Interview: Kerry Hughes Ahead of Cage Warriors 62

Interview: Kerry Hughes Ahead of Cage Warriors 62
by Chris Houten - @mrhouts

This Saturday BBK's Batamweight Kerry Hughes takes on undefeated Polish fighter Agnieszka Niedzwied.

Hailing from a Muay Thai background, Hughes transitioned into an all out mixed martial artist under the tutelage of UK MMA Veteran Jack Mason, making her pro MMA debut earlier this year.

Undefeated at both amateur and pro level Hughes was signed by Cage Warriors earlier this year as part of the promotion rejuvenation of their women's division; Hughes now makes her debut against Niedzwiedz in what promise to be an exciting contest.

We caught up with Hughes before her fight with Niedzwied to discuss her pro debut, signing for Cage Warriors, and most importantly her upcoming fight with Niedzwied.  

Houten: On December 7th you will be making your Cage Warriors Debut at CW62, for the fans out there who may not have seen your first fight can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what they can expect on Saturday night?
Hughes: I'm Kerry Hughes, I'm a 28 year old MMA fighter from BKK Fighters in sunny Colchester. I have a 1-0 pro record and was undefeated at semi-professional level. I like to punch people in the face.
 
On Saturday night I make my debut for CageWarriors, I'm incredibly lucky to be given the opportunity to fight for one of the best promotions in the world and, thanks to the awesome match making of Ian Dean, I will be going out against another undefeated fighter - Poland's Agnieskza Niedzwiedz. People should expect to see two athletes going out looking for the win and prepared to put it all on the line to deliver a good show... Lets face it, neither of us are there to look pretty!

How does it feel to be fighting for the number 1 organisation in Europe? The same organisation that a lot of  your BKK team mates fight for.
Fighting for Cage Warriors is a dream come true, albeit a recently discovered dream. The saying goes that one should train until their heroes become their rivals, my team mates will never be my rivals but its amazing to now be considered a peer with so many of the exceptional fighters that I aspire to reach the standard of. Cage Warriors really looks after their fighters well and I've been incredibly impressed with the professionalism of the promotion, I'm looking forward to some tough matches where I can really test myself and prove my abilities because I know that there's no such thing as an easy fight on Cage Warriors, it's really refreshing to represent a promotion with that level of professional integrity.

Now you have got your professional debut out the way do you feel a bit less pressure on you for this fight?
I train for every fight as though it were the biggest, hardest and most important fight of my life - because it is.  I've never taken an easy fight and have always looked to test myself against talented opponents, the pressure is always on for me to perform against such talented athletes. That said, on paper I've been the underdog for almost every fight I've had, so I'm sure my opponents feel the pressure even more :-)

Am I right in thinking your nickname ‘Rocksteady’ was given to you by your BKK teammates as an insult?
Rocksteady came about because my team mates think I bear a striking resemblance to the rhinoceros from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles... As far as insults go though it's actually one of the nicer things they call me. Other names recently have included the Samiad and numerous that I wouldn't repeat in polite company... Banter is the lifeblood of the family atmosphere at BKK and nobody gets to choose their nickname!

Agnieszka Niedzwiedz is virtually unknown in the UK, how much do you know about her, and have you had the opportunity to study many of her fights?
I don't really know a great deal about Agnieskza, I don't feel that I need to, I'm going out to fight my fight not hers and whilst I have the greatest respect for her as an opponent I won't be changing my tactical plan to accommodate her. I've seen a 'highlight reel' type thing she has on YouTube, there was nothing in it that fell outside of what I already knew of her/expected to see from her.
She is a young fighter and does seem to have a propensity for 'trash talking', I'm sure she will outgrow that as she matures though.

Watching a few of Agnieszka Niedzwiedz fights she seems likes a little small for 135, how much of a size advantage do you think you will have come fight night?
I have seen some pics of Agnieskza and she doesn't seem to be a big bantamweight, lots of people don't like a heavy weight cut though and you don't have to be big to be dangerous... That said I am a relatively big 135 so there may be a slight size/power advantage there.

Niedzwiedz has taken 3 of her 4 victories by TKO, what do you think of her striking? She looks like a bit of a brawler to me.
Yes, 3 of her 4 victories have come via TKO but that doesn't worry me unduly, I'm not known for having a weak chin! If I can take punches off the pros at BKK then I find it unlikely that she'll be adding a fourth TKO to her record on Saturday!

Studying Niedzwiedz, I noticed she tends to drop her hands quite low is this something you and your coaches had picked up and is it something you intend to exploit using you Muay Thai background?
I never like to rely on watching what people have done previously to predict what they'll do in the future, after every fight I have I get straight back to the gym, watch the video and work on all the weaknesses and areas for improvement - I tend to work on the assumption that others will do the same.

Knowing that you come from a Muay Thai background do you think Niedzwiedz will revert back to here Judo roots where she holds a judo belt and try and get the fight to the ground?
Agnieskza may well decide to try and take the fight to the ground, but then I may very well beat her to it, I'm comfortable wherever this fight goes and a background in Muay Thai shouldn't be confused with a one dimensional skill set.

Cage Wariors announced in June that they were rejuvenating their women’s division, do you think Cage Warriors will crown a 135lb champ in 2014?
Cage Warriors really have rejuvenated their women's division, they've made more of an impact on women's MMA than any other UK organisation, it's also gratifying to see that they have made a long term commitment with the length of the contracts offered and the number of weight divisions they are supporting.

I hope that Cage Warriors do announce women's titles, that would give me something to aim toward as a long term goal. Winning that really would be a dream come true!

Finally, is there anyone you would like to thank for helping you get ready for your fight with Niedzwiedz?
Firstly and foremost I would like to thank the wonderful Jack Mason, everything we are at BKK started with him and is driven by his relentless passion, work ethic and team spirit. From there the amazing team of coaches, fighters and non fighters at BKK, Unique Results, Tsunami and Tsunami Norfolk - with special thanks to Lee Catling, Stuart Barlegs, Arran Burton, Sean Carter, Arnold Allen, Jason Cooledge, Tim Stokes, Dean Simmonds, Craig Powell, Joe Harding, Cory McKenna, Nick Albert, John Maguire, Steve Byerley, Lee Doski, Andre Goncalves and Michael Russell, I've probably forgotten lads of people there, so sorry but I wanted to try and list just some of my team mates who are always there supporting me!

Thank you to Cage Warriors for the wonderful opportunity and for providing such a great platform for WMMA in Europe to grow - the whole team there are awesome.

My amazing sponsors make training and competing possible by removing much of the financial and practical burden:
British Fighter - who manufacture my awesome fight clothing and supporters tees!
Octagonwear - who provide my training clothing
Lockdown Fightwear - who supply me with top quality kit
eProtein - who provide me with the very best in supplements
Dave Bond - the best S&C coach I could possibly ask for
Katie Mitchell - fantastic sports nutritionist
London Bike Training - turning me into a biker chick!
Pound out - fab Polish MMA clothing brand providing my weigh in kit for this fight

I would also like to say thank you to the WMMA fans out there who work tirelessly to promote the sport - Roger, Jeff, Neil, Elias, Mark, Rob, Rene, Mike, Luca and so many others - thank you!