Mills on Pendred "He is determined to be in the UFC, I think when I punch him he'll have second thoughts"

Kingdom MMA interview Che Mills ahead of his Cage Warriors 55 Welterweight title fight

by Ben Heather @benheather

Today Kingdom MMA caught up with Che Mills and spoke about a range talking points including the UFC, signing with Cage Warriors, his fight this weekend and the UK MMA Expo to name a few subjects including an exclusive announcement about the UK MMA Expo.

On Saturday night Che makes his return to the cage at Cage Warriors 55 after being released by the UFC and he goes straight in to fighting Cathal Pendred in Cathal's hometown of Dublin, Ireland for the Cage Warriors Welterweight title. This fight is one of the most anticipated fights in UK MMA of 2013 and it has a really big buzz around the whole event.

Ben: This will be your first fight since being cut from the UFC. How did you find out you had been cut as some people found out on twitter?
Mills: I was also one of those that found out on twitter, then my manager rang saying he’d just seen it and it was then confirmed about an hour after that officially from Joe Silva via my manager.

Ben: Dana White criticised you for not trying to finish Matt Riddle at the end of your last fight and jumping on him. Did that bother you?
Mills: At the time yes, but not anymore. He is entitled to his opinion, and I respect that.

Ben: Did you feel harshly treated by the UFC? After all you went 2-1-1 in your time and then got cut. That's far from being the worst record in the UFC.
Mills: To be honest I don’t even think about it. It is what it is at the end of the day, and there is nothing I can do about it regardless of how I feel about it. I now look back at the whole thing as a learning experience.

Ben: Once you had been released did you get any offers from other organisations?
Mills: Yeah, my manager said that a few things had been offered, and not just in MMA! lol

Ben: What made you sign with Cage Warriors?
Mills: They have the most professionally run show in Europe. They consistently put on events and have a proven track record for doing so. They have a great distribution through all their media partners and have already shown that they provide their fighters with great exposure, such as the MTV documentary that I did. 

Ben: Do you feel your last performance against Matt Riddle was effected by it being shortly after your father passed away?
Mills: When I look back now, I think so, plus a few others things, such as injury and so on, but at the time I was focused and was ready to fight, so I did. I have no excuses, I got beat and that’s that. There is no shoulda woulda coulda!

Ben: In your last fight you were out wrestled by Matt Riddle. Have you changed anything in your training since that fight especially as Pendred has a decent wrestling game?
Mills: I am always working on my wrestling, as well as everything else. We have a great set up at Trojan Free Fighters and cover everything throughout the week and consistently work hard to improve in all areas.

Ben: How has the camp gone for this fight? How long ago did you start your camp for this fight?
Mills: Training camp has gone really well. It started beginning of April officially, but I am always training and stay in shape.

Ben: Do you expect Pendred to focus on using his wrestling as part of his game plan come Saturday night?
Mills: I would think so, that is what he tends to do, but I’m ready for everything. It’s about what I am going to do, that’s my focus.

Ben: What is your game plan for the fight on Saturday night?
Mills: Punch him in the face HARD, and win the title

Ben: We saw in your UFC debut that you have knockout power and with over half of your wins being by knockouts. Do you think you will be able to stop Cathal Pendred on Saturday night?
Mills: Yes

Ben: Would you say you feel more or less pressure heading in to this fight than you did during your spell in the UFC?
Mills: Now I feel less pressure all round, I spent a lot of time think about what I should say or do, rather than what I actually felt. This has all been part of the learn experience. I talk about this in the MTV documentary quite a bit so go check it out…. http://www.mtv.co.uk/sports/mma/video/the-che-mills-story

Ben: When will you be travelling over to Ireland?
Mills: We all travel on Thursday morning

Ben: Will you be taking a big group of friends and family with you as you will be going to fight in a hostile environment fighting Pendred in his home town of Dublin?
Mills: There is a few of the family and friend coming over, I know a few of the guys from the gym are coming over too. However I know that they’ll all be watching from home on cagewarriors.tv so I’ll certainly have the support with me.

Ben: Pendred seems to be talking about fighting in the UFC a lot ahead of this fight. Even going as far as discussing which UFC event he wants to make his debut on. Do you think he is looking past you and in his head already has the fight won?
Mills: Haha… I don’t know, he is determined to be in the UFC…. I think when I punch him he’ll have second thoughts.

Ben: what you think about Paul Daley saying you are not on his level?
Mills: I don’t think anything about it…. 

Ben: Without looking past Pendred but if you win on Saturday and become champion, would a fight against Daley be something that interested you? That's if it was possible for Cage Warriors to make the fight happen.
Mills: I would happily fight him, and if it’s on Cage Warriors then great.

Ben: Do you still have aspirations of getting a few wins under your belt and back in to the UFC?
Mills: At the moment all my focus is with Cage Warriors and becoming the champ, then defending the belt and continuing to fight the best in world

Ben: We recently broke the news on our site that in July you will be doing a signing/ meet and greet at the UK MMA Expo in Manchester. Do you have anything to say to the fans that will be coming to meet you at the expo?
Mills: I’m looking forward to it, it’s not often you get the chance to meet the fans all in one go like this so I’m excited. I will also be doing a seminar so come along to that too.

Ben: If you win at Cage Warriors 55 can we expect you to bring your belt along to the UK MMA Expo so the fans can get a picture with you and your title?
Mills: There is no if about it…. 100%

Ben: Would you like to say thanks to anyone or any sponsors?
Mills: Yes thanks a lot. Want to say thanks to Dan my manager (UI Management) and Paul Sutherland my head coach at Trojan Free Fighters, he puts everything together to ensure that I am ready. All my sponsors, Sci-MX Nutrition, Pride or Die, MMA Apparel, Vita Coco UK, Sport Kitchen, Smuggling Duds, Glos Pain Relief Clinic, NutriFit, UK MMA Expo. Of course all the guys at Trojan Free Fighters and Paul Middlewood for all the beasty conditioning sessions.

Thank you very much to Che Mills for taking the time to answer our questions so close to his title fight.

As Che mentioned the exclusive announcement regarding the UK MMA Expo is that he will not only be there to meet fans for photos and autographs but he will also be at the UK MMA Expo to run a seminar too. Full details of the seminar will be released on the UK MMA Expo website in the next few days and tickets for the Che Mills seminar will be on sale very soon.

For all the details about the UK MMA Expo check out their website http://www.ukmmaexpo.co.uk/.