An interview with ronnie mann

An interview with Ronnie mann

1. Your last fight against Doug Evans (ufc vet) for the Shark fights featherweight title was scored as a split decision in your favour. How do you think the fight went and do you agree with the decision?
Personally I don’t think it was a split decision. I know judges in America score takedowns quite heavily. But if you do watch the fight again you can clearly see that it wasn’t a split decision and a lot of other people think that too. But at least I won at the end of the day.
2. Your last fight was your first fight in America. How does fighting there compare with fighting in Japan and the UK?
Both Japan and America are totally different. In Japan you can hear a pin drop as the fans are so quiet and focused on the fight which shows they are well educated. Whereas the American fans are screaming a lot. It’s good in both ways as you feel the support from the crowd, I do like when the fans shout your name in America as you can really feel the support.
3. You split your last training camp between Trojan free fighters here in the UK and tapout training centre in Las Vegas. Do you plan on doing the same regardless where your next fight is held?
Yeah. I’m not quite sure if I will if I’m fighting in Japan as it’s on the other side of the world and I will have to sort out my visas back in England. But as for fighting in America I will definitely train there when fighting in the states.
4. What is it like training with the mma legends that are Shawn Tompkins and Kevin Randleman; do you feel they have added something to your game?
It’s amazing as they are all excellent strikers and wrestlers. All the guys I train with are top level fighters who are fighting in the WEC and UFC. There are also a lot of guys who I train with who fight around my weight at Featherweight and Lightweight. So it’s good to train with these guys who are around y size at a top level.
5. You have trained in Holland and in Thailand for Muay Thai. Which style of muay Thai is stylistically better for mma?
For MMA I prefer the Dutch style. If i was for just Thai boxing I prefer the Thai style with the kicking and more square on stance. For MMA it’s definitely the Dutch style as your more on your toes with a lower wider stance, it’s a lot more combination’s with punches and kicks and that’s what you need in MMA. Where as in if you used the Thai style which is a lot more of upright stance and a lot more of kicking you will get taken down a lot more. This would be detrimental to you when fighting.
6. You started fighting at a real young age (turned pro at 17) with your record currently standing at 18-2-1. Do you think this will give you an advantage when you reach your prime?
Yeah any experience is an advantage. But more and more athletic people are coming into the sport and starting late and doing well. But as with MMA anything can happen. I do see it is a slight advantage learning all the techniques when you’re young though.
7. Team Trojan is renound for turning out Professional kick boxers for the past 20 years. What is it like to have support from a team like that?
I feel honoured to be one of the pro’s for Trojan. We have had a lot of pros come out of Trojan gyms whether it is Thai kickboxing or MMA. I feel greatly honoured to be part of the pro team.
8. You currently have 1 fight left on your sengoku deal and you’re the newly crowned shark fights featherweight champion. Where is your next fight going to take place?
It was meant to be at the end of this month in Japan. But I doubt that is going to go ahead now because I haven’t heard anything yet as regards to an opponent. So as I don’t think that is going to happen, I’m waiting to hear from my manager to see what he has got down the line for me.
9. As a fan I think it’s only a matter of time before you’re going to sign for the wec. Who would you like to fight in that organisation?
Yeah that’s where I want to fight. I have heard in the past he was keen to sign me up but I still had fights left on my deal with sengoku. That’s the reason why I’m not fighting for WEC at the moment. I’m just waiting to get this contract finished and then sign. In terms of who I would like to fight, I would just like to be there and fight anyone to be honest. Whoever they match me up against I feel I can make a good fight against a lot of the guys out there at the moment.
10. Would you ever move weight division either up or down?
I haven’t thought about it yet, I am very comfortable at Featherweight to be honest. It’s a tough cut for me to get down to featherweight. But I think I’m too small to fight at Lightweight even though I have fought at Lightweight early on in my career and I think featherweight. But if I start losing fights and going downhill then maybe I will drop down a weight. I feel that featherweight is the weight for me at the moment and my build is perfect for it.
11. What sort of fight camp do you have for a bout?
The last one I had I started here at Trojan for 2 weeks sparring with the guys working really hard on technique. Then I flew over to America and spent 5 to 6 weeks there training with Team Tompkins. I plan to do it a lot like that now especially if I’m fighting in America. I will plan to go over there at least a month before the fight. But I will always start my camps over here getting my conditioning up and then topping it off in America.
But if I’m fighting in Japan again then I might have to think about things a little differently as it’s on the other side of the world to America. I would have to travel back to do my visa so I would probably just end up doing my camp in the UK.
12. What weight do you normally walk around at and how much weight do you cut in the sauna because you look substantially bigger against your opponents.
I walk around at about 74 to 75 kilos, sometimes I go up a little bit more. When it comes close to the fight about a week or 2 out I like to drop down to about 70 to 71 kilos and then cut the rest from there a week before.
13. If you could fight in any organisation against any opponent and at any weight, who would it be and why?
As before I would like to fight anyone in the sport especially the top level fighters. Basically the best people but there is no one specific. My main aim is to get into the top 10 world ranking so whoever I have to fight to get there then it’s them.
14. What other hobbies and sports do you do and follow?
Not much to be honest as MMA is so time consuming with all the different skills you have to train and conditioning. It takes up all my time to be honest. But any time I do have I’m just your normal bloke. I like playing the computer, chilling out with friends and used to like going fishing ever now and then.
15. Who is Ronnie Mann away from the mma world?
I’m quite a laidback and chilled out person. Just a general person who you would meet out in the streets.
16. Is there any shout outs or people you would like to thank?

I would like to thank my sponsors Sci-mx nutrition, my manager Gary Barron, especially Team Trojan for getting me to this level and Team Tompkins for helping me out with my last fight.

www.trojanfreefighters.com
I would like to thank Ronnie for taking time out of his busy training and coaching schedule for this interview, wish him all the best for the future and look forward to watching him provide exciting fights in the future and hopefully the WEC.

Dan Young
Twitter @danyoungmma