Rob Sinclair on new Bellator deal "I know what I'm signing into and I was happy to sign"

Kingdom MMA interview Bellator's new signing Rob Sinclair

by Chris Houten @KingdomMMAChris

Kingdom MMA today had chance to catch up to Bellator's new recruit and former BAMMA champion Rob Sinclair. News broke last week that Rob had been released early from his BAMMA contract to pursue his career and now we had the chance to ask him a few questions. Also at the end of the interview you will find details of how you can meet Rob Sinclair and take part in his seminar at the UK MMA Expo.

Chris: Firstly Rob, congratulations on signing for Bellator, how did that move come about?
Sinclair: Cheers, Well I have been talking with Bellator for a while but I had a contract with BAMMA. When I spoke to Zach Light at Bellator he sold it to me, made me feel welcome and it was pretty much a no brainer after our chat.

Chris: The press release from Bellator says you have signed a "long term deal" are you able to tell us how many fights you have on your Bellator contract?
Sinclair: I think it's 6 fights.

Chris: Feels like overnight Bellator have an impressive stable of Brits to call on. I know previously Bjorn has mentioned he would like to get Bellator on UK TV, has anything been mentioned to you about bringing the product to these shores?
Sinclair: No that's the first I have heard, it would be awesome though.

Chris: When do you think you will make you Bellator debut?
Sinclair: I've heard it's September, I'm still waiting for a date and an opponent.

Chris: Do you expect to be part of one of Bellator's tournament series' from the off, or do you think you will have a couple of fights first?
Sinclair: No I'm straight in the tourney, I wanted a warm up fight because of my injury but I won't be ready until the tourney in September.

Chris: What was the reaction from BAMMA when you said you where leaving for Bellator?
Sinclair: BAMMA were amazing. They have been awesome with me, very supportive and they've given me a great stepping stone to carry on to international shores. I'll never be able to say enough good things about them, after all they even released me from my contract early.

Chris: Are you still the BAMMA champion or have you had to relinquish that belt?  As the tweet from the official BAMMA twitter account said “Hopefully, he will return and defend his BAMMA title again in the future.”
Sinclair: To be honest I'm not sure, I think it will be relinquished. It will give another young fighter the opportunity I had from being with BAMMA.

Chris: Does the contract with Bellator allow you to fight for other promotions similar to what Paul Daley has done? Or will we only see you fighting for Bellator now?
Sinclair: I don't think they will let the new Bellator champion fight elsewhere ;)

Chris: Its well known on the scene you have maintained a full time job with British Gas all through your reign as BAMMA champion, do you plan to continue working full time, now you have joined one of the majors, or does your deal give your the freedom to back away and concentrate more on fight?
Sinclair: Well I have been working full time throughout my time as the British champion and World champion, but now I've stepped up to another level. Maybe it's time to stop letting it being a hobby and take it seriously from now on.

Chris: When Bellator first contacted you did you take any of what was going on with Eddie Alveraz into consideration?
Sinclair: Yeah well I looked into it, and to be honest it's all complicated, I know what I'm signing into and I was happy to sign.

Chris: Lately you have been mentioning big choices to make on twitter when did you actually sign the Bellator contract? I thought personally you was going to sign with Cage Warriors after reading those tweets, as they were sent about the time they signed some big UK names. Did any other promotions try and sign you?
Sinclair: Cage Warriors is an awesome show and it gives fighters opportunities to fight on TV and abroad, but I feel I've done more than most on the UK circuit, so now is the time to move abroad.

Chris: You have had some injury problems in the past, how confident are you that your body will hold up through a hard tournament series, where you will be going from fighting once ever 6 months to once every 6 weeks?
Sinclair: Well this is my first serious injury but I've got the best Physio, Strength and Conditioning coach and gym so I'll be ready. If I'm not I'll just fight at 30% like I usually do. 

Chris: Thank you for your time just one last thing, would you like to thank anyone?
Sinclair: Yeah, I'd like to firstly thank my Physio Emma Fletcher for getting me back from a serious serious injury so fast. Perform centre for getting me the Strength and fitness, Gav at Predators mma, Glenn Slater my main sponsor, Bad Boy, Real Nutrition , Soulmate Foods, Funky Gums, Smuggling Duds, www.thebestvandeals.co.uk, www.fightshop.com, TFL management, BAMMA and Bellator.

Thank you very much for the time and your answers to our questions and we wish you all the best in your Bellator debut.

Also, if any fans want to get the chance to not only meet Rob Sinclair but be in a seminar taught by Rob himself then on the 20th July at 11am you need to be at the UK MMA Expo which will be in Manchester's Event City.

Full details of the Expo itself can be found at http://www.ukmmaexpo.co.uk/ and if you would like to buy tickets for the expo and Rob's seminar then they can be purchased here http://www.ukmmaexpo.co.uk/visiting/tickets/ The cost of the Rob Sinclair seminar is only £20 for just the seminar, £25 for your Saturday Expo ticket and entry to the seminar or £30 for a full weekend Expo ticket and entry to the Rob Sinclair seminar.

Please Note, Seminar only tickets will not get you access into Event City as the seminars are held inside the Expo. All seminar tickets must be bought in conjunction to an Expo ticket to allow entry into Event City. Only buy the option of without Expo entry if you already have an Expo entry ticket for the same day or are also buying Expo entry for the same day with another seminar ticket.