EXCLUSIVE MMABay interview with BAMMA welterweight, Eugene Fadiora
Eugene Fadiora is one the UK’s most overlooked fighters. Flying under the radar with a 11-1 record, it’s hard to deny that Fadiora is destined for the big stages and if he continues to win in impressive fashion a call up to the big leagues is inevitable. He is part of the new wave of fighters who are skilled at every aspect in MMA, and his five TKO’s and five submissions goes a long way to prove this. Along with being a fearsome fighter, he is a law graduate of Wolverhampton University and is a model citizen who works as a health care support worker with mentally-ill adults. Fadiora has taken the time to answer a few questions for MMABay which you can check out after the break…
MMABay – How did you get into MMA?
Fadiora – I started off doing karate when I was young, my mum didn’t drive so I had to do what was available at the time, carried that on for years doing various styles in different places until wanting more of a physical challenge so I went into kickboxing, did that for a few years but towards the end of that I started doing some BJJ at a different club. i had a kickboxing fight then decided to do all my training at one club and that’s where I fully integrated into MMA doing Thai, BJJ and a bit of wrestling here and there, shortly afterwards I had my first semi pro fight and progressed since.
MMABay – Who is your idol/favourite fighter?
Fadiora – At the moment I really like Junior Dos Santos, that guy can bang, I generally like most people that have a good work ethic though and I think a lot can be learnt from those types of people
MMABay – What is currently your favourite technique?
Fadiora – Everyone loves a swift roundhouse kick to the chops don’t they? Ha Ha, especially if the person goes down from it!
MMABay – Do you think the Gunnar Nelson loss, the only one of your professional MMA career, helped you in the long term?
Fadiora – Is that a loss you would like to get back? I think it helped me learn that I wasn’t invincible, I think at that time I was on a major win streak and was starting to let my imagination runaway a little bit, that definitely brought me down to earth, helped me focus on getting better. I don’t know about avenging the loss at the moment as far as grappling goes he will always be better than me because its his natural talent and will 9 times out of 10 beat me just as striking is my natural talent and I will beat him 9 times out of 10 in a Thai fight.
MMABay – With a lot of the UKs biggest stars moving state side for camps, is that something you would eventually like to do?
Fadiora – I wouldn’t mind going abroad to do some training, not necessarily for fight camps but just training in general I would like to go to Brazil to train some more with Brigadeiro, he was at Kaobon for a while and taught me a lot. I think I have everything I need here in the UK as far as fight camps go, look at the people I train with like Paul Taylor and Terry Etim.
MMABay – What are your long term career goals?
Fadiora – Like every other fighter I’d like to be able to live comfortably with fighting as my income then eventually get my own gym on the go later down the line for when I can’t fight anymore.
MMABay – Do you also have any fights currently scheduled?
Fadiora – Yeah I will be defending my Made 4 The Cage European title and challenging their current British champ on October 13th.
MMABay – What are your goals for the year ahead?
Fadiora – Win that fight, maybe get another one in this year start making some decent money from fighting by Christmas, I can only hope and try.
MMABay – Any sponsors you want to thank Eugene?
Fadiora – Bio armour, Team Kaobon and Pure MMA!
MMABay – Thanks for taking the time to speak to MMABay.co.uk.
Fadiora – Anytime!
(An exclusive interview for MMABay.co.uk)
By Jamie Mckay.
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