REAL COMBAT MEDIA UK: COUNTDOWN TO BAMMA 26 – REBUILDING ‘REDSER’
Manchester, UK, (15th of August 2016)– I arrive at Kevin Hendricks’ strength and conditioning facility, the Strength and Performance Institute in Artane, only to be greeted by the usual chorus of abuse that welcomes me every time I go and visit the Team Ryano contingent.
A group of fighters that will compete at BAMMA 26 is under Hendricks’ supervision–Paul Redmond, Patrick Wixted, Keith McCabe–and Ryano young gun Jack Sheridan is also present at the session. In the last few weeks of training, you might catch the motley crew running around the industrial estate to shed some crucial pounds, but today is all about strength.
You can’t help but notice the difference in Redmond’s physique since he made training his sole focus at the beginning of 2015. Just as he seemed to adjust to lightweight, the UFC came knocking on his door. Yet, at featherweight, it was always a depleted version of the Dubliner we saw in the Octagon.
Never one to soak up the spotlight, ‘Redser’ completely dismisses the idea of him being one of the “big names” on the BAMMA 26 card.
“I’m not one of the big names. Keith McCabe against Aidan Brooks, that’s the fight I’m looking forward to. I think the crowd will be behind me a bit more than they were in my last couple of fights. I could hear the boos in Scotland as I made my way out and I think that experience will stand to me whatever kind of backdrop my fights have from now on. It’s a good memory for me.
“I’m gonna soak it in on the night. I’ll enjoy it, but the second my feet hit the mat I don’t hear the crowd. I genuinely don’t. I’m just listening to my corner and I’m listening to my opponent’s corner.”
Neil Seery was always a man that Redmond had to look up to as he made his ascent to the biggest stages MMA has to offer. Surrounded by younger teammates, you can’t help but think Redmond plays a similar role to Seery with the younger generation of Ryano charges.
“I don’t think any of them look up to me, they all kick my head in every day, what kind of respect is that?” he laughs.
“I got a sense of responsibility when I was coaching over at the worlds in Las Vegas. The fighters were from all different Irish clubs and I was making sure everything was sorted for them in terms of the last bit of preparation just before they fought and then coaching as they were fighting.
“I was trying to give the fighters solid advice before they got in. I watched a lot of the non-Irish competitors so sometimes I had some insight into the person they were fighting. So, I did feel like an experienced head over there, but I definitely don’t feel like that in everyday life, day in day out, in the gym.”
While his time away has made him somewhat of an unknown quantity going into his return bout, Redmond knows one thing – there is not a chance of him giving up when he finally makes his first walk to the cage in the 3 Arena.
“Andy always tells us if we go out and give 100 percent, even if we lose, you can hold your head up high. At the end of the day the only person you have to answer to–don’t mind your team–it’s you. If you give up in a fight you have to go home and look at yourself in the mirror.
“When I get in there I’m fighting for Team Ryano and all the coaches and fighters who helped prepare me for the fight. At the end of the day, I know I have the heart. I know I can be proud of myself each and every time I get in there because I always give it my all.
“So many times people have said to me, ‘I don’t know who you didn’t just give up against Mirsad Bektic in Sweden’. I didn’t lose all that fucking weight to give up. When he was on my back I could’ve given him the choke and nobody would have known any better, but fuck that. That’s not why I’m in this game.
“MMA reveals character. When people give up, people know they can be broken. There’s no give in me. I’m not gonna stop until you put me to sleep.”
You can follow Peter Carroll & Paul Redmond on Twitter @PetesyCarroll @RedserMMA" target="_blank">RedserMMA & @BAMM
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