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Rob Sinclair talks about his BAMMA title win, training in Brazil and his perfect weekend
21 Feb 2010
A quick look at today’s UK MMA rankings brings a lot of debate, arguments and banter between the scenes personalities. It’s easy to see why - each division is stacked with genuine potential and established talent and that leaves many top ten rankings contrasting, with a fine line between a good placement and a spot outside the elite.
However, the biggest agreement amongst many is that it is the lightweight division that provides the greatest competition. With fighters such as Etim, Kelly, Winner, Taylor and Pearson holding contracts in the UFC and the likes of Sass, Stapleton, Ball, Young, Newman and more providing classic match-ups on the UK scene, it’s almost impossible to predict who would place where in the UK’s top ten lightweight rankings.
However, there is one man who always seems to be in amongst the headlines. Following his recent split decision loss, in one of the finest fights in the UK MMA scene last year, Rob Sinclair agreed to take on fast-rising star Nathan Beer in one of the main card fights of BAMMA 2. With the fight to be screened on Bravo television a week later, it was due to be another big fight in the Burnley lad’s career. A tough contest was in store, and a fight that had split many personalities in the UK MMA scene when deciding a winner.
Stopping his opponent with less than ninety to go in the first round, Sinclair showed the ruthless streak that has finished seventy five percent of his opponents by TKO – and he made history to become the first ever BAMMA Lightweight champion.
“The fight went really well for me to be honest” admits Sinclair. “Everyone knows the result now and it’s just a case of watching it.
“I mean, what I didn’t want to do, I didn’t want to just get in there and panic and think – “ok get hold of him” or just stand in there swinging haymakers. I wanted to take my time and look for an opening because I thought to myself – if I catch the guy, and I’ve been very vocal about this, then it’ll be over.
“If I catch anybody at my weight, I feel like I’ve got the power to stop them. So, during the fight, I was getting anxious when nothing was happening, and then I just heard my corner say “take your time, it will come”, so I sort of relaxed a bit and then just waited until the moment came and fortunately for me the patience paid off” said the champion.
It’s a tactic that has served Sinclair well over the past few years. With TKO wins over Aidan Marron, Alexandre Izidro and more, the former Olympian Mixed Martial Arts Championship (OMMAC) Lightweight champion has absolutely no doubts that his strengths are in his stand up.
“Every time I go into a fight, it’s no secret, I always go for the knockout. The percentage of my wins is like a 75% knockout ratio, so I prefer to do that – that’s just the way I fight” said Sinclair.
“That’s what I was going into the fight looking for, (it) was to stop him either with ground and pound or knock him out. If the submission came, I’d obviously have taken that, but first and foremost that’s what I go in to do”.
However, a fight with Nathan Beer was certainly no easy fight to take. Beer was also coming off the back of a split decision loss, but the Welsh native has quick knockout power and holds impressive submission victories over Harvey Dines and Ian Jones. Sinclair admits that he felt Beer had an awkward stand up style and felt it could’ve been a long night if he hadn’t connected with the punch that floored the his opponent. With his arm raised at the end of the night, it brought Sinclair one of his proudest moments in his career.
“I was really proud to be honest” he admits. “There were thirty-odd people who came down from up here, which is quite good really. It’s the first time everything seemed really official – I had a banner, sponsors and I was looked after by my manager for the first time.
“Because it had been a long training camp and I went to Brazil, and was training over Christmas and I didn’t get to see my daughter too much, I wanted to take my aggression out on my opponent really. In the past when I’ve fought, I’ve always thought of it as a sport but this is the first time I’ve thought – “you’re gonna get it now – you’re making me do all this running and training and that”.
It was this sort of focus and determination that ultimately got Sinclair through the late night running and countless early mornings. Unable to train as much as he’d have liked at Kaobon, Sinclair perfected his skill at his own gym with coach Gavin and the rest of his team.
It was also a two week training camp in Rio de Janeiro that helped the thirty year old, who swapped his training in the cloudy Lancashire town of Burnley, for the sun drenched beaches of Brazil. It would be an opportunity that many would be foolish to turn down, particularly when it involved training with one of the legendary members of the Gracie family.
“The difference in grappling out there is unbelievable. I got tapped out by Royler Gracie six times in ninety seconds” laughs Sinclair. “The first time he tapped me out was in under ten seconds. I haven’t been submitted for a while to be fair, I mean I have (in the past) in training obviously, but not at that speed and that standard. It was unbelievable. I think Brazil helped me a lot to be honest” he admits.
“When I was out there, I didn’t get to do much stand up. I wanted to get my base strong to hit from the top position. You know, get to top position from off my back – and stay on top. If I’m not struggling with anyone from there (Brazil), then I’m not struggling from anyone in Britain really” he adds.
Sinclair admits that he learned a lot from his time in Brazil, from “sneaky little moves” on the mat, to surfing and playing football on the beach with Royler Gracie, which he painfully admits the Gracie is good at also. A gruelling training camp and another victory added to the win column, Sinclair is now organising the third instalment of the popular Burnley Brawl card that takes place on 20th March, with a number of names already confirmed for the show.
“It’s the third show and it’s going to be a cracker. We can get about a thousand people in there and the atmosphere is phenomenal. Hopefully we can get about ten fights (on the next show). We’re getting better and better and it’s probably one of the best atmospheres I’ve seen.
“Burnley’s always had a good reputation for some of the fighters coming out of the gyms, either boxing, kickboxing, thai boxing – whatever. I knew it’d be a decent seller” he states.
With only two months gone in the year, Sinclair refused to be drawn on who he would like his next opponent to be, simply stating that he would be happy to fight anyone. With hopes that he will be matched on the next BAMMA show, the champion is hoping to get in the cage four or five times this year, and his dream is to get over to America and fight on one of the cards over there.
“That would be perfect” said Sinclair. “If I can win this one, and maybe win one more, I’d hopefully like to get over to America.
“I don’t think I’m ready for the UFC this year just yet. It’s hard work training full time. I mean, this is just an hour a night. I think if I got the chance to train full time I’d improve rapidly”.
It’s incredible to believe that one of the top lightweights in the country is only training part time, and like so many other fighters in this sport, he’s split between making a living in two professions. However, with a bright future in prospect, Sinclair can look forward to several more successful nights over the next few years.
One fight that many have wondered if Sinclair will take part in this year is a rematch with Paul Sass following their previous encounter. The original fight was settled by the judges, but will go down in UK MMA history as a classic between the two lightweights. With Sinclair taking the fight to the mat against the man known for his devastating “sass-angle” submission and his opponent willing to stand and trade with a genuine knockout talent, it’s a potential rematch that could, one again, steal the headlines as one of the top fights of the year. However, it’s a fight that Sinclair simply doesn’t see on his radar.
“Straight after that fight, I was very vocal about it (the loss). I played the wrong game and I think if I had played my game plan I’d have ended that fight pretty quick” he states.
“I tried to play it fancy, but the problem now we’ve got is that we both train out of Kaobon, so there won’t be a rematch there”.
A statement from the champion, who would like to thank his friends and family, management team Ian Dean and Tony McDonagh, MyProtein, CagedSteel, FightShop.com, Lovemma.co.uk, Smugglingduds, Glen Slater, Team Kaobon and Predators for all their help over the last few months.
With the BAMMA 2 show airing over the weekend, it’s understandable that Sinclair would like to relax, put his feet up and watch the fight. However, it’s not just a one night celebration for the champion, it’s a triple celebration, with an engagement party to long term girlfriend Georgia at Turf Moor scheduled for Friday night, and his birthday celebrations on the Saturday night.
“It’s a perfect weekend really after all the training. I had a good Christmas and all that, but I had to go and train. Tomorrow night I’ve got my engagement party – we’re coming up to four years now, then I turn thirty on Saturday – bloody hell. Then, I’ve got the show on Sunday, so it’s a perfect weekend after what I’ve been through.
“Most of Burnley is going to be watching the fight. (There are) One hundred thousand people in Burnley and from what a lot of people have told me, there is going to be a lot of people watching it -and there will be a lot of people at the party celebrating with us”.
Huge celebrations for one of the most consistent performers in the UK MMA scene – and we’re sure there will be more to come for the rest of the year.
You can check out Rob Sinclair versus Nathan Beer as part of the three hour BAMMA show on Bravo television (Sky 123, Virgin 136) at 9pm.
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