Issue 050
June 2009
Over the course of three years of fighting, brothers Rob and Mick Sinclair have exploded onto the UK scene and have established themselves as two of the most talented and well-rounded lightweight prospects in the country.
Younger brother Mick was the first of the brothers to discover mixed martial arts when he visited a local kickboxing gym and heard an inspirational sound. As he explained, “You know when you get one of them bags that no-one ever goes on, because it’s too hard and it never moves? I could just hear this bag going ‘boom, boom…’ I looked round, said to the instructor, ‘Who’s that?’”
The fighter with dynamite in his shins was Michael Bisping, who was only too keen to show Mick the ropes in his chosen profession. Mike began taking him to training sessions at the Wolfslair in Widnes, and since this fateful meeting the brothers have racked up a combined record of 11-3, with older brother Rob recently claiming the Cage Gladiators lightweight title.
As the elder Sinclair pointed out, his opponent (Irish fighter Aidon Marron) did not give up the title without a struggle and came very close to breaking Rob’s arm with a straight armbar. “He was really quick with it, but as Dan Hardy says, people tap too soon. As soon as an armbar is threatening to be on, some people tap,” said Rob “I felt my arm pop two or three times. When I heard it pop, I knew I could let it pop a couple more times before it broke.”
The stubborn former kickboxer went on to dominate the remainder of the contest to earn a unanimous decision win. His arm, however, was feeling the effects. “It was pretty sore for about two or three months after, but I just let it heal and now it doesn’t feel like there’s any damage to it. In my next fight, I could get my jaw broke and get it wired, or I could break my shin – but these things are there to deal with if you do get them.”
So far both brothers appear to have caused more damage that they have received in the cage. Mick is responsible for one of the most dramatic knockouts of 2008 when he fought his way out of a tight spot against Ashleigh Grimshaw. “I remember taking a right hand and thinking, ‘Flippin’ heck, that hurt!’ But I also remember landing two kicks and being surprised that he was still stood. They were full on! He may have blocked them, but if you put a Thai pad next to your cheek and I kick it as hard as I can, it’s going to hurt isn’t it?”
Despite these dynamic recent performances, they are both careful to keep their feet on the ground and, with the healthy competitiveness which exists between the two brothers, they are able to spur each other on to victory. “If he wins, then I’ve got to win,” Rob explained. “Because you’ve always got that brotherly competitive thing – I want to be better, he wants to be better, so we push each other just that little bit more.”
On fight night, the pressure behind this will to succeed rests squarely on the shoulders of the brother outside of the cage. “The pressure I feel is for him; I’m more worried about him fighting than I am about myself fighting,” says Rob. “If my brother is getting a bit of a kicking in the cage, I can’t do nothing about it. So the pressure is there. I want him to do well and he’s the same.”
Mick agrees fervently. “You saw how Rob was panicking when I was in there with Jason [Ball], because unless you’re in there taking that punch, you don’t know, do you? It can look really bad, like when Aidon [Marron] had the armbar on him, I was panicking, but Rob could feel it and knew what was going on.”
The siblings are aware that another handful of victories over top-flight domestic opposition could propel them onto the big stage. While both fighters were concerned not to hurt their mother’s feelings, if they continue their tandem rise to stardom there’s a possibility that a showdown between them could take place. “If the UFC say, you’re fighting each other because it’s a good crowd puller,” Rob pondered, “Then we’d talk about it and... you never know! It would be a good fight, wouldn’t it?”
