Issue 064

July 2010

James McSweeney was only 14 years old when he decided to dedicate his life to Muay Thai. The Londoner packed his bags, kissed his mum goodbye and made the long trip to Thailand, armed with nothing more than a few years of stand-up training and some crazy dreams. 

At an age when most kids spend their time doing essentially nothing, McSweeney was living and training in a foreign country. Entire days were spent hitting pads, running ludicrous distances and going through some very tough conditioning – on top of which the Brit would fight twice a week against hometown favorites.  

“I fought every weekend,” says McSweeney. “If I fought on Saturday, I would make enough money for the week. If I followed it up with a fight on Sunday, I’d have some extra. I ended up doing that quite a bit. I wasn’t very good at school, so there was no question regarding what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to be a fighter.” 

It was a baptism by fire, but one that paid off because what followed was an extensive kickboxing and Muay Thai career that took him across Europe. Over a span of a few years, the heavyweight accumulated over 100 professional kickboxing fights, complete with 79 knockouts, not to mention a long list of scars and injuries.  

With his eyes on a world title, McSweeney started training with Amsterdam-based kickboxing legend Lucien Carbin, trainer to the likes of Alistair Overeem, Gilbert Yvel and other Dutch strikers. The Brit was set for glory, but in 2004 something very important happened: The heavyweight discovered MMA. “MMA kept growing,” says McSweeney. “And I started getting offered more money for MMA fights than kickboxing fights, so I took one in Slovenia. It was more vale tudo style, with soccer kicks and stomps – Pride rules. It was pretty cool. At the time I was a kickboxer and I was stubborn. I had no groundwork and was new to the sport. I thought I could win standing up.” 

Painful lessons followed, but still McSweeney insisted on his stand-up only style. Despite the losses, it wasn’t until 2008 that The Ultimate Fighter 10 contestant really began to take MMA seriously enough to pursue real grappling training. “I was fighting Mustapha Al Turk,” says McSweeney. “He’s a great grappler and he took me down instantly – dominated me. It became clear to me: There was more to MMA than I had paid attention to. I started learning the ground game.” 

Today, McSweeney spends countless hours on the mat. He is particularly enthusiastic about wrestling, the ‘kryptonite’ of many British fighters. “I wrestle my arse off,” says McSweeney. “It’s hard because we don’t wrestle in the UK. We don’t have it in our high schools like they do in the USA.” The heavyweight feels he is slowly but surely becoming a complete fighter, a feat that wouldn’t have been possible without his long list of trainers, from Carbin to boxing legend Freddie Roach, but most importantly Greg Jackson and his team in Albuquerque.  

Like so many rising English fighters, McSweeney is willing to give up the comforts of home in order to pursue the best training available, and this often means traveling to the US to train with Team Jackson. Amazingly, it was Greg Jackson who first contacted the Brit regarding training, and not the other way around. “I had a fight with Roman Webber at Cage Rage,” says McSweeney. “I KO’d him very quickly – ten seconds I think. I got a call from Greg Jackson who saw the fight. He called me and said ‘Great stand-up, how’s your ground game?’ They invited me and I flew over and started training with Rashad Evans on the first day.” 

McSweeney has been training at Jacksons for two years, during which time he has built up a friendship with both the trainer and the former light heavyweight champion. His newly improved reputation resulted in the Londoner being the first overall pick on TUF 10. “The UFC gave me two offers,” says McSweeney. “Get two clean wins and get a UFC contract or go through the TUF house. We took the TUF house because it would get me on TV for a few months and build up a following. It’s less money at first, but if you can build a fan base it propels you into the American industry. I was thinking of the bigger picture.” 

His time on TUF has definitely paid off. Not only did McSweeney make a name for himself, going as far as the semifinals (where he lost to TUF 10 winner Roy Nelson) but he also became one of the more popular – though somewhat controversial – fighters on the show. The television appearance has also benefited him in other ways: It has recently been revealed that McSweeney will be a playable character in the upcoming UFC Undisputed 2010 video game. “It’s really cool to be part of the game,” says McSweeney. “It’s ridiculous how alike the character is to me. He’s got my scars, everything – it’s crazy.” 

Sixteen years have passed since McSweeney first left home to pursue his dreams. His career has come a long way in that time. Though the days of 12oz gloves and kickboxing titles may be long gone, a part of his heart will always belong to his original love. “My heart is always going to be in stand-up fighting,” says McSweeney. “I love the K-1 style. It’s so explosive and entertaining. But now I have a new love in MMA.” At 29 years of age he still has a couple of years before reaching his peak, and a lot can change in that time. “I still feel young,” says McSweeney. “I still have the hunger inside of me. I know my place in the division right now. I’m not going to be calling out champions anytime soon. I’m just going to keep growing and keep training with the best.” 

So what can we expect from McSweeney one year from now? “One year from now? I would love to fight in the O2 in London – that’s my dream, fighting in my hometown. But other than that, I just want to keep putting on exciting fights and aim for the knockout wherever possible. That’s what I do. People don’t have to like me but I hope they like what I do.”  

K-1 Kickboxers in MMA  

Throughout the years many kickboxers have tried their hand at MMA, with mixed results. Here are three cases that every true MMA fan should know about. 

Peter Aerts

Kickboxing record 99-27-2

MMA record 1-1-0 

A three-time K-1 world champion, Peter Aerts is one of the three most successful kickboxers of all time. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for his MMA career. Although his first fight was a stunning KO win over former sumo wrestler Yoichi Babaguchi, his second bout ended in an embarrassing submission loss to Shungo Oyama. He has not fought in MMA since 2005. 

Semmy Schilt

Kickboxing record 35-5-1

MMA record 26-14-1 

Another top K-1 kickboxer with a record four world titles under his belt, Schilt is a rare case in that he started his MMA career before switching to K-1. He was quite successful but failed to beat top-level competition, losing to Fedor, Minotauro and Josh Barnett. Though he occasionally dabbles in MMA, these days he is first and foremost a kickboxer – and a damn good one at that. 

Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic

Kickboxing record 16-7-0 

MMA record 26-7-2 

Arguably the best kickboxer to ever make a successful transition into MMA, for years Filipovic was a K-1 favorite who managed to not only survive but also thrive in the world of MMA. At his peak, Cro Cop was the Pride open weight Grand Prix champion, utilizing his razor-sharp kickboxing skills to rack up 20 (T)KO wins in both ring and cage.