Brian Coyle interview

Summary

Brian is about to fight at Chaos fighting championship this weekend after completing the Alpha project we speak about his experience and feelings towards this weekend

Transcript (youtube_captions)

[Music] Mr Brian Coy we all will know him from behind the scenes at all the shows um as the cupman a part of inside out care um he decided to do the Alpha Project which is going to be taking place this weekend at chaos the Irish the longest running Irish promotion um the longest active MMA promotion in Ireland okay he corrected me so um thank you very much for your time I know it's fight week there's a lot going on how are you and then and how have you found the Alpha Project and what actually LED you to to to pursue it um you know what it was kind of me in my big mouth anybody who who talks to me backstage knows I like to talk and and slabber a lot um so we've done many programs like this we've done you know the the clan wars does their own program faty fight done their own program SBG does their own kind of um almost white color program there was never anything around the Northwest that was accessible for me I I always wanted to fight I mean I've been around MMA and in Ireland for well 16 years I I thought about fighting when I was younger but I just didn't feel I was skilled or athletic enough then um the the the crazy mind of Jerry poter um decided to run this Alpha Project and after the success of the first one um I thought I would actually like to try it and do it all everything aligned the fact that it was chaos which is a show that that means so much to me um I just I took the plunge and thought it's it's now or never I'm 42 years old um I'm not getting any younger so this could probably be my last chance to do it and fair play you because like that a lot of people will always think about and talk about it and and they won't go true with it when you look back on now obviously you haven't had a huge amount of time what is it 12 weeks is it 12 weeks yeah if you could go back to yourself in that younger time when you thought you weren't fit or elic enough would you tell yourself to do it that there could have been plenty of time to obviously to to get skilled and atletic to do it um I I kind of I I I was what 25 26 then I just become a father um Was preparing to get married um just life kind of got in the way I didn't think I could commit to even training and and the training wasn't as accessible back then as it is now you know there wasn't multiple MMA gyms evolve may have been the only thing close to me where I where I could have trained with what ironically enough is where I'm training for this fight um you would have had to go to to the Godfathers of of MMA and the north which would have been Davy Patterson Rodney M or or up and R Belfast and it just you know logistically it just it wasn't for me stban had their own fight team um which is kind of was through that's how my introduction to D MMA come about um a few guys were fighting on chaos and and and I was dragged along against my wall and fell in love with the sport so you know logistically I was undisciplined I was unfit I just wasn't motivated back then I just had this kind of romantic idea of being a fighter it's maybe it's far the best that I didn't do it back then but like that you said everything that you've done now that you've done the 12 weeks and you've done the program talk to us about obviously you've been around Fighters and stuff so walking into an MMA gym for the first time wouldn't have been D to you because you've been around these people you know these people you know what to expect when you go to a gym how did you find the training how did you find your progress what did you like what did you find you done well and and what were the things that you thought you maybe you didn't find so not that you didn't like but so you didn't do so well let's say um it's it's amazing how unconditioned you be for fighting that the conditioner needed to fight um I I thought in my head it was just be we'll train three mornings a week that'll get me conditioned to fight as well as teach me how to fight now you have to realize going to do this Alpha Project like me and a lot of the other guys doing it we had never fought before a lot of us had never trained any discipline I'd never threw a punch before so as as well as training for 12 weeks to get conditioned the fight I also had to learn how to fight which was which was a little bit daunting it's it's crazy you know the the first time you ever Spar you don't know know how hard do you go or or what to do you're just you're you're kind of drowning you're you're you're learning as you go and you're just finding what what suits you and what fits you um I loved every aspect of it you know um obviously I I work as a a massage therapist too so I was very conscious of of you know hurting my hands and the fact that I work in Cuts where we where we rap hands too so I had all these little things going through my head the only thing I will say MMA in Ireland it's it's a community it's a Brotherhood when I signed up to do this fight and I announced that I was going to do this fight I had a lot of support from from the MMA community in Ireland you know guys were messaging me about coming up the train and and you know trying learning know even even things like just advice it's crazy you know because because I would talk a lot when I'm wrapping guys hands but you know this last few weeks it's been young like 19 20 year olds that are giving me advice about fighting and it's it's the whole experience has been brilliant and it it it really has made me appreciate the sport a whole lot more I mean I have so much respect for anybody who gets in a ring or a cage but I have even more respect now after this 12 weeks I've learned so much about myself it's been physically draining mentally draining emotionally draining uh and and now it just feels like Christmas week like you're just waiting for this for this fight I can't wait to get in there and that's good because like I would still obviously after you've done all that training the cherry on top is is to have the fight and obviously win the fight but I would some people when they get to that stage might not want to fight was there like is there an option with the with the Alpha Project to just do the training and not fight I know that doesn't apply to you but for people who may want to take part in it next year oh yeah yeah yeah um whenever we signed up at the start time we were asked that we want the fight or did we just want to participate in the training the training has been unreal it's been unreal so um it's it's three three mornings a week I'm doing we do one morning with uh Jason your striking coach and then we do two mornings with Jacob the grappling coach um so I I've been fortunate enough that that I've I've done a lot more training than that you know I've been I've been putting on a lot of work I like I've been traveling for for my work too I'm just back from usbekistan last week um I've lost 12 kilos in 12 weeks wow so like even for that aspect alone it's it's well worth it and how do you feel after losing the 12 kilos obviously I don't know whether you you'd want to compete you again asses but is this the type of training you're going to keep up to keep off the weight how do you feel with the weight loss was it were you expecting to lose that much yeah I kind of was expecting to lose that much because um I I originally I I thought my fight was going to be at 70 kilos 73 kilos uh me being like most men thought I'm sitting around 75 76 not too bad and when I actually weighed myself I was 84 wow so um that that has been it's just been a complete lifestyle change you know diet exercise conditioning um no alcohol you know how much I love my having a drink so it's been no alcohol um it's it's yeah so I I actually I'm taking this really seriously you know I'm training I I was kind of explain this some I feel like I'm training for like a UFC fight I've took it that seriously in terms of the training um just to get myself ready my big thing and I'm like I'm fighting a guy um fighting Kevin from from Lia who's 43 who's always the same age as me uh and I think we're probably I would safely say we're both in the same mindset we just don't want to go in there bar and embarrass ourselves we're two we're the older guys in there um and just no I think if we can both come out the other side six minutes later not hurt not seriously hurt with a smile on her face it'll be worth it but no I I won't be the next time you see me in a cage after Saturday will just be the clean blood um and I maybe might stick at the Jiu-Jitsu I like that I like the idea of not being punched in the face and then yeah there is loads of Jiu-Jitsu competitions and then if you kept that that trading up obviously that'd be great to keep the weight of like you said the lifestyle like what what has that brought aspects into your personal life then whether it be dis uh humbleness like has have you been able to translate any of the the benefits of training over your personal life yeah do you know what um I I would procrastinate a lot I would put things off but now with this training and and you know the new found energy and desire I'm I'm find myself trying to do things now rather than put them off um you know the this training hasn't just affected me I mean my my wife and my two kids like they've been involved as well um my wife's song Hero she's looked after the diet she's cooked she's prepped the meals she's um done everything for me you know from from coming back from training and she has a bath ready for me you know she's she's been amazing and and I'm sure she will be as glad to see the back of this training camp as as I will um I'm just looking forward to a beer and a and a big Chinese so on obviously I'm gonna be there on Saturday night with you will I be joining you for a beer and a Chinese after after the fight well you well hopefully by the time you're joining with me I will probably be upside down so yeah you're you're more than welcome for the beer and the Chinese fans you exclusive footage but you talked about chaos and what it meant to you and the history that you have with it you talked about couple of guys dragged you against you kind of you didn't really want to go and then you fell in love with it like how long ago did you say that was and and you so that that was 2008 that was chaos number three it was in the Everglades and da my my older brother who has fought and hopefully he well plan that he's going to walk me out to the cage cuz he was so instrumental and get me into bringing me into MMA he mentioned about going to this show and I agreed thinking that I could get away out of it it crept up on me I couldn't get away out of it we went to chaos Everglades now this was even before cages it was in a ring back then um and I just I fell in love with the sport so my first introduction to MMA wasn't the UFC it was chaos Fighting Championships um was just mesmerized the I I was expecting it to be like you know a a bloodthirsty crowd Bing for blood and and it was but they just made you feel so welcome I remember more the atmosphere than the fights um and just that that was it I was hooked I couldn't get enough of MMA and for every time after it you know what I went to the efr shows up in the elk um the uxc shows just whatever shows I could get there I was going to watch um knew nothing about fighting and just become obsessed with a sport to the point where you know I I had talked about said told you I wanted to fight and then I wanted to try and find some way I could get in and work in the MMA world and then eight years ago I I'd become a cup man so that has kept me involved and I I have I have far more interest in the amateur MMA scene in Ireland than I have in the Pro scene worldwide I just I love it you actually answered my next question was because because of that is that why you end up being a cut man because you you decid you weren't going to fight but onto your your point there as well about the am scene I'm actually the same a lot of people have said to me why don't you do your Bellator or cage Warriors or this that the other I've applied for credentials for them I've got credentials for them I just don't want to go and ask the same questions and this is no disrespect to the people that are there because they've been there and they've done that ask the same because I'm GNA be last in the queue I'm gonna be asking the same questions everyone else asked and I just think the coverage needs to be more on the guys that are coming up to and getting them ready for for for pro pro as well it's another sort of way so I love the am scene here and what you make of scene at the minute yourself I we we are about to produce you know that there's a few guys that have just turned Pro there recently we we're we're producing some killers at the minute this this is probably the best ERA of MMA in terms of skill set that I've that I've seen in my time you know we have guys that just turn pro guys like Conor McCarthy um kieren Brady that that are just about they they push into the the big scene you know there there's a few of them in um cage wies at the minute um in gar is about to have a number one title shot or number one contender in the UFC next month um you know I was there when he made his amateur debut uh it's just shaa Bannon I remember her coming up through it's it's been amazing it's actually nice now to sit and watch these guys achieving the success whenever you knew them in the amateur scene like I remember k lockran was just collecting belts everywhere um you know on the amateur scene and it's great now no and there's there's a few guys flying under the radar maybe that don't have the you know the loud personality or the social media presence um Georgie grosa from from P Hulan gym what an absolute Warrior what a what a killer and he's so relaxed and he's so happy and he's he's one of the guys I actually love to watch I I really really love that grappling style that wrestling Style Paul Buckley another by that I've that I've kind of preached about for a long long time has been one day watch so yeah it's great and and in terms of the amateurs coming through at the moment what what a what a grip of amateurs we've got coming at the moment you know there's guys like Damian mcag who's about to make his Pro debut um Jack NY guys like that killing it on the scene Fufu farz who just got a bronze medal there um Amy Scully who's just become world champion in usbekistan what a time to be in Irish MMA fan yeah it is and like that we could sit here for an hour and list off all the different names so many good tals and Georgie someone actually want to come back to for a second I just love his progression because his wrestling style but you can see as time won the wrestling the chain wrestling and then he was able to turn it into submissions and he just seems Unstoppable but like you said because he's quiet and he he doesn't have that loud brat personality he flies under the radar he's someone I I like to give his flowers to because he Hees deserves it it's a it is such a such a time for Irish MMA like you said Conor McCarthy's Kiko's Gary Rooney's everybody just kind of exploding up at the minute but um this weekend it's just about you like how are you finding the the weight cut like is is it too is it close enough to your waight that you're not having to do a massive one because for me that doesn't look like something that's fun to do uh no I I won't I won't have to do a cut at all I'll be I'm I'm on with now so um it's just a bit of discipline a bit of composure what the the hardest bit about this week so far is not doing the training because obviously I'm not going to be training as hard this week it's just been a big part of my life for the last 12 weeks that I'm finding that bit kind of hard to get around so like I've been I've been coming home early I've been lying about the house I've been just relaxing um obviously I'm still I'm still doing about of moving about and still doing some cardio stuff just to keep the the blood pumping and the the muscles moving but that not getting in and getting mauled by by Jacob Leonard and um Gareth vaugh has has been a bit of a bonus this week I can imagine and and I I actually find that quite interesting you've gone full Pelt for like 11 weeks or 12 weeks or whatever it is and then there's a stop like obviously if you were a fight you'd be able to manage that you've obviously found that quite I don't want to say unsettling but kind of like what do we do here now and then trying to watch the especially when you've got that much free time i' say the diet then is a little bit harder to try and manage when you're around the house more you're not training as much do you find what what are the kind of things at the minute that are kind of for you that you're trying to stay disciplined from is it the likes of the diet and stuff like that yeah it's the the the snacking and and traits and things like that that I'm trying to stay away from um you know I've got I've got two young boys and they like to you know come in and they're eating biscuits or um what whatever they're whatever they have in their hands they always seem to be eaten so like I I find that kind of hard but it's only one week it's only a week left it's only a few days now it's it's not that much and the anticipation for obviously the the fight coming up you said obviously you you're waiting for what you think like one of the things that I think people struggle with is out the backs you know the kind of waiting around stuff like that the the an but because you've been around the backstage areas you've probably can people yourself their hands having the chat with them do you think you're going to have any issues around the back waiting the anticipation go out or do you think no no cu the the guy the guys will be there anyway Jess and Jess and the team and you know what I'll probably do is I'll probably hop in wrap a few sets of hands and just keep my mind occupied there's going to be something for me to do back there I'm I'm kind of not that worried about that it's just the whole I don't think it has really hit me yet you know I maybe about two weeks ago I was completely petrified I was going pray this sounds bad I was praying for a knee injury or an ankle injury or something just to get me out of it now I've kind of settled and I'm kind of I've got like nervous excitement now so that'll probably it's because I've never done it before I don't know how I'm going to react you know when it comes down there and and I see the cage for the first time and you know the music your walk out music and your team's all there and that's that's going to be a that's going to be something different for me yeah no it will be it'll be once in a lifetime experience unless you do it again and then it's going to be twice in a lifetime and no I'm not doing it again I'm not doing it again no that's fair enough but at least you've got to like you said what are the biggest takeaways from it like because you've said the appreciation you have for Fighters a lot more because a lot of people and I hate this you hate this as well you see people oh you should do do this do this I went to do a white color boxing recently which I ended up quitting right so yeah even just to stand correctly I bound hard and I was like if I hear if anyone says to me they should do do this and do this and they don't train I'm going to tell them like straight off yeah it's it's it's one of my my biggest peeves I have and and and some of the you know say not just MMA journalism but you know soccer or rugby or whatever sport you're under I mean everybody has access to like Tik toks and Instagrams and um things know YouTubes and all right I I don't mind people being constructive I hate people criticizing a fighter when they've never done it before or criticizing a player when they've never played before I know um because this is one of the talks that that I had had with Dennis Perry Dennis was all about doing a podcast one time and I was going I couldn't I couldn't I couldn't comment on a fighter when I've never fought before so yeah just I these these guys you know this is why the Alpha Project is so perfect see those guys sitting in the bar saying this and saying that they should have done this they shouldn't have done that do you know what sign up pull on a pair of gloves and a pair of shim pads get in there and see how you feel you know it's it's the greatest experience I've ever had um it's so rewarding it's i' I've loved every minute of it and hated every minute of it at the same time it's definitely it's lifechanging yeah I think I think uh podcast between you and Dennis Perry would actually be quite good and and I think people can comment on it but like you said if it's constructive like the likes of Annie Stevenson and people like that I find very professional in in the way they articulate how fights go down um yes it's just it's more the people like we were talk about oh they should just do this oh they're shite blah blah blah yeah yeah you walk a mile in their shoes you do a day in their shoes a lot of the guys wouldn't be able to handle it so those casual fans yeah you know the the like I love listening to the all triangle and quila Ian o brilliant you will never hear them putting a fighter down oh he quit them there whatever you know they they they do it so kind of respectfully um and and like those those guys for me are are are the guys that I really enjoy listening to um in terms of in the MMA world it's it's more the the kind of the guy with the tick tock you know with a big beer gut and you know scraggly hair that's that's criticizing Jon Jones and buys that got that that's the boys that I I can't stand yeah no like that MMA Guru guy I cannot stand oh no no he he is he is verman but anyways we'll get a we'll get away from that it's GNA be this weekend like you said you've got your it's close enough to home for you um there is so I would presume you got a good few people coming what's it going to like to have your family and and the supporters there um does that motivate you more do you feel it's going to put more pressure on you um you know what it's my my wife is a nervous wreck you know she thought the only person would be punching me in the face would be her but my my kids will be there um my my twin brother you can meet my twin brother that would be ni might S I might send him in to the cage um yes so it's gonna be and like you know there's uh like I've done I've been training on like uh doing training in SBG Stan Stan martial arts and they've got fighters on there so there's going to be a big contingent from from uh St you know I I for me to make an MMA debut it sounds Bonkers they even say this but you know I couldn't have asked for a more perfect night you know um I'm going to be there with with the G man said I care so I'm going to have Jess there in my corner um probably shouting and screaming probably might have to gag her um you know the the guy the guys that I've traveled around with and and you know on the scene for the last eight years with you know Paul Brown will be there de Larin will be there um G Lions um the the only kind of thing that hasn't happened that I would have loved it happened as I would have loved to have had Phil commented on it for me but he's in he's in Austria I think with brave so like everything has just you know all the stars have aligned it's chaos it's a novice fight we're on the same skill level it's it's in the Millennium Forum it's where like you know Conor MC once fought where I watched Conor McGregor fight where I watched Patty hullan fight um and now to be there they have a walk out they have my family there hopefully be walked out by my brother um just everything's just perfect um and you know what the result of the fight doesn't even matter I'm not going in there going I have to one I'm going to smash this guy I think if we both can get through it we both can come out unscathed um and then go and have a bear after together that that would just make it absolutely perfect yeah no 100% And the way you've described that everything kind of aligning at once yeah between chaos being the first love all the people you've been around with for years especially like Jess in your corner um and all the people involved I'm going to let you go I want to thank you so much for joining me it's a pleasure that me and you have we we talk a lot out the back we travel I travel with you sometimes as well and we we obviously we have a lot of conversations but it's been very very nice for me to be able to have a platform with you like this and I hope you feel the same is there anything you want to say before you go and thank you so much again Brian yeah just chaos Fighting Championships 23rd of November will be available on stream um there may be a few tickets available at the door um definitely check it out it's it's amazing the the the dairy crowd is something something to behold it's a thousand cater Stadium um also anybody who wants to kind of follow in the footsteps there will be another Alpha Project I think maybe starting to run early next year the fights I think maybe in om and virus but not sure what what gems are doing it maybe the same gems again if you've ever had a thought ear Inland about what it's like come on you're not going to be thrown to the Wolves you're going to be put in there with somebody who's training the same length of time as you similarly matched um and just go on and enjoy and have a good time um I think everybody should try something that makes them uncomfortable once once in their life yeah know 100% And I can't wait to see this weekend it's going to be a pleasure to see this fight and being a part of it as well so I want to thank Youk you very much thank you for coming on and I will see you on Saturday see you on Saturday thank you