coach for a couple of months and uh had a few eniggles and we let myself get fat and I still Trend here and there like I could but I can't remember what the injury was now but there's someone at me anyway and uh my coach rang me and he was like you know for the title fight in the coma uh against Constantine blenheit I think he's fighting again though I've seen after a few years but um Iran mem was like uh what kind of you know UK to take this how you looking it was like five weeks five and a half weeks maybe and he's like what's your weight look and I was like 83 and a half bucks and I was like oh wait it's probably you know me something from a choppy in front of me and I remember I'm thinking God that's gonna be my last nice middle name and uh obviously feather with 66 Source at like 17.5 kilo five weeks so it's not slick and I laid them but my weight says I was much lower than what I was can't remember exactly what I told them but uh I just remember thinking that looking back now you know I'm not sure about it doesn't seem like a big deal but to me this was like a world championship you know that's all I wanted was an amateur Builder that this would be unbelievable like and uh so and and again I we touched on I started working with Yannick you know everything's down deity but back then I didn't have an ocean what I was at like you know I just thought 17 and a half kilo I'm gonna have to start myself so I was probably eating like a thousand calories a day if even and sure that [ __ ] you all together like you know uh messed up my metabolism and everything but uh I was at rondone I remember I come over to the shower so much I knew I commodity showing me dry my hair I couldn't even dry my hair my arms would go dead that quick and uh pure cowboy stuff like and uh I started getting infections and things and there's an AB chest made tea fight week and uh I was trying to stay off the antibiotics because I know they held the water and I was gonna have to do a big water cotton I think about that I couldn't avoid them any longer the pain was too bad so it was on antibiotics as well and I can't remember how much I had to call fight week but I had to do like like close to seven kilo on the last morning and uh when I was on the saw another I was close to crying it was the way cut was that bad and my body just wasn't sweating because of the antibiotics they hold your water and all and uh my friends were doing it with me like you know you know I was like gonna do it myself I remember the boys were basically Lifting me a note of the sauna and my eyes my Visions started going funny my hearings are going weird I could barely speak and uh weighing in for that one uh we struggled to do the video weighing because I couldn't stand up long enough to get the videos we would do a few attempts on that and then um I don't know the science manner but basically we looked into like dehydration afterwards my gag reflex wouldn't work so I couldn't swallow food everything was getting stuck in my throat and it was like the hang of severe dehydration causes it or whatever if I couldn't eat or not and uh I was puking everything back up that I was trying to get down all night and I remember my mom and dad sandwiches you know you should pull out of this fight and I was like [ __ ] off like you know it's the last thing I want to hear about uh I was not in a good way and when I got to The Venue the next day and you know just got on with it and I remember walking up the stairs my legs were dead like I felt gas walking up the stairs even I got on that one and he smashed me for a couple of reasons I remember just thinking lion he was on top man I was like you better [ __ ] do something here you're gonna get [ __ ] stopped or whatever you're gonna be I remember thinking it would be more it'd be that disappointing to myself to let it happen I could hear like I brought maybe 120 people during that time down to Antrim and I remember one of the boys in the crowd shouting and I just met I kind of just woke me up with it and then thank God I apologize a long answer but thank God I pulled off the submission in that one and uh to date that's probably the the happiest I've been uh after even won the fight so it was my first title and I got through so much adversity and I obviously learned you can't talk about the gun again that's a massive amount of weight of course so obviously that was your biggest taken from that flight although you got to win but that's something you would never ever after get what did your coach say did you did when you were getting the fight we did Coach realize that you you had lied you were that far out or did he even notice he just thought it was fight we cut well see I actually like I got the weight down enough so that I could keep them off my back dinner but obviously it wasn't the right way to to get the weight down like just as I said starving myself but now he he trusted me that I could cut the word and I made it happen like by by the skin on my teeth so yeah so like he obviously got that tight like you went on your foot on like the clan wars is there oh you said to other people that amateur best don't matter but to amateurs those beds do matter because I see it myself right so like when you wanna you're obviously delighted um is there any finish that you had during that nine fight period that that stands out either is there any fight that like you watched back again is there anyone that you're like that was a Savage fight uh well I like the finish in that one it was a roll of knee bar and uh as I said my coach Brian for five weeks he he watched your mind he was very good at breaking down Fighters and he watched them realized if I give up my back he wasn't going to take it he'd stand back up where body lock and uh he realized that your mom was open to roll a knee bar so we had me drilling rolling Neymar's for five weeks straight like I must have had to do I don't know he had to give me like at the end of classes they write 80 roll knee bars and I just have to do them and just be flat like for the five weeks and I remember him shouting and then he's like yeah you've been here once who was in that position rolled through and got it so I have to put that down to him uh my favorite fight was probably my first fight with Carl Gallagher that was uh that was a month after that fight and I was full of confidence at that stage my striking leveled up I just you know sometimes you you just you're leveling and you need to go and jump and skill and confidence and that's what happened for me right before that fight like I was I was I wasn't going on the one I was gonna understand that time like you know the conference was gay hey and I just went to Adam from The Bell and put it on for a couple of rounds and then finished them that was probably my favorite performance yeah just it was like you had quite obviously you had nine fights and then now when you look at uh like uh post covert with the amount of shows like when you look at the amount of shows that the likes of Jordan and all have now like with is there any major differences because you obviously didn't find it hard to get fights but the shows just seem to have multiplied especially in in Ireland and Northern Ireland all right there's there's a lot of options now like you know back then I there was still enough like you know I I fought five times or five or six times 2018. um so I couldn't complain at all I was I was happy like you know I felt all my fights at that stage in my career in the north so didn't have to travel too far didn't have to wear Shem pads no rash guards and all I couldn't complain but it's great to see now you know it just shows the growth of ma and the country even and the Republic especially there's a lot more shows now I think that's where they were lacking like the surf was lacking so many shows in the past but the north was always and gets more leveled out now the whole country is Raising like yeah in Old School Is it's very busy then parameters and then like that if they miss one they can and then there's so many options in the UK as well I've seen the likes of Jordan Gary Rooney and Mario from here go over so like it is quite good for amateurs right now but so once you had your last amateur fight I believe with Solomon here and what what was the like after that fight did you go right now I'm already did John got or did your coaches go now I know he's ready or what was thinking behind it did you just feel ready to go into the programs uh so I was leaving it up to John and Dave like I just said that and whatever he's thinking they showed I don't really mind like I was I was happy to be down here and be part of the team um I think a lot like what was it I knew I was fighting Solomon and the Christmas and I was meant to fight in February so what year would that have been 2021 maybe I think so and with covered then it just kept getting canceled and canceled and canceled I think it must have been canceled three or four times like and uh I was pushed back till June so I was in Camp from Christmas till June and I just leveled up so much and that it was probably a blast and that it just kept getting cancer because I just kept putting the work in like I didn't pull off the throttle once like and uh can all found the place for me then to kind of find my like I always had my own style but I really what would you say I really pinpointed what worked for me I had on that many fight simulations in that six months I've probably got like 50 odd fight simulations and I just got everything down their teeth for that one that was in good shape and as again confidence was hey yeah I did feel ready after that I knew it was ready for a pro and that's when they they told me anyway and then five simulations with the levels that you have in here I can only imagine how much that brings up your leg like that's a that's a long fight Camp um then obviously you go into uh Bellator you've got Junior who you're supposed to fight for your debut obviously this is the one that got away so you've been training for this you get to there yeah you want to go out in front of that Irish crowd like everyone does then I think it was the day before the day of that obviously he became unwell I believe it was and he couldn't fight tell us what that was like for you after all that hard work obviously it's no fault of his home owned if he's sick or whatever there's nothing you can do but like you as a person after putting in the work what did I feel like to have it fall apart so close to the actual fight yeah well 20 21 was a busy busy year for them when they got the fair and I got one fade maybe maybe something anyway um so straight after Solomon I decided I was going to do the imaps so I went and done the trails uh got packed as a number one seed it was gonna fight at 70 kilo um which again was probably stupid I probably should have done well to it for the maps but only um so I was getting my weight well done I was down to like 75 kilo um and I was sparring and I tore three ligaments of my ankle so I think that I was meant to go over there in September and I was I maybe rested for a month just doing cardio and I'll keep my ankle trying to give a time to rest so behind my bike training for a few days I was holding up okay and then well I just pushed a wee bit of force in for a double leg and just snapped again um so I went and seen a specialist then I got an MRI and all done and uh he told me that as I said he snapped to three you need this operation he's like you could you could leave it for I don't know a couple of months or whatever and uh you might be okay he says but there's a chance that you could go back day one same thing's gonna happen you want to snap it again he's like so I would advise uh if you don't want to wait he's like getting an operation and I was asking him you know is it possible that I could do the words they must and uh in that time skill he said it's impossible so that was that right the window and at the same time John had just told me that Bellator was coming in November and that I could get on the car so by the time I got the operation because there was a waiting list um and also it was six or seven thousand pound I got it done in the north yeah just to be able to fight on Bellator then and I got the operation I think maybe eight and a half weeks out and uh I was talking to the specialist and he was he was telling me you know it's possible I kept saying kind of will I be able to fight while able to fight and if I get this because you know and uh he basically told me there was a slight chance to be able to fight like and then I took that like all right nice one I can fight like so I told John and Dave and said told him yeah he says all good um there's a chance or whatever so they signed me up well I didn't say there's a chance I said I'm able to fight and uh me being stupid you know I expected to come out of the operation and be walking around and Grand or whatever had signed and came out of the operation I couldn't believe the pain couldn't put no weight on it whatever and uh I was on a boat for I couldn't even put no weight on the boat but I was still in lifting weights and uh I was using the the assault bike and mostly doing my arms the first while and just just kept going and I was in that but for for four and a half weeks so uh I was on the bike just the whole camp and I probably couldn't do the best shape of everything because I was just doing a lot of Weights in cardio and so four weeks left before the fight I got out of the boat and still a little nervous of the ankles you know and I started moving around and uh as you know you take your week off before the fight so I got like three and a half weeks of training of yeah matron and maybe maybe two weeks of proper training and being comfortable on it so that was a big one like I sacrificed a lot to get there and uh I trained so hard like you know put everything in it and I wasn't gonna let the ankle stop mirror and I think get to me uh you know that was my opportunity you know such a Big Show and uh I was right as I said I was in Brandon's ship and we done our face-offs weigh-ins everything's ready to rock feeling great and I think it was maybe two o'clock that day I was meant to be fighting about half six two o'clock and he tells me it's tough and so I just [ __ ] I couldn't believe it I guess devastated but [ __ ] it you know it's the game on there yeah and all it is unfortunate obviously that you'd come through that you've come through like a lot of adversary advice throughout like different fights so to come through that but then obviously it was all it was off but then he came back and then yeah actually faced him then in your actual Pro debut so yeah he was actually a man as well he did come back it was uh so what was it like first of all Azure Pro debut to be put on a show like that because obviously you see in Ireland a lot of them fight on the regional shows likes the clan wars or cage conflict or something how would it feel to make that jump straight on to Bellator for your pro and then when you made the pro walk to that crowd tell us what that was like yeah so like um obviously I was extremely grateful you know to get my shot and yeah it was a big opportunity to to put right there that you know not just an amateur fighter here I can do this a pro as well um but I felt like I felt like I deserved this felt like I belonged I knew I was good enough um I always remember that I remember Conor came up and watched his head West everyone locked beforehand so I made it a bit more special as well and he known he was cage saved and uh with John O'Connor I think it was the first time John Connor me and uh walking in front of like 10 11 000 people and I think like 250 300 people came down from home you know from Donegal so a four-hour trip and they're paying money to stay down so I want I was just ready to put on a show for everyone at that stage you know just go through and make up front porno so and you did that was obviously another finish and then we come on to you you too and also your last fight you went to decisions the first time you've ever gone through a decision which is actually crazy like your night fight streak is crazy amateur but the fact they were all finished is even crazier and then the fact that that was your first Decision One how did that feel actually going the three rounds and go into decision and I was what was your thoughts when you're like when they were reading the scorecards it was quite clear from watching it that you'd won but what was going through your head uh like I needed it you know like I obviously I was frustrated and everything but like the mind I've taken from that fight I learned more from that fight than the rest combined you know um last year I really fell in love with like not fell in love with grappling but I I was just obsessed with like it's all I wanted I didn't want to strike or not which obviously can't do um like I was skept on my striking for more grappling more grappling more grappling and just went down to rabbit hole with and stuck my head in the sand with the strike and you know and the fight terminations I was wasn't strange just wrestle wrestler [ __ ] crap on all the time and and uh never really gotten baller you know just kept kept working for me and then in that fight then I made that many technical mistakes that I was forced to strike then and you're probably cut in one hand it might sound stupid you probably cut in one hand then went to straighten classes out on the past six months before that um so do you know needed to teach me and taught me alas I'm like you know I knew it and I knew it was what I was doing but you know I took the last null off from it when ten thousand people are watching and punched around the ring for 20 or 30 seconds here and there but uh so now I feel like I've learned that much and I think I've done a really good job now since the last fight of uh patch not my well you said my weak points like my striking uh I went down too far a few Avenues in the grappling and things that weren't working uh patched them up now a lot of mistakes I was too focused on land shots instead of going through my sequences properly uh it's very inefficient than that you know it was more and more became as you said with the 10 finishes before it's like it's not it's not like Financial how long it's Gonna Last I said I wasn't you know and you can't you can't do that every time I was forced in the finish and it wasn't there so me not striking and and not beneficial of my energy that showed so I think I've done a good job patching everything up now I learned a lot from that so a few lessons in that fight and then obviously we can't wait to see your next fight which is coming up and you've actually you're going back down one way um like I said spoke to you briefly you brought on Yannick obviously because you've had that that wake up before that you'd spoke about previously you brought what what brought you to Yannick first of all right uh well I heard a lot of good things about them um uh so I thought for one I'm obviously like on the background the featherweight you know it's a decent size late win at one point I was a big lake width and thought there's no point in leaving any stone unturned you know there's no point in putting in all the hard work and training if you're not gonna if you're gonna again leave holes in your nutrition and gas and things so I thought I'll do everything right this time especially because I haven't fought a featherweight in three years I wanted uh now I have a rough idea of how to do it myself but I wanted everything to be a down deity and uh having him tell me exactly what to do gives me confidence as well and uh Tom I'm well done and waiting I'm I'm looking good and feeling good and uh yeah just I'll get there perfect and what's your opponent then as well obviously a pro she studied the opponent a lot more or do you leave that to the likes to John and Dave and they come back and then they start drilling techniques which is where they see his strengths and weaknesses Etc yeah the guy I probably should watch him a bit more to be honest um I don't know why but I'm not too fast to watch them like I I probably should study him and Peck out his weaknesses myself as well but uh John and Dave do a good job of that and uh Dave has really broken down for me a lot of his weaknesses and we've been drawn sequences and a few training Partners have been in manipulating are mamakanum so Philip were we're well ready from Dave breaks I'm doing well for me so perfect perfect it's going to be the end of the month it's going to be another Irish crowd for you as well one other thing as well um you were on the ESPN top 25 prospects to look out for like the names that are on that list as well in the organizations were you expecting to be on that list was there any Whispers of it or how did you find out and how did it feel no I wasn't expecting to be on the list obviously um especially after being so disappointed with my last performance um I I didn't know I just seen all my friends were sending me a post by ESPN on you know comes up sent by ESPN on Instagram so I was wondering what it was then obviously seeing that I was listed as it and I wasn't like as I said I wasn't expecting to be on it but um really really grateful to be honest I kind of you know got a lot of fire under me as well to prove that uh I I should be honored I do belong on it and you know if I can keep progressing at a good rate like I have done in the past and keep the ball rolling there's there's no reason I can't submit my my name and a list like that like you know so you know it's quite a prestigious list to be on so when I seen it like that I was I I think I'd mess it here the day after that we were talking about so it was quite good to see an Irish fight around a guy from SVG yeah that's just a message he's been from Ireland there's a whole of so it just bodes well like what you think I think the levels in Ireland are coming up again I think there was obviously the rise when Conor came but now I think the likes of like yourself yeah the amateurs coming true I think that's fruits of what kind of kind of built years ago we're reaping the benefits now would you agree or disagree oh 100 that you're seeing the next wave coming through now because they've been counted on you know um and irisham Maine I I would say in the next two or three years it's going to be in a very very good place like even like Irish Emmy in general yeah but even SPG here like I see every day they among the people um roughly around the same levels mean I you know coming through under the pros or the high level amateurs there's there's a lot of boys coming through here with big big futures like anyone could go right to the top I think you're gonna see it now in the next few years just how good we are like yeah and there's a lot more promotions as well like the pfl coming in obviously you've got Nate and will uh Franz has just signed with them as well there's a lot more options afro as well to to climb up that ladder so um I can't wait to see a fight at the at the end of the month as we all can't as usual um there's going to be one more question before you go if when you finish fighting is there anything you'd like to be described as for your legacy whether it be whether it be as a fighter or a person once you've finished up yeah I could ask this before and how to think about it and I wanna I wanna go to owners one of the best Irish fighters to ever do MMA like I want to be right up there like I want respect on my name at the end of it all and mostly to be honest I just want to be when I start fighting now I look back and be proud of myself that I give it everything you know I don't want to I don't want to be sitting down 20 years down the lane and thinking what if I had a work to even harder you know maybe I didn't give it all you know [ __ ] that like that'd be a horrible feeling so I'm just going to give it everything I can see how far I can go and hopefully at the end of my career being happy and just happy with everything like you know how much effort opening definitely see you going to the Top If You continue doing what you're doing at the moment so I want to thank you very much for your time thank you it's been absolute pleasure yeah cheers