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Daniel 'Denzil' Thomas Confident Of Victory Over Sellars
12 Feb 2010
By Dean Parr
Welsh MMA veteran Daniel 'Denzil' Thomas (16-6) will challenge Matt Sellars (7-2) on February 20th in Cheltenham for the Knuckle Up Lightweight Title. He recently spoke to MMA Hit Pit about this upcoming fight, his promotional team and what the future holds for him.
"I can't wait for it," a relaxed Thomas exclaimed. "Preparations have gone really well. I've upped my training now; I'm doing more running, more cardio and more sparring. I've been sparring with a couple of boxers, a couple of kickboxers - I have a friend who's a black belt kickboxer called Lewis Long, and obviously my normal MMA training on top of that."
Matt Sellars, the reigning Knuckle Up Lightweight Champion and 'Denzil's' opponent on February 13th gained a lot of credit recently for handing Nathan Beer his first loss. Thomas is not worried by what his foe brings to the table though.
"He seems a wrestler to be honest," he admitted. "I've seen him fight before, and I think he's more suited to the ground. We'll see how the fight goes though. If he wants to keep it standing, then I'll take him to the floor, and if he wants to take me to the floor, I'll keep it standing. I'll just mess with his brain a bit, so he'll say, 'Shit, what am I doing here!'. I think I'll win in the second round by ground and pound."
In his last outing, Daniel beat Dutchman Duane Van Helvoirt in the second round by guillotine choke. He reckons he put a good account of himself in that night.
"I was very happy with my performance," he beamed. "At the end of the day, that Dutch guy is a good fighter! I submitted him and he hadn't even been submitted in three years, so I thought I was excellent."
A couple of years ago, the Rhondda Valley man went to America to train with Matt Hughes' HIT Squad. He claims this experience helped him to no end. "It improved me on the wrestling side of things," said Thomas. "Since I've come back, I haven't lost a fight, and I'm on a six fight winning streak."
When asked if this was also partly down to him not taking fights on such short notice, 'Denzil' had this reply. "100 percent because I always want six weeks notice now, and I've got a proper management team now as well in Warrior Promotions. As soon as I came back from the HIT Squad, I signed with them, a since I've been with them, I haven't lost!."
Supposing he gets a win over Sellers, Thomas, who held a semi-pro record of 2-2, is going to leave it down to his trusty management team to strategise his next move. "I just want to keep training and fighting," he remarked. "I don't say no to anyone; if Ian Dean says 'I've got you a fight with so and so,' then I'll take it. I leave it to my management team to be honest."
To buy tickets for 'Knuckle Up: Origins', visit www.knuckleup.co.uk
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