Interview: James Doolan Talks CW53, James Pennington, Scottish MMA, Joanne Calderwood, & Dinky Ninjas

James Doolan Talks to Kingdom MMA Ahead of his Fight with James Pennington
By Chris Houten - @houts4thewin

This Saturday night from Kelvin Hall, in his native Scotland, UK MMA veteran James Doolan takes on James Pennington, an up and coming fighter who fights out of Gym 01.

On Thursday I caught up with 34 year old Doolan (17-8-2) a current OMMAC champion, and top contender for the Bamma Bantamweight belt, ahead of his fight at Cage Warriors 53 to discuss his opponent, Scottish MMA, his partner Joanne Calderwood - who is also fighting at CW53, and being a coach at Dinky Ninjas.

Chris: James Pennington fights out of a great gym in Gym 01, have you seen many of his fights, and what do you expect his game plan will be going into your fight?
Doolan: I've seen most of them online and got one or two seen to me, I have a lot of respect for the team he comes from they're excellent, game plan wise I expect him to try and press forward and get the double leg against the cage,  he's used that well in the past and a few of his team mates do the same thing. From there he's probably going to look to stay on top hitting and looking for me to turn and give him my back or leave something for him to get the submission. You never know but game plans can quickly go out the window in fights.  I'm sure James will be coming prepared for everything the same as I will be.

Pennington has a respectable ground game with 5 of his 6 victories coming via submission, but you have been in there will top level ground guys before – taking Vaughn Lee to a draw, and even submitting a well respected BJJ blackbelt in Spencer Hewitt. How would you compare James Penningtons skills to some of the other guys you have fought?
In my mind he's the best guy I will have fought to date, I have to think like that in training. Compared to some of the guys I've fought he's an up and comer but those guys are dangerous. I think I'm definitely the best guy James will have been in with to date, I think he's better than most of the domestic guys I've fought.  Having been in the fights I've been in though should be a massive advantage to me.

How has your training camp been for this fight, have you focused on any areas which you think will hold the key to victory against Pennington?
We always prepare for everything I've had training partners look at James and mimic him in sparring which is something we always do, if anything training has been easier with James being taller, the last bunch of guys I've fought have been short and they present different problems in the fight and in the gym getting sparring partners of similar stature, for this fight though I've been sparring and training some of the best feather and light weight fighters in the UK.  The key to victory will be making sure I perform and jumping on any mistakes James might make. I don't expect him to make many so ill be ready when he does.

We talked to Joanne earlier in the week about fighting on the same card on Saturday, she said she felt with you both having fights on the card it has made you both work harder in your training camp. How have you found the experience of living together, and both training for a fight on the same night?
Having A pro fighter as a partner definitely makes things easier, she understands everything about the game as she's been there herself. We have fought around the same dates before but never exactly on the same date and same card so it's been easier in a lot of ways both being at the same stage in training, then diet and with the weight cut. We both put in the work, the weight will take care of itself and we both love to fight , I don't think we will appreciate the whole scenario until after the fights, but we both wanted to do it as it will maybe be the only chance we get.

The Scottish are known to be hugely passionate, what kind of reception can Pennington expect when he walks to that cage on Saturday night?
The crowd up here appreciate good fights, I've never heard them boo anyone just because of there nationally, I'm sure if they did it wouldn't bother James that much, the crowds never been something that's affected me in the past although I know some fighters feed off it.

Your fight against Pennington will be your 28th pro bout, is the desire to fight still the same as when you started?
The desire is still there, the minute I don't want to fight or enjoy it I won't do it, it's not like its my source of income, I fight just to better myself and test stuff. I'm more worried about getting to a time when I can't fight at a decent level than losing the desire to fight because ill miss it.

If anything there's less pressure on me now fighting than there was a few years ago so that's cool.

Nowadays do you take more pride in being a fighter or as a coach?
I wanted to coach martial arts and have my own gym from a young age, I actually started fighting just under the assumption it would make me a better coach, originally I planned to have one fight, 12 kickboxing fights, 12 Muay Thai fights, 5 amateur 5 semi pro and nearly 30 pro MMA fights later I'm enjoying fighting more than ever but I love coaching more.

I'm better at coaching than I am at fighting, I really like the positive changes martial arts make in people's life's, it's rewarding for me watching people reach there goals whether it's losing some weight or winning pro fights. Coaching wise I've been very lucky to work with some great fighters like Paul McVeigh, Joanne , Graham Turner, Martin Delaney, Robert Whiteford,  Allan Johnson, John Quinn, Dan Hope, Allan love, Steven Ray and a bunch of others.

How do you feel the Scottish MMA scene has evolved since you started your pro career?
Slowly if I'm honest, there's not much going on professionally outside the dinky ninjas, there is some good amateur teams bringing guys through who should strengthen the pro ranks up here in a few years.

What will be the bigger buzz for you on Saturday, beating Pennington or watching Joanne win?
The plan is for both.  If I had to pick one? Joanne winning.

I think it would be fair to say your win over Spencer Hewitt at Bamma 11 solidified you as a contender for the Bantamweight title, can you fans expect to see you back fighting for Bamma this year?
BAMMA has been in touch with me management and most likely my next fight this year will be with them for the bantamweight title which is something I want.

Finally James, what can we expect from Dinky Ninjas in 2013?
Big things, we are planning on building on everything we have done before, we have some guys sitting on the UFCs radar, guys signed to Cage Warriors, BAMMA and Invicta , we have some, new guys coming thorough that are killers, our coaching staff is going from strength to strength. As much as we achieved in the past we are just getting started.

Cage Warriors 53, stream live in The UK through Cagewarriors.com - Prelims begin at 20:00 GMT