Kingdom MMA Interview James Brum ahead of his Cage Warriors Fight Night 8 Fight against Olivier Pastor
by Ben Heather @benheather
Kindom MMA caught up with James Brum after he weighed in today and asked him a few questions. Brum is fighting Olivier Pastor tomorrow night at Cage Warriors Fight Night 8 in Al Fujairah, United Arab Emirates.
Ben: You have won your last 5 fights giving you the 2nd 5 fight win streak of your career and have never lost fighting for cage warriors (4-0) does the streak give you extra confidence heading in to your fight on Saturday?
Brum: The hard work I put into my training and the team of coaches and training partners I have at Gym 01 give me the confidence I need. Yes on the night it is me alone in that Cage but without all the prep and hard work I would not be where I am today. Like Coach Brian Adam's says "Hard work equals great rewards".
Ben: Unlike the first 5 fight win streak of your career all of your last 5 wins have come via decision. Although it must be said 4 of those were against guys ranked inside the European top 10. Have you thought about this and do you think there is a reason for them all going the distance?
Brum: Of course there are no easy fights but there are easier fights or routes fighters choose. The fighters that pad out their record with bums will soon get found out when they reach the big shows. Fighting in Cage Warriors you don't get an easy fight, hence four of my last 5 being against European top ten ranked opposition. At this level no one is looking for an easy way out and therefore every opponent is difficult to put away. What people have to realise is in each fight I have dominated and devastated my opponents in a way no other previous fighter has.
Ben: Does this put extra pressure on you to want to go out and finish the fight to prove to the fans that you can still finish fights?
Brum: I never go into a fight with the aim being to WIN by decision. I believe that sets you up with a negative mentality. In all my fights I have looked for the finish. I know its there and soon the fans will too.
Ben: Both of your losses have been by rear naked choke, is this something you have worked on since you last lost?
Brum: Those losses were along time ago. If you watch the James Saville fight you will see how far I have come since those losses. James Saville and the AVT team have a sick ground game and in that fight Saville had my back and put me in some bad positions which I was able to escape and reverse.
Ben: That last loss was in Sept '11 vs the now well known rising star of UFC Erik Perez, did you learn anything from this loss?
Brum: What many people don't realise is that I took that fight on 2 weeks notice when no other Bantamweight in the country would. It was also the first time I fought without my coach in my corner. My focus was on making weight and I had little preparation for the actual fight itself. Yes Perez was the better man on the day and I'm not saying I would have won but I believe that fight would have gone a lot differently and we would have had an absolute war. The Gym 01 Monsters step up to take fights other fighters wish to avoid. For example my team mate Matt Hughes has stepped up on 10 days notice to fight alongside me and Mike Ling this weekend against a very formidable opponent. Something a lot of fighters would be quick to avoid.
Ben: Do you think a win on Saturday night will put you in a position where your next fight will be for the vacant cage warriors bantamweight title?
Brum: I want to be the best and having the title means your the number 1 and because the Cage Warriors gold is held in such high regard promotions such as the UFC start to take notice of you. Ultimately it is up to my management company. I would love to fight for and WIN the Bantamweight Title this year but if Intensiti Fight Management said they wanted me to fight another 5 top ten European and International fighter's before they felt I was ready then I would do that. They have done everything right by me and I have every confidence in them in leading my career.
Ben: 2 of your last 3 fights have been held in Jordan, do you see this as an advantage as you now know what's it like to prepare for a fight with all the travel for this fight in the UAE?
Brum: I am getting use to the travelling side of things now but I don't see it as any real advantage as Pastor has travelled and fought across Europe and the Middle East too.
Ben: Do you prefer fighting on home soil or fighting away from home?
Brum: Of course I love having home support and having my friends and team mates come and watch me fight live. I know they miss the atmosphere of seeing me fight live in the U.K. However I love the fact I am able to do what I love and compete around the world, see far away lands and meet fans across the globe and receive the level of exposure I do fighting for Cage Warriors. Also fighting for Cage Warriors means my fans back home can still watch me live and I feel their energy. For me, fighting in the Middle East and places like Jordan and Al Fujairah feel like a second home to me now as I have a lot of local support and the fans are very welcoming.
Ben: You are fighting Olivier Pastor who is ranked #8 in Europe. Pastor has lost his last 2 and 4 of his last 6. Do you think that Pastor is better than his current record states?
Brum: I believe he majority of those losses are at Featherweight against opponents in their own backyard. Another thing to take into account is how many of those fights were taken on short notice. Pastor is not afraid of taking fights on short notice and fighting whoever, wherever. Records are deceiving in this fight game. If we look at his Cage Warriors record, he is unbeaten in the promotion, finishing all 3 opponents via KO and submission, which shows he is a very dangerous and versatile fighter.
He may have lost but no featherweight or bantamweight has stopped him in over 3 years which is what I aim to do. On Saturday night I am going to FINISH Oliver Pastor and show the world I am the BEST unsigned bantamweight in Europe.
Ben: Do you see any areas of Pastor's game that you can exploit at the weekend?
Brum: I've learnt to use my intensity and my insane level of fitness as tools in the cage along with my intelligent striking. I believe my work rate will be too much for Pastor to handle and it is he who will have to be aware of my heavy hands. At the end of the day I'm the Cage Warriors Fighter of the Year, I'm happy to take the fight wherever it goes and ultimately be the first fighter to stop Pastor in over 3 years. Tune into cagewarriors.tv and mmajunkie.com this Saturday to witness history in the making!
Ben: What's the game plan heading in to the fight on Saturday night?
Brum: I don't like to give anything away but with the high intensity style of 'Job Done' and Pastor swinging for the fences, fans can expect a Fight of the Night. Ultimately two enter the Cage Warriors cage but only one of us will be standing with our hand raised and make no mistake it will be me adding my 6th straight WIN on Saturday.
Ben: Do you have any thoughts on the Bantamweight division?
Brum: The Cage Warriors Bantamweight division is the toughest in Europe, it`s full of the best talent but I`m the top of the pile, closely followed by my team mate James Pennington.
I`m on a real 5 fight WIN streak against some of the toughest guys out there, I`ve beaten Thomas Back and Leandro Gontijo via 30-25, a FOTN war with James Saville and toughed through my last fight after the most horrendous weight cut ever (dropped 8kg in water to make weight) but won easily. Lastly I put Martin McDonough (who has won 5 since we fought) in hospital for 3 days after our fight on Shock n Awe.
All of these guys are fantastic fighters, they just aren`t on my level right now, this is a fact.
I want the Olivier Pastor and David Aranda`s of Europe, these guys are the people you need to beat to get where you want to be.
I`ve my eyes on the CW belt or a UFC contract, nothing is going to stop me achieving one or both.
Ben: Would you like to say thank you to anyone?
Brum: I would like to thank the #Gym01Monsters and Coaches for all my fight preparation (www.gym01.com). I would like to thank my good friend and Strength & Conditioning Coach Lee Waite (@LeeProedge). Thank you to Gill Leeman, GLS Sport Massage for the Pre Event Treatment (http://www.glsport.co.uk/).
Thank you to my sponsors Ectomuscle (@ectomuscle) for quality supplements and fighter V-Pack, Funkygums.com (@funky_gums), London Fight Store (@londonfight) and Little Red Creative (http://www.littleredcreative.co.uk/) .
And lastly thank you to my everyone whose put up with my grumpy self over the last few weeks ;-)
Enjoy the fight this weekend :-)
Thank you to James for his time before the fight and we are all looking forward to his fight tomorrow night. As always, the Cage Warriors Fight Night 8 event is being streamed live on the Cage Warriors website.
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