Issue 187

January 2020

The English fighter, now at heavyweight, on learning from past mistakes, coping with setbacks and belonging at the elite level of the sport.

You stopped MMA legend Sergei Kharitonov via TKO in the third round at Bellator 234. Did you see it playing out like that in the lead-up?

I felt like I would finish him. I went over the fight in my head a number of times. I watched his fights. He is a top fighter but he never fought anyone like me. I brought to the table what works for me and what I’ve seen work against him. It all worked out.

With that being said, you have been a part of some big fights in your career, especially under the Bellator banner. What fights stand out to you most from your own career?

The first fight with Emmanuel Newton at Bellator 130 was the fight that opened my eyes to the fact that I needed to change some things. That was when I moved to Florida. It was all about the level of competition and the class of fighters at this level. You can’t just go into a fight and throw everything at it. You have to think, he was the champion for a reason. It was a five-round fight. I was still fighting as if it was a three-round fight. I planned to finish him quick. Looking back now, if I would have paced myself a little bit, I probably could have survived.

That made me move to Florida and train with the best. Look where I am now. The rematch with Emmanuel Newton at Bellator 149, where I beat him comes to mind. I came back and fixed up my game and beat him in the rematch. It was amazing to have that dedication and that sacrifice pay off. I fixed it up. I fixed all my shit up. Everyone wants to be the best but you have to know what you’ve done wrong and be man enough to fix them up.

The fight with Thierry Sokoudjou, I felt like that was the first legend I beat. I don’t know if I would say I made him retire but he ended up retiring after that fight. That showed me that I am where I need to be. I was at the level I needed to be at. That was another great feeling, to know I was capable of that.

The fight with Francis Carmont was another one. That was another top fight for me. Again, Francis was a top, top fighter. For me to beat him, that was another one for me to say ‘Yeah, I do belong here.’ I’m not just beating John or Bob or Bill down the road here. It showed me that I will be a world champion someday.

I beat my friend Liam McGeary at Bellator 179. He is a former world champion. I was an underdog. Liam was tearing it up at the time. I ended up finishing him in the third round. Those would be the ones that stand out most to me. 

The cut to make light heavyweight just became too much for you to continue to do. What was the conscious decision to stop trying to make that cut and make the move to heavyweight? 

It just got harder and harder each time I tried to make light heavyweight. It got to the point, when I was cutting for the fight with Phil Davis and the weight was just hard to get off. I made my mind up then that it would be my last fight at light heavyweight. Win, lose or draw, that would be my last fight. It just got hard. It wasn’t as easy as it used to be. Even though I was pretty strict it was just hard. I just felt horrible that week before the fight when I was trying to get down. I knew then that it would be my last light heavyweight fight. 

I can imagine the lack of cut has been nice this time around. How great has it been to not have to put that mental and physical energy into cutting?

It’s been great for the mind, body and soul. I was able to focus a bit more on other things like actually getting ready for the fight. I focused a little more on technique, drilling and going back and actually working on a few more things rather than needing to lose weight and needing to go for a three-mile run instead of grappling. Not that I haven’t been doing all of the cardio stuff, but I have been doing it while having time to add in the technique and other areas I wanted to work on.

This win wiped out your three-fight losing streak, a position you have never been in before. You have said that everyone is on their own journey. As your journey continues to play out what will that entail in Mixed Martial Arts? 

Well, I have won loads of fights. I won nine or ten in a row at one point. I felt great. Now, I feel like God is testing me. This is another test. I’ve had the good, now here is the bad. How are you going to react to it? Am I going to sit down and cry and make everyone feel sorry for me or am I going to get back up and get the fights I need to get me back up there and show people what’s good? That is exactly what I am going to do.

That journey might include a rematch with champion Ryan Bader. What would it mean to you to be able to run that fight back?

I don’t like to look past any potential opponents but obviously, yeah, at some point that would be a great fight to have again.