Jack Mason "After 35 pro fights this will be my first arena show and I can't wait!" ahead of Cage Warriors 57

Jack "Stone" Mason talks to Kingdom MMA before Cage Warriors 57 fight

by Ben Heather @benheather

On Monday I caught up with Jack "Stone" Mason ahead of his fight at Cage Warriors 57, which takes place in Liverpool's Echo Arena on Saturday night. Just before I spoke to Jack news had been released to say that Jack would not be fighting Bruno Carvalho but instead fighting Ali Arish on less than a weeks notice.

Ben: Today (Monday) it was announced that your opponent has changed, how will that change things on the final week before the fight?
Mason: Not a lot to be honest! This was literally a last minute change so all my training camp was done and I just have to focus on making the weight now so to be honest I won’t get any time to work on any specifics for Arish.

Ben: Did you have a specific game plan for Carvalho and will that now change due to the change of opponent to Arish?
Mason: I had a very specific game plan for Carvalho which I’ve been working on with my team for 6 weeks and I was fully prepared for what he was going to bring to the table. Arish is stylistically hugely different to Carvalho and with no time to really plan or train specifically for Arish it’s not exactly an ideal scenario. That being said I’m very confident in my skills right now and think I match up well with Arish, I expect it to be an interesting fight.

Ben: Are you pleased that Cage Warriors were able to find you a new opponent at such short notice?
Mason: Yes, I’m truly thankful to Cage Warriors for keeping me with a fight and to find me such a high calibre replacement. Ali Arish has a 19-2 Pro MMA record and is currently ranked #8 in the rankings. I don’t know many people in UK MMA who would take such a tough fight with 6 days notice but there was no way I was going to turn down this opportunity. I really appreciate Ali taking the fight at short notice too as if he didn’t I’d have been without a fight!

Ben: What do you know about your Arish and do you like the new match up?
Mason: Arish has a 19-2 Pro MMA record and is currently ranked #8 in the rankings, and has faced and beat some legit competition. I know his style is very wrestling based but also has powerful hands. Of course this is a tough match up for anyone in the Welterweight division but as I’ve said before I’m very confident in my skills and I think a lot of people will be shocked about how this fight goes down.
 
Ben: Are you disappointed that you can't fight Carvalho the opponent you had been training to fight? And do you hope you can fight him in the future?
Mason: Of course I’m hugely disappointed that I’m not facing Carvalho, I’ve spent all camp preparing to face him and to have the hard work wasted is very annoying. I’m not entirely sure about the details of why he can’t fight but by all accounts I’ve heard he is a bit of a princess. I honestly don’t think I’d want to commit all that time preparing for him just to see it wasted again so I’d have to give it careful consideration. It’s definitely not something I’m going to be pursuing after I beat Arish that’s for certain.

Ben: How has the camp been?
Mason: Training has been fantastic and I feel like I’ve improved significantly since my last bout.

Ben: You are going to be at the UK MMA Expo this weekend. What day/ time can your fans head over and see you there? If they can't make it to your fight.
Mason: I’ll be on the QNT Sports Nutrition stand (D23) on the Sunday after the fight so please come down and say hello!

Ben: Last time out you fought in the UAE, will it be good to be back and fight in a big arena in Liverpool?
Mason: Fighting on any Cage Warriors event is a privilege and to fight at the Echo Arena in Liverpool is something I am hugely excited for. After 35 professional bouts this will be my first arena show and I can’t wait!

Ben: This card is a massive card for UKMMA have you heard/ felt a buzz for this card that has differed to some of your previous fights?
Mason: Even with some of the last minute pull outs this is one of the best MMA cards to grace UK soil, maybe the best! Yes the buzz for this card is incredible and I expect everyone to be watching and talking about this. I was up in Liverpool last week training with Danny Roberts and the buzz about the show already is huge, the whole city seems to be going to it. Looks like it’s going to be a special event!

Ben: Do you think a win here puts you next in line for a title shot? Or at least in title contention. After all you are already 7-1 in your last 8 fights.
Mason: A win over #8 ranked Arish is a big win and I will be have more wins on Cage Warriors than any other Welterweight including the current champ. I’ll leave that up to Cage Warriors to decide when I’ve earned my shot, I just need to go out and get my job done on Saturday.

Ben: What's going to happen on Saturday night? How do you expect to get the win?
Mason: It will be a surprise!

Ben: Do you want to say thank you to anyone?
Mason: I’d like to thank all my training partners and coaches at BKK Fighters, Tsunami Gym, Ministry of Martial Arts and Laurence Irving Strength & Conditioning for giving up their time to train with me and of course my girlfriend and family. Without these people in my life I wouldn’t be able to achieve anything.

I’d also like to say a huge thank you to my sponsors, please check out their websites and follow them on Twitter:

·         www.britishfighter.co.uk                        @BritishF1ghter
·         www.qntuk.com                                    @QNTUK
·         www.funkygums.com                             @FUNKYGUMS
·         www.ignitept.co.uk                                @LI_Strength
·         www.blankmmauk.com                         @BlankMMAUK

Thanks very much to Kingdom MMA for the interview, it was a pleasure.
If you’d like to keep updated on my training and future fights then please check out my website www.jackstonemason.com and follow me on Twitter @JackStoneMason

Kingdom MMA would like to thank Jack for his time in answering all of our questions the week before his fight. As he mentioned he will be fighting on the Cage Warriors 57 event in Liverpool on Saturday night but if you can't make it to see him fight he will also be at the QNT Sports Nutrition stand at the UK MMA Expo on Sunday.