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Quick Interview with Dave O'Donnell
26 Jul 2010
By Chris Shanks
MMA Hit Pit caught up with UCMMA's very own "Cage Fighter" Mr Dave O'Donnell for a quick chat.
Your next event "INVINCIBLE" on August 7th will that be one of the biggest
that you have ever held?
I think every MMA event is different. You have the best fighter’s line
up but they sometimes don't give you the fight you want to see. It
happens in the UFC, you have a great event but it doesn't live up the
hype. I am hoping that because these guys are unbeaten (Jimi and
Valentino) they are going to put the best fight of their lives on. It
could be the humdinger that everyone is looking forward to. Every event
of ours seems to get better and better. You never know!
Jake Bostwick is on that card how do you rate his chances?
Jake is only 20 years old and he has grown into a man. I think he is
going to get the KO that he is looking for. He is looking for another
highlight reel knock out which he always does. But you never know.
You have a new show on Sky Sports, Cage Fighter, do you think that
has helped bring the casual fan to the sport?
100%. The difference with Sky Sports is that you walk into any hotel,
pub or snooker hall and Sky Sports in on. We have been recognised no end
since the show went on. There is such a buzz around the new show. If
it's anything to go by, the viewing figures will just sky rocket. It’s a
light hearted show that keeps the fans informed. All these boxing
journalists are phoning up and asking to be on the show - which is great
because they are getting involved in MMA. You couldn't get a word in
edgeways before now.
UK MMA is being largely unregulated do you think that is a problem?
I have to be honest with you. I think that it is a huge problem, I have been around sports like kick boxing for 30-35 years. The last thing you want to happen is for MMA to go the way of Kickboxing. That means you have a champ on every street corner that doesn't mean anything. They are all going by slightly different rules. They bend it to how they want it to go.
There was a show on Saturday '[UCC MMA] jumping on our shirt tales yet again. This is their second show and they made two guys fight for 5x5 minute rounds. What gives them the right to do that? The UFC - I can understand that, they are paying $250,000, what are they paying their guys - £500? To me I have always been a fighter’s man, I have been around fighters all my life and I believe that it is unfair to the British fighter. There is no reason why a guy should push himself to that limit to get the promoters to go “Yeah I just had 5x5 minute round on my show.” All that it's pushing, is their egos - its gotta' be.
Are too many promotions in the UK now?
Of course. If every second guy on the street wants to be a promoter with another organisation it is going to water the sport down. That's why you need a governing body in place just to make sure that you have the right medics in place, the right referees. These are all big things that could harm someone's career and I think a lot of them are just putting on shows just for the sake of it.
“I'll put a lovely MMA show on”
“Oh, who is the judge?”
“My mother – in – law”
Do you think that British MMA should cut down in promotions, maybe having three main promotions?
There are so many fighters coming up, there is an MMA gym on every corner. People need the outlet to fight. All the promotions seem to be jumping up and down saying “we are going to be the next big thing” but they don't have the ground rules in place to start with. It looks like every man and his dog are putting on a MMA show – most of whom know nothing about the sport. Even if they do, they are doing it on such a tight budget that they have to cut corners. When you cut corners, that's when accidents are going to happen, that's when people’s records are going to be here, there and everywhere.
Thanks for talking to us Dave.
Listen, any time. Anything to help MMA
Follow Chris on Twitter @chrisshanksMMA
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