Jack Mason "I’m training for this fight like this is the best guy in the world I am fighting"

Kingdom MMA talk to Jack Mason ahead of his fight at Cage Warriors Fight Night 9

by Ben Heather @benheather

Photo: Dolly Clew | Cage Warriors

Kingdom MMA caught up with Jack Mason to discuss his next fight for Cage Warriors which is now only a little over a week away. Jack is fighting on the Fight Night 9 card which takes place in Jordan, this will be the second time this year that he has fought on the international Cage Warrior cards and he is proving that he can compete with the top guys in the game. This time out he is taking on the relatively unknown (in the UK) Abusupiyan Magomedov. Also fighting on the card next week are the likes of Che Mills and Ronnie Mann.

Ben: Magomedov has a bit of a reputation on the continent but not so much in the UK. Had you heard of him before this fight was announced?
Mason: To be honest I hadn’t heard about him at all before the fight was offered to me but Ian Dean is the best matchmaker in the business and he has a knowledge of MMA that surpasses anyone else I’ve met. Ian knows all about the talented fighters in countries all over the world and that’s how he’s able to put on such interesting fights. Really looking forward to this match up now and fighting another top international fighter.

Ben: What do you now know of him after the fight announcement was made?
Mason: I’ve done some research and can see he’s originally from Dagestan and is now living and training in Germany, I believe he’s currently ranked the 3rd best Welterweight in Germany. I can see is tall, has long limbs and has good striking, he’s also an experienced wrestler and have watched a number of his wrestling competitions on Youtube. Magomedov is aggressive and very well rounded and this is another tough test that Cage Warriors have put on for me which I am looking forward to passing with flying colours!

Ben: Do you think he is taking a massive step up in competition fighting yourself (a 10 fight CW veteran) in his debut for Cage Warriors? The promotion who many believe to be the number 1 promotion in Europe.
Mason: Cage Warriors is without a doubt the best promotion in Europe and I can see that he’s had lots of experience fighting on big shows in Germany and holds a number of promotional belts already so I don’t think that the thought of fighting on Cage Warriors will phase him. Magomedov has already fought and beat some of the best that Europe has to offer so I see this as a very tough fight for me and I’m training my ass off for it. I’m training for this fight like this is the best guy in the world I am fighting.

Ben: Last time out the result didn't go your way but It's been two months since that night in Liverpool, have you been working on any specifics as a result of that fight?
Mason: It was change of opponent about five days out from the fight where I had already stopped training and was focusing on making weight. I’d done a full camp training specifics to fight Bruno Carvalho and then last minute I got a change of opponent to fight Ali Arish who is completely different stylistically, one of the best wrestlers in Europe and ranked in the Top 10 with no time to prepare.

I accepted this change in opponent so last minute because I didn’t want to waste my fight camp, all the money spent and ruin people’s weekends that were coming up to see me fight. The fight was very close and I think it could’ve gone either way, the main things I took away from the fight were that I now know for a fact that wrestling wise I can live with the best that Europe has to offer, also I need to throw more combinations on my feet.

I now know that accepting a last minute change of opponent of such a high calibre probably isn’t the sensible thing to do at this stage of my career. I was probably on track to fight for the Cage Warriors title pretty soon and this error in judgement has probably set me back a few fights now.

I’ll be looking to make amends and get back into title contention with a big win in Jordan.

Ben: How does it feel to get to travel the world with Cage Warriors having already fought in the UAE this year and now fighting in Amman, Jordan?
Mason: It feels amazing. I feel so privileged to be able to travel and see the world doing what I love. I couldn’t ask for anything more, it’s a dream come true!

Ben: This fight is the day before a big UFC event in the UK where your good friend and training partner Luke Barnatt is fighting. Will you be flying straight back to make it back for his fight?
Mason: I will be flying back from Jordan to watch Luke claim his second UFC win in Manchester for sure, I wouldn’t miss it for the world! I flew out to Vegas earlier this year to see him win on the UFC finale and I’ll be flying half way across the world again to see him fight this time too!

Ben: Luke recently announced that Chael Sonnen will be cornering him in Manchester, do you know if you will get the chance to train with him before your fight?
Mason: I’ve managed to do a couple of training sessions with Chael and his team over in Vegas when Luke fought the first time. This time I think Chael will just be flying in for the weekend to corner Luke and probably won’t have time for training.

One of the guys that was also in the TUF house with Luke called Jimmy Quinlan is over here right now helping Luke with his camp and he’s a phenomenal Division 1 All American wrestler who is also a grappling ace so we’ve both had some great training partners for this camp anyway!

Ben: Thanks for your time Jack and lastly do you have anything you would like to say to your fans about how you the fight will go in 4 weeks?
Mason: Thanks very much for the interview and thanks to everyone for all the support for this fight and my career so far! I’m planning to put on an exciting fight in Jordan and am itching to get back in the cage and get the job done!

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.chelmsfordphysio.co.uk                @ChelmsforPhysio
         www.blankmmauk.com                         @BlankMMAUK
         www.qntuk.com                                    @QNTUK
         www.funkygums.com                             @FUNKYGUMS
         www.ignitept.co.uk                                @LI_Strength