Issue 199

August 2023

English lightweight Teddy Stringer has been one of the UK’s top amateur prospects for a while. Now, after joining up with the MMA Fight Academy in San Diego, he’s taking his first steps as a pro. Simon Head caught up with him at his training camp in California ahead of his Cage Warriors debut to learn more about his journey to the pros.

You've come through the amateur scene, been on the biggest stage in the amateurs, and now here you are. How much of a difference has it been making that leap from the world stage on the amateurs to getting ready for the pros in such a unique environment like this?

Yeah, so obviously, my amateur career, I was pretty happy with it. I wasn’t planning on turning professional this soon – I had one more IMMAF World Championship in the back of my mind. But this opportunity is something you can't pass upon. To come to California, to train, to make your professional debut in San Diego, it was just a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So I feel like the transition, the amount of experience I’ve had at amateur, it’ll be seamless to pro. Whenever I get into the cage now, I’m cool, I’m calm, I’m confident. I’ve settled into that. I’ve done it 23 times before. The only difference is the four-ounce gloves, elbows, and heel-hooks, but I think that all suits my game quite well. When you're a grappler, you can drop elbows on top. When you're a striker it's a little bit harder to find those elbows, so I think all around, the transition will be smooth, and doing it with some of the best coaches in the US is definitely a benefit.

Fighting in the IMMAF World Championships, you don't know who you're going to be getting next round. So I guess prepping for a fighter is almost like a luxury. When you're a pro, you get a run-up, you know who you're going to fight, etc.

Yeah. For me, I think that's a big benefit. I'm a very tactical fighter. I’m not that brutish guy, I like to think about things, I like to plan things meticulously and figure it out in my head. So when I get a name, when I get six weeks to prepare for a certain style, I guarantee I'll have watched that guy 1,000 times by the time fight night comes. I’ll have broken him down. When you're an amateur, it’s sometimes, ‘Right, tomorrow you’re fighting a Bulgarian guy. The next day, you’re fighting a Russian guy,’ and it’s all very different and on the spot, which is great. But now as a pro, I can kind of sit and analyze, and bring that side of my game out. 

As a Brit, you know, you've got a rich history of people who've made their way up to the top of the sport, and loads of people that you can look up to, people that you train with, I'm sure. Over the course of your career so far, who have been the big inspirations for you?

I take inspiration from a lot of people. Looking at sports in general, anyone who's at the top of their game, you can appreciate that and take little things away. Like Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, they have a very elite mindset, and that's something that I want to bring into my game. But, when we talk about the UK and fighters, I've had the privilege to train with a lot of top fighters. It's hard to name one – I don't want to pick one. But one niche one that I will say is ‘The Latvian Express,’ Madars Fleminas, who fights in Cage Warriors. He's someone who, since an amateur, I've trained with quite a lot and he's gone on to do great things in Cage Warriors. He has that tough elite mindset, that grittiness. He’s someone that I take a fair bit from.

What does it mean to be able to compete under the Cage Warriors banner, with the promotion being known as a launchpad for fighters’ careers? 

I knew, as an amateur, the only place I wanted to go as a professional was Cage Warriors. You look at the stars that Graham (Boylan)’s found. Graham’s found Conor McGregor, Paddy Pimblett, and now he’s got Teddy Stringer on his hands! So, I’m going to be the next star in Cage Warriors. I don’t want to be the guy who makes his pro debut fighting an absolute can. I don’t want to be that guy. I want to push myself in at the top level. That’s why I’ve had so many amateur fights, because now I’ve turned professional I’m ready to step in and, in five or six fights, I want to be in contention for the Cage Warriors title.

For those people that haven't seen you fight before, what kind of fighting style can they expect to see from Teddy Stringer in Cage Warriors?

I'm a grappler through and through. And, although I'm starting to evolve my game more – I enjoy striking I'm enjoying the new facets – I will take you down and I will sniff your crotch for three rounds! That is the boring style, but I find rear-naked chokes a lot, I like to grind someone out and find the submission. That’s my style. So I'm hoping I can be the guy who makes grappling a little bit more exciting. Everyone loves a knockout artist. But I’ve got smooth submissions – I’ve got a kneebar at amateur, which is quite unique – so I want to be the most exciting grappler.

MMA is an individual sport once you're in the cage, but it’s a big team sport before you get in the cage. And this is a very unique team. You’ve got people from all over the world here. How has all of that gelled together over a relatively short space of time? It feels like there’s a real brotherhood between you.

Yeah, there's definitely a brotherhood among us. I've always looked from the UK, and thought, ‘I'm gonna go train on one of these big camps, like American Top Team, or just go where the best are.’ But what we're doing with the MMA Fight Academy is we’re finding those best prospects who aren't at those big gyms, and putting them all together. The first week, everyone walked past each other kind of eyeing each other up, but now we're all getting into the banter, we’re all mates with it. A lot of the Indonesian guys didn't know any English, and now they're speaking fluent English. All the Italians, their English has flown on, so thankfully I haven’t had to learn any new languages. I know how to say my name in Indonesian, but that’s where I draw the line!

We've seen The Ultimate Fighter, where they bring people together in teams, but at the end of the day, they're all fighting each other. So everyone's eyeing each other up through the whole process. This looks very different. This feels much more collaborative, everyone's kind of rowing in the same direction. How beneficial is that, knowing that you haven't got that nagging doubt in the back of your head that you're going to have to fight one of these guys?

Before we came out here, I thought it was more like The Ultimate Fighter. I was very in the dark before I came out here. And now, once we've all realized we can all win and be successful together, that changes the dynamic, because you're no longer looking at the guy who's your weight and thinking, ‘Are we going to fight?’ Now we’re thinking, ‘This might be the best training partner for me.’ It’s someone at the same level, with the same intentions as me. Of course, there’s lightweights here that want to be UFC lightweight champion. So do I. But we can all have our time down the line. There’s so many champions. It shifts. There’s lots of different organizations. But I feel like, when we work together, we’re going to get to the top.

I've got to say, you’re a natural at this whole media thing. You seem very relaxed doing this. It’s a hidden part of being a pro fighter – the ability to put yourself out there and communicate with people. How much do you enjoy this side of the game? 

I don't mind it. I kind of used my whole amateur career to make s****y mistakes, and there's probably some interviews on YouTube where you can listen to me chatting crap and stuttering my words. But I’ve done a lot of interviews now, and I’m a lot more comfortable with it. It's part of the fight game, and at times you think ‘Oh, I don't want to do an interview,’ but this is my job. This is what I get paid to do. The more followers I get, the more exposure I get. This is my job. This is what I get paid to do. The more followers I get, the more exposure I get, the more money comes into my pocket, the more fans, and the quicker I can get to the top. So, if it means smiling into the camera and chatting a bit of s**t, I don’t mind it!

So, what will life look like for Teddy Stringer two years from now?

Two years from now, a lot can change! Two years ago, I'd probably never have called this – living in San Diego and training full-time. But I think, two years from now, I’ll have won a few fights in Cage Warriors. I’ll probably have got to the end of my five-fight contract, and I’ll be knocking on the door of a Cage Warriors title shot. For me, the goal is to become a Cage Warriors world champion, get signed by the UFC, become a UFC world champion, then get out of the sport.

And that Cage Warriors belt’s got a rich history…

Yeah! A lot of talented fighters have held that belt, so hopefully I’m added to the roster. Look at Paul Hughes right now. He’s replicating McGregor’s footsteps. Look at someone like Paddy (Pimblett). He’s held that Cage Warriors belt. So you know, there’s lots of people to look up to who have held that belt. Hopefully one day I’m in that same discussion.