Issue 024
April 2007
The Trojan gym is rapidly becoming one of the top MMA gyms in the UK. Over the last few months an increasing number of fighters have made their way to Cheltenham in search of the training and work ethic that has spawned this army of dedicated Trojan warriors. Famous names preparing their fight skills under the Trojan banner currently include James ‘The Colossus’ Thompson and two of the UK’s brightest prospects, Cage Rage British middleweight champion Zelg Galesic, and undefeated up-and-comer Ronnie Mann. Each of these three MMA stars recently took the time to speak with Fighters Only, shedding some light on their training, the team’s ethos and their individual career highlights.
Guiding the team into battle are the Generals who oversee all aspects of the training at the gym; ex-French Foreign Legionnaire Charlie Joseph and the legendary Muay Thai expert Tony Myers. Between the two of them they have worked tirelessly over the past couple of years to develop the credentials of the gym, putting together a team of coaches and fighters that have helped push the club on from its strictly Thai boxing roots.
One fighter who has seen the benefit of their training and propelled himself into the limelight is the awesome physical specimen James Thompson, a man whose sheer presence seemed to guide him through the early stages of his career. Reflecting on some of the early pre-fight stare downs, James said: “When I first started out I could see some of the guys bottle it. Now I’m fighting at such a high level, no one bottles it. Now it’s more for the fans.”
Under the Generals’ guidance the former debt-collector has made massive improvements to his game. Through his seesaw career he has travelled to Japan to become the first British man to win in the PRIDE Fighting Championships, arguably the world’s top heavyweight division, and also suffered heart-breaking losses in Cage Rage, most recently to the giant brawler, Eric ‘Butterbean’ Ecsh.
However, it is in Japan that James tasted his sweetest success, taking on and eventually destroying Japanese judo legend, Hidehiko Yoshida, on the exclusive PRIDE ‘Shockwave’ show.
“It was great to beat him, it was no secret I needed a win. It was on really short notice, but I just couldn’t turn down the opportunity – I’m really glad I didn’t! I had a massive sense of relief after knocking him out and I couldn’t think of a better way to start 2007.”
Asked if he felt confident throughout the fight – one in which he was forced to absorb his fair share of punishment – James continued; “I was confident, but more than that I was determined. I felt really comfortable on the ground and losing some muscle really helped my cardio. I hadn’t trained that much at all; I was waiting until the New Year to start my training properly.”
Although he had just defeated a Japanese idol, he experienced no dip in his extraordinary popularity amongst the fans in the land of the rising sun. Focusing on their reaction to his performances, James revealed seemingly the only source of friction between him and the masses of cheering spectators; not using his trademark ‘Gong and Dash’ - a fearsome bullrush executed in the opening seconds of the fight; “The grief I get if I don’t do it is amazing. In Japan I have resigned myself to doing the Gong and Dash all the time, sometimes it works out, sometimes not, but I guess that’s why people like it - it’s exciting.”
Hearing of his background as a debt collector and seeing his no-nonsense style of fighting, you may get the impression that his world begins and ends in the aggressive world of prize fighting; but after asking who he considers to be his heroes, I was in for a slight shock; “Don Frye, the guy was just so tough, and Fedor is a great fighter, but outside MMA I really like Dolly Parton – I saw an interview with her once and really like her view on the world.”
Another notable fighter coming out of the Trojan camp is Zelg Galesic, a tough Tae Kwon Do champion who has made a more than successful transition to MMA. This man embodies excitement and anyone lucky enough
to witness his savage first round dismantling of the thoroughly out-gunned Mark Weir at Cage Rage 19 knows exactly what I mean. “Mark is a great fighter and a legend in the UK, so fighting him was a dream come true. It is always hard when you have great respect for someone but I wanted the belt so much that I was determined to win. I’d trained so hard for this match there was no way I wasn’t taking the title. I’d just like to say that I hope Mark is well and I am sure he will come back stronger from this match, he is a top guy.”
But why, after all his success in the Korean martial art did he choose to move into MMA? “I won everything I could in the full contact Tae Kwon Do world and didn’t want to end up in a situation where I was just defending my titles. I knew there were new challenges ahead and wanted to move into a new area. MMA seemed the perfect challenge so I switched.”
While some fighters have noticeably struggled when taking their traditional martial art skills into the unforgiving arena of professional MMA, Zelg clearly does not fit into that category. “I found the transition easy because I really enjoy learning all the skills needed to become a mixed martial artist. I enjoy BJJ, wrestling and Muay Thai and am fortunate to train at one of the best teams in the UK. So I have all the support I need and top level instruction to make the learning process more enjoyable.”
“I am extremely confident in my ground game. I train freestyle wrestling with an Olympian - Saeed Esmaeli - and BJJ with a PanAm and World Champ Italo Ferreira. There are also some very good grapplers in my team, so I get some extremely high level grappling.” With MMA coach and former fighter Paul Sutherland rounding out the coaching staff, every area of a fighter’s needs is met in the gym, as shown in the performance of their team.
Head coach Charlie Joseph seems particularly happy with the Croatian’s progress in this respect, highlighting the improvements that he’s noticed: “Over the past few months, Zelg has considerably improved his wrestling, in particular his ability to stop people taking him down. We have been working this aspect of his game as most of his opponents seem to want to take him to the ground.”
While embracing fighters with a particular pugilistic background, the Trojan gym is also home to a new breed of pure MMA fighters that have never known anything other than the mixed discipline. Ronnie Mann sticks out as the perfect example of this new breed and demonstrated over two hugely exciting fights against Pancrase London’s Ashleigh Grimshaw. “In our first fight Ash accidentally kneed me in the gonads, which to be honest took it out of me a bit,” said Ronnie. “I didn’t want to make a big deal about it, as I am not the kind of person to capitalize on incidents like that, but the pain in my groin was definitely debilitating and hindered my ability to fight at full power.”
Gritting his teeth and taking the shot like a warrior, Ronnie went on to learn the lessons of that tight draw last June, coming back in the recent rematch to dominate the contest and earn a very well deserved unanimous decision over the toughest opponent of his career so far.
Holding on to his undefeated record in impressive fashion, Ronnie seemed at ease with the pressure of defending it each time he makes his way to the cage. “The camp’s ethos is to face the best challenges you can as a fighter to achieve great things. If you accept that you should fight the best to progress then one should also accept that there is a strong possibility that you will lose at some point. I look to more senior members of the team for inspiration, particularly James Thompson. James had three losses in a row but bounced back by beating Yoshida, an Olympic gold medallist. He never lets statistics bother him and just tries his best to win. He is my template for success.”
As humble as he is talented, Ronnie spoke about the ups and downs of being a pro fighter at the young age of 21. “My whole life revolves around MMA, so I train full time and in my spare time teach the odd private lesson to support myself. I have had to resign myself to being a pauper for now but hope in the coming years things might change for me. There is no money in MMA for me at this stage so times are hard… but the advantage is that I am coming into it at the right time at the right age, so hopefully I will enjoy a long and profitable career.”
With an array of bona fide stars and up-and-coming fighters (some verging closely on the big time) the men giving the orders, Charlie Joseph and Tony Myers, can clearly rely on the unequivocal support of their team. Described as “Supportive, knowledgeable and progressive” by Ronnie, Zelg added in closing “I rate them highly as coaches, along with Saeed and Italo, I know I am in the best environment to learn what I need to keep progressing.”
THE TROJAN ARMY
Get to know who’s who in the chain of command in our brief guide to the Trojan Army.
The Generals
• Charlie Joseph, manager / Muay Thai coach
• Tony Myers, Muay Thai coach
The Lieutenants
• Paul Sutherland, former professional fighter and MMA coach
• Saeed Esmaeli, Olympic wrestling coach
• Italo Ferreira, Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach
The Commandos
• James Thompson, PRIDE and Cage Rage veteran
• Zelg Galesic, Croatian striker, Cage Rage champion
• Ronnie Mann, rising star of UK and European circuit
• Pele Reid, K-1 fighter / professional boxer
• Adam Mills, Ranked no. 1 in UK Muay Thai, European champion
• Damon Hood, Ranked no. 1 in UK Muay Thai, Commonwealth champion
• Dean James, Commonwealth Muay Thai champion
The Foot Soldiers
Matt Sellers, Mike Edwards, John Phillips, Anthony Peters, Dave Justice, Robert Thomas, Phil Smith, Donovan, Dan Atherton, John Paul Symes, Wezley Murch, Agim Murtic, George Henderson, Glynne Hubbard, Nazar, Phil Titmus, Gus Olds, Chris Dowling.
