Ben Johnston interview

Summary

Ben is an amateur fighter competing for the middleweight title against Gareth McCormac at Cage Conflict this weekend 3 of his 5 fights being title fights he's been here many a time in his early career. moving up a weight class he said he's feeling fresh having no weight cut

Transcript (youtube_captions)

[Music] okay so I'm here with Benny The Butcher who is going to be fighting for the cage conflict middleweight title this weekend H he's after coming in on late notes he usually comes he usually fights at welterweight I want to say three of your last five fights have actually been for championships so this will be four out of six pretty impressive for someone with their first six fights so thank you very much for your time how are you and how are you feeling it's fight week I'm good D I'm feeling I'm actually feeling amazing see no heavy W or heavy DS or anything it's making a big difference made a big difference from through training as well because it was able just to eat a we bit more and you know indulge a we bit more yeah and you can obviously when you're training when I listen to nutritionist or whatever they say like like Jo obviously fight week when you're cutting out the the carbs and stuff like that and you're really kind of dehydrating your body that when you're fighting obviously because you're an amateur taking it a middle way isn't a pro like isn't the problem obviously as you go pro you're going to want to be doing the weight cut more but I think it gives you more time to just focus on the skills rather than the weight cut is like is there is there some sort of a relief in that would I be right in any sort of Direction yeah whenever I found out because I was trying I think they were trying to get me matched from Welter with and there was nothing really there and then obviously that fight uh BR Manning had to pull out I think or I don't know actually what happened but it got offered to me then and I went C days I'll take out that'll be it'll be easier for me as well and having to sit and try and cut with he cut with I wish everyone f it their natural it'll be so much better in an ideal world that would be like if everyone just said right here's my walk around weight we're going to fight within five pounds of this like weight I know one Championship do it but there is loople that people can get through I think that is the best way but because it's prize fighting and there's so much at stake especially in the Pro ranks you can see why they cut it because it could be the difference of 50,000 or 100,000 but amateur I think your first few fights I think should be kind of at your walk around weight just to kind of learn the craft my that's what I well my first two I didn't cut I don't I think I caught like something like a kg or something it was nothing nothing major like uh and then my second fight I was supposed to fight at middle weight and my opponent pulled out and then the guy was fighting his opponent pulled out but he was fighting at L heavyweight so we agreed to meet at 88 but by that point that was already about 86 anyway so I didn't have to cut anyway for it and just made everything so much harder yeah I can imagine it does I can't even imagine I if I see some food I can't even stop myself from eating it so I can't even imagine what it's like especially for you I would say a lot of Fighters when they finish fighting have a food complex that they just want to eat everything would that be like after a fight would you be like I just want to eat everything in front of me do you think the way cuton gives you like a some sort of a like love haate relationship with food well after every fade I always on the Sunday because it's Tuesday always a Saturday with fade I always get a big tobby ice cream on a pizza pizza place in the turnour from um that's good that's good going have there's nothing like it and when you eat that how good is it when you actually can can have that enjoy it and just just you're not worried about it then so much better it actually it makes it it does actually make it taste 10 times better yeah no I'd say it does I'd say it does but you're coming up obviously it's cage conflict you've been here before you know what likes in the devonish the ABS crazy how do you feel about fighting on cage obviously you like it you've been there a couple times before there's the atmosphere I just think the atmosphere is electric I just think it's just a crazy show how are you feeling about fighting for another title on on cage conflict I'm I'm I'm happy about it like it's but see at the same time D I just it's I don't really care about the titles right I just love the fight like that's what I I always say that to people people are like oh what happens if you lose and I always say it doesn't I just want to go and fight I'd fight every week if I could but obviously it wouldn't be too good for your health doing that but obviously rea and all that you know they are nice to look at like but I just want to fight really to be honest yeah it's good because with the title fights I think because people say amateur titles don't mean anything and to me they don't mean anything if they don't mean anything to the person who wins it when you seees of like you and out to defend it because a lot of to just collect them and kind of Go Pro on the back of I've got four but didn't defend him like Tian loan defended that you defend that Damen McAn wants to defend his I I think if people put an emphasis on defending them then it more valuable in my that's just my opinion yeah no I I think that's true because that's what people always say you're not a champion unless you're trying to defend your belt you know that's what people say like but I can't understand why people just go about cracking them but I think if I if I was to win this Bel I would want to defend it you know what I mean yeah like like you did obviously with your last belt the obviously the results you started off three and then you lost your last two so coming back after losing two like I said you just love the scrap like yeah scrap like when you go from winning three in a row to losing two in a row is there any kind of mental thing in you that's like you're beating yourself up or do you just realize it is part of the game it's part of learning and lesson life goes on it's a I always say it's never a loss it's a lesson so that's the way I always look at it the past two Marco he he rinsed me that guy didn't they but apart from that that last fight I see that last fight I have with James sh I love that fight because we both just W for it it was a good that's the type of that the type of fights I want to be having you know just absolute can just go for it from the get-go yeah it was a crazy fight and like that I think I think Marco because of Marco's record I think people Overlook Marco a lot man Marco is so good I think it's just sometimes I don't think he performs how he potentially should but that night he he obviously did uh yeah yeah but like that you're getting another shot do you think there'd be much difference in strength between you and G because obviously he fights at this we all the time um or do you think it's got much of a muchness I don't think I think we'll probably be around about the same to be honest because I I I wouldn't be before I done MMA I was B in the mimal like a big in like not power lifting but I would have done all you know just deadlifts and squats and B press so I am quite strong and because I'm not cutting weight I'm not going to be my body's not going to be really like exhausted or anything so I think I'll not I'll notice a big difference on fate Nate 100% yeah and I say like that it's we're a couple of days away now what days the Tuesday so we're Saturday wa you're not worrying about a wake up not what kind of a relief is it this week not to have that going in it's brilliant for is I'm actually it's it's actually it's made the week a lot better it's the only thing I love fight camps I love going in and you know knowing you're about to get completely ruined every session and then when it comes to fight week I dread it because I know I'm going to have to cut out start to really cut out everything and start to just dehydrate myself so this week it's been it's been good so far anyway part from when I looked in the frider and seen a couple cheesecakes that wasn't too good because I know I can't take them but with with this week going forward we're not looking past Garrett because obviously you're always looking at what's in front you what's your plans for the year cuz you had quite an active year last year you were you fought for like I said for three tit like you had three championship fights um yeah's your plan for this year because the shows kage Le started last week and I don't think they stopped running until the end of March now again and then April and then may and like with that many with that many shows on are you planning on being as active as you can be or are you going to be more selective about fights you choose this year no I think when of because I've only been I have my first about a year it's not even been a year and a half since I had my first fight so I'm start at the start of my career so I just want to have as much fights as I can it's all experience you know Win Lose or Draw it's all experience so I think you're better in your amateur career you are better just going for it all the time yeah I think so I think so too sorry go ahead just this year I'm going to probably try and do the same again just keep going just as long as I don't get injured or anything I should be as active as I can be yeah because like that you have been quite active and I like your attitude and wanting to fight as many and get as much experience as you want because I find it strange when people were at the top of the amateur when Tian locker and Max L fought no one really wanted to fight either one of them and I was like why would you not want to fight the best round like you might convinced you might give a good fight but you're going to see so many areas where you can improve I think Conor McCarthy was the say no fight him Sam Simon stepped in Conor had a fantastic performance but Sam said he learned so much from the fight do you think because that Pro your career means so much you think people should the top should be just fighting the top of am because You' have nothing really to like you lose a fight on your Amire record with no one's going to look into the only I know about it might be the only person do you know yeah I just I think like why would you not want to because there's always there's always a chance no matter who's in front of who there's always a chance someone can win you know know so what would happen if you go on and you end up beating the guy who's say the number one amateur in the country and then you have just beat him you know why would you not want to take that opportunity yeah because any momentum they had you you essentially steal from them going forward yeah yeah no 100% like I would that's I don't I've never understood like people not accepting fights or anything like that like you just fight whoever's in front of you that's all you can do really yeah and there there's a there's a lot of fight there's a lot of good fights for you out there and obviously this weekend is one of them obviously with your gym you moved locations there was at the end of last year yeah the end of last year it was after just after the last when was it actually I think it was just not yeah the end of last year probably October time we moved to B CL which it I live in colge so it's only it's 10 minutes up the road like I was traveling probably 40 40 minutes up the Ral time every night and then I working 9 to5 every day so I was coming straight home having the travel like come in get a quick show straight up there back down then that was my night over just bed and then back at it again the next day so with it being there it's 10 times handier like it's so easy for me know and has it made it more accessible like that it's made it easier for you has it made it more accessible for other people in the locality did you find more of an up more new members coming as he moved because of the location yeah we got there was a lot of new people came and then a lot of the guys that we train with are from like on so it's only 15 minutes from them as well and then there's a lot of us from K the train there so it was it's kind of in the middle for everyone that's good that's good like that makes it easier for yourself and you touched on there I'm going to touch on it a little bit like you talk about you work at 9 to5 we were talking OB before this interview when we organized the time like how hard is it doing a 9-to-5 having a personal life having a partner having kids having family and doing this fighting stuff as well like how just for people who don't understand and especially am get paid how much money do I don't want I don't want figures but like you you put money into it you put time like how hard is that to try and balance yeah yeah it is hard to balance G but the way I always look at it if if it's what you enjoy doing you can't really put a price on it anyway um but it can't be especially if there's people out there they're not earning you know good money their jobs you know they' probably really struggle to try and even do it because youve gym fees you've you need to be eating the right stuff and all that there and then Pat up and down so I'd say for a lot of people it probably is tough yeah it would be because I could imagine like I know what gym fees cost they they they their different varieties across different gyms but then you like said you need to be eating good food you need to be eating fresh food uh some people take on nutritionist which aren't cheap either but if you need a nutritionist it might be essential especially going pro like yeah and I know obviously up north is different down south you have to get the brain scan every year which is a couple of hundred quid as well so when you when you see sponsors the sponsors are badly needed in amateur MMA and it's mad because you see a lot of Pros that are on stages like Bellator and bfl and the amount of sponsors they have as well that these wages can't actually facilitate them doing what they want to do yeah it's like I had i' a lot of people put a lot of time in the getting sponsors and stuff I I had a couple but then just I'd say at the minute I can't even be bothered like going about all that I just want to focus on the fighting and then you know when they come they'll come I have a couple of people there that want to but just because obviously this fight was a bit not late notice because it was training but because it couldn't get M I didn't think it was going to get M and then that came I told him just to wait till the next fight because I don't want to be running about trying to get t-shirts printed and all just want to focus on the fade yeah cuz cuz all that kind of add to it like you said trying to sell tickets trying like trying to sell tickets trying to get fight trying to get in contact with sponsors trying to do this this all kind of takes away from what he actually want to be just doing but it is an essential part for some people like I said you don't need them this camp but in the next fight you'll have a proper fight Camp you'll be able to do all all the proper channels for your sponsors what you need to do but yeah it no it is it's a good it's a good it's going to be a good weekend you said like once you get in there you don't really notice any the the the the well the atmosphere when you're in there you just locked in you can just hear your coaches it just like when you see in a movie and it's like Apollo Creed looking at Rocky is that what it's like just tunnel vision and then yeah the crowd drowns out and all you can hear is Stephen and or whoever else may be in your corner yeah but that's exactly what it's like sometimes you can I can hear the odway H of people shoting it's weird I remember one fight someone was shooting for him to Cal kick me and I I could hear him and then I went he's going to throw a c kick now and he through he went to throw like a c kick but I knew it was coming because I heard someone from the crowd sh it wasn't even his coaches or anything and I went happy days I sort of me out there well if you're if you're fighting against fight Academy you're always Gonna Hear Patrick McAllister and lie Shannon shouting but you notice that Regional shows a lot that the crowd is obviously going to be a lot of their team and you see it happens everywhere not just cage conflict show that there's people coaching them but there's only the two of you in there uh and the only two of you can decide to fight but look I'm G to let you go I want to thank you so much for your time it's been a pleasure to catch up with you it's been a pleasure to talk it's going to be a pleasure to watch you fight again is there anything you want to say before you go or anyone you want to shout out before you go just shout out uh to my coaches and my teammates that's really and then show obviously Li for putting me on kids conflict and G me the ttle shot you know we shout Sigma Fitness keeping me uh keeping me big and strong so he is perfect you need to be big and strong going into this fight OB the uper way class but is it any fight I've watched you in has been an absolute pleasure it's been an absolute pleasure to talk to you again for I think this second time uh and I will see you on Saturday night and best of skill this weekend yes Ste thank you it's pleasure talking to you as well perfect thank you