Jumping in with The Bigslow.
Addicted: Big congratulations on your win at UCMMA 28 Luke, Chris was game but you still made it look easy. What are your feelings on the fight now that the dust has settled?
Luke: Thanks dude! Not sure why you are congratulating me... I beat a guy who's probably had 3 BJJ lessons in his life... and learnt to wrestle by watching WWE... and I made a meal of it and it took me nearly a whole round to beat him... I was appalled with my performance, but hey! onwards and upwards!
Addicted: You Tsunami guys are always tough on yourselves.So this match up with Scott Sibling seems to have come out of nowhere, were you that hungry to jump back into the cage so quickly?
Luke: Well I'm in fighting shape, haven't had a real fight since Ben Callum in Feb, so when Dan Edwards pulled out at UCF and I was offered the title at LHW... I thought i'm injury free, ready to go... why not, I'm always ready to fight and just looking forward to getting in there and taking home another W. hopefully it lasts longer than 3 minutes.
Addicted:So you will be fighting for the LHW strap, I guess it will be nice to not have to worry about the weight cut so much?
Luke: Ha you'd think so... but knowing me I'll still have to cut 8kgs or so... seems what ever weight I fight at i'm always cutting weight... its my love of food and spending to much time with the Maguires...
But its nice to grab a title even if it is on a smaller show, just a benchmark for where I have come and a small reward for the commitment I have shown to the sport over the last few years... I wont consider myself a CHAMPION or anything, there's to many poxy titles flying around for that, but it will be nice to have a title in Essex and especially Colchester as its the home of BKK Fighters where I train a lot, and my mates are mostly Essex based so get to come down and see me have a tear up as they would call it... plus most my friends are idiots, so when I win the title they will be like WOW Luke is LHW Champion of the WORLD... you know how it is... make me feel like a god ;-) lol
Addicted: Do you have a message that you would like to send to Scott?
Luke: You know what... NO.. I know nothing about the guy, i'm taking the fight on short notice at a weight class above my preferred weight, and I have nothing to say to Scott.. I'm not that sort of guy..................
All I know is Scott is going to be having sleepless nights, and he is devastated that Dan Edwards pulled out, it's like going to the toilet when you're in a restaurant expecting your food to be on the table when you get back, but whilst you are in the toilet someone walks in hits your over the head with a bat, repeatedly rapes you whilst you are helpless, spits on you ,then heads over to your table, throws your dinner on the floor and then leaves....
I Don't know how that is an analogy... but thats sorta what its gonna be like.. accept I wont spit on him or use a bat and i'd probably eat his food not throw it away because I'm a fat bastard.
Addicted: You cornered your friend and mentor Jack Mason last weekend over in Ireland. Tell us about your trip?
Luke: Man the Guinness in Ireland was EXACTLY the same as England... all those bastards that tell you its better are just lying to you to act cool, but saying that I had 2 pints at the hotel, and probably not the right place to have it!
Apart from that disappointment, the weekend was a success... The Stone took home the win, and Cage Warriors was a cracking show, after experiencing the professionalism of the show, and seeing how they treat not just the fighters but everyone involved, it made me realise there is such a lack of it in the UK. I mean at my last UCMMA outing, I was below Ben Callum on the fight card (who I beat, and he was fighting someone 0-0) and Chris Harmann weighed in heavy and it wasn't even announced that he was overweight and I got rewarded NOTHING for it... where's the standards there?? I felt pretty disrespected as a professional and it really opened my eyes to it when I was at CWFC over the weekend.
Also got the chance to train over at BJJ Revolution Team Ryano in Dublin which was cool... some young lads with some mad skills... and I really appreciated them letting us come and train with the boys, so big shout out to them! Top Lads!
So all in all a great outing and was nice to see John Maguire getting the star treatment from the Irish fans... "look its Mr Gypsy JuiJitsu" they'd all say in their messed up accents... and John stopped for every single person who wanted a picture and the fans appreciated it... Took us a bloody hour to leave the venue waiting for him! I can't think of someone who deserves it more and that made me feel proud to be part of such a fantastic team, and be so close with the boys at Tsunami.
Addicted: Sounds like you had a blast man. So if you get the W against Scott, what's next?
Luke: You are very smart individuals... you know I am going to have a problem with this question.... you know I am going to get worked up over the word IF... but yet you word it that way anyway, just to piss me off..... because you are hoping for a reaction... damn smart! Well this time I'm not going to give you one!
But
Addicted: Year of the Bigslow! I like it. Things are blowing up for you in a big way now. Your also doing a monthly article in the YourMMA magazine. How much fun is that?
Luke: Yep! If you haven't read it yet... get your copy of YourMMA and read it! It's just a light hearted article I write once a month.... "Banter with Bigslow" its so much fun, and I really love having the opportunity to voice my opinions on UKMMA, and Yourmma love it, they really want me to write what I feel and not pull any punches, I just need some good topics to write about.. Any ideas... tweet me or yourmma.
Addicted: Time for your shout outs Luke?
Luke: Blah Blah Blah! The guys who support me know who they are! And my sponsors already love me! so I just wanna give a big shout out to the man that is Jesse Smith.... the half brother of the Maguires... he's back in the gym training and fighting this Sunday at Adrenaline in Gillingham, Kent... the kid has formidable stand up, beautiful wrestling and has won his last 2 SP's by Submission... so he's one to watch... If you want to look REALLY smart then start talking about him now saying "this guys gonna be good" then when he's smashing people you can say "Told you so" with a really smug face on! It's the 3rd Maguire Brother... and they saved the best till last. so keep your eyes peeled for The Sweetness. @jessesweetness He gets shit done!
Addicted: And because we are AddictedMMA, have you gained any recent addictions?
Luke: I'm totally addicted to Winning...........
A winner is a winner before he wins & I'm a Winner.
Follow me on Twitter @lukebarnatt and keep following UKMMA and helping it grow!
Thanks Addicted
Big Love
The Bigslow.
And that's it for now from the always charismatic Luke Barnatt.
And a little tip from the crew at AddictedMMA. Keep your eyes open for a chap called Jesse Smith! This guys gonna be good. ;-)
All images by the Boogeyman.
Published by Boogeyman - Fri, 8 Jun 2012 18:48
