|
|
|
|
MMA Hit Pit talks to Fighter of the Month Matt Inman
14 Jun 2010
By Ben Cartlidge
MMA Hit Pit took the time this week to catch up with our UK MMA Fighter of the Month Matt Inman, the current Strike and Submit European welterweight champion as he prepares to fight Eugene “Sniper” Fadiora at Fight Ikon 3 in Bolton.
Since turning pro in 2008 you've had a great run of form. What do you accredit your success to?
Yeah it's gone pretty well in the last couple of years, just before I turned pro I moved from Newcastle to Manchester, and started training more or less full time at SBG. Before that due to work commitments or studies I'd never been able to train as much as I wanted. Now all of a sudden I was in a situation where I could train 2 or 3 times a day, every day, and I did, rarely missing a session. Couple this large amount of time spent on the mat with the excellent coaching I received from Karl Tanswell, and regular opportunities to train with high level guys, and I think this is where the success has come from.
How have you changed as a fighter since turning pro following on from a very successful Semi Pro career?
Throughout my semi pro career I was really more of a Thai Boxing guy giving it a go. I already had good striking from my time at Barry Normans Sor Thanikul Gym and I had done some Jits but I was at best a solid white belt and my take down defence was nonexistent. At the start of 2008 I got more serious and decided to make more of a go of it, training regularly with Peter Irving at The Knuckle draggers in Newcastle. I think that this training and all the work I did at SBG have made me a much more well rounded fighter. Nowadays I'm just as comfortable on the ground as I am standing.
Behind every great fighter is a great team. What do you see as the advantages of your current gym?
I've changed things up a little since SBG closed at the beginning on the year, I still work with SBG head coach Karl Tanswell, his skills have to be seen to be believed but he also has a great coaching style as well as a commitment to his fighters that goes above and beyond what would be reasonably expected of a coach. Also I've been working at Jay Tans MMA Academy, the team are a great group of guys with a good approach to training with a combination of work ethic and technical ability that I see as essential in any team.
Describe a typical weeks training schedule a month out from a fight.
Up early on a Monday for rolling, back for breakfast then off to do pad work and technique. I'll usually rest in the afternoon, little sleep and some food, then back to the gym in the evening for more Jiu Jitsu and Thai Boxing with sparring. I'll do variations of this 5 or 6 days a week, with a few sessions of MMA sparring in there and lots of isolated sparring like shoot boxing, or Jits with hits. Right now I'm also working a programme to help with strength endurance and explosiveness.
Which UK fighters have inspired you?
Going right back I'd have to say Pete Tiarks and Pete Irving, they were two of the first real MMA fighters I had an opportunity to train with when I moved to Newcastle. Tiarks was a Cage Rage Champ who has since retired and Irving is one of the toughest and most technical welters in the UK. Both guys have a great work ethic and I learnt a lot about approaching fights just from watching them.
How far do you think MMA has come in the UK over the last 10 years?
Leaps and bounds, ten years seems like an unimaginable time scale to me as I've only been aware of the sport for 6 or so. But guys who have been around since the beginning must have seen even bigger changes. I think at a training level this is particularly visible, it's gone from a few guys watching instructional DVD's right through to the situation we have now, where there is a number of gyms in every town with several that are capable of producing world class fighters and the number is growing all the time. The competition will just get tougher and tougher. I can only see it growing further from here.
How do you see the sport developing in this country over the next few years?
It's going to keep growing I think, not sure how big it will become but I think it will endure for a long time. I know there have being martial arts fads in this country before, and some cynics will see it as a flavour of the month, but I think MMA can last because of its stylistic purity and simplicity.
What did you make of John Hathaway's performance against Diego Sanchez?
Yeah it was a great performance, I had a feeling he might do it coming in to the fight and full credit to him because fighting someone of that level must have created a lot of pressure for him but he looked loose and relaxed in there.
What does the future hold for Matt Inman?
I'd like to keep fighting for a long time, see myself near the top in the UK rankings and fight for a Major promotion abroad. I have a fight for the ISKA British Title in Bolton on July 4th against Eugene Fadiora. After that I'm hoping to keep busy throughout the remainder of 2010.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give a nod to at this time?
Can I thank my sponsors at fightshop.com as well, and thanks to MMA Hit Pit for having me.
|
|
|
|