Declan Williams is a British MMA fighter currently training out of Predators Gym in Manchester, England. We got the chance to catch up with Declan ahead of his Cage Warriors 60 bout against Arnold Allen, which will be taking place at The Forum in Kentish Town, London, on Saturday, October 5th.

Jay Cee: Thanks for taking some time out to speak with me Declan. You have got a fight coming up at Cage Warriors 60 against Arnold Allen. What are your thoughts on Arnold as an opponent?

Declan: Thank you for wanting to talk to me mate lol, and yea I’m fight this Saturday on Cage Warriors. My opponent is Arnold Allen and he looks a tough kid, he’s very well rounded from what I’ve seen and he’s unbeaten, so he’ll be very confident going into this fight.

Jay Cee: How has your training camp and preparation been going?

Declan: I took the fight on three weeks notice, but lucky for me I had just come off a training camp for a fight that I won quite quickly, so I took a week or so to rest and then jumped straight back on it for this fight.

Jay Cee: How are things going over at Predators gym? I know you have a lot of talent developing through your “UK Alpha Males” team, what is the latest?

Declan: Things at Predators are going good, we’ve got some really good, tough Pros and some really good and hungry for it Amateurs who push us oldies to up our game. My team UK Alpha Males, even though a lot of them are beginners, they are just as hungry and willing to learn. They train and compete just has much as any pros, so its good because it keeps me on my toes and helps me remember things that I learnt at the start of my career.

Jay Cee: Tell me about some of the specific coaches and sparring partners you have been working with?

Declan: I always have Gav Boardman as my main coach and I couldn’t ask for a better one, the knowledge he has of the sport and different martial arts is unbelievable at times so your Always learning, even if its tweaking a basic move that you’d thought you had done perfect for the last five years, he’ll come along and say “place your hand there” or “it’s easy to do this”, so I’m always learning and always getting better. At UK Alpha Males we have our own stand up guy and probably one of the nicest guys in the world. He’s got 28 years of Thai and Kickboxing experience, so I learn a lot of stuff from him and with these two trainers I’ve come on a lot in the last year. As for training partners, I feel very lucky and very blessed to have these people helping me out and punching me in the face daily lol cos I’m training with monsters with no egos, everyone is willing to help each other out, but also put it on each other to help you push yourself.

Jay Cee: Arnold Allen is young, dangerous, undefeated and has the ability to finish fights via submission or KO. Do you see him causing you many problems or do you think your experience advantage will be the deciding factor in this fight?

Declan: This guys really is a dangerous fighter but I have been here many times before, so there’s no situation I haven’t been in when it comes to combat inside the cage and I was fighting and knocking people out when he was still sh!&*ing in his hand and rubbin it in his face lol, there’s nothing I haven’t seen or fought before.

Jay Cee: You are currently riding a two fight winning streak, finishing both opponents in the first round. Does that give you a lot of confidence going into this fight?

Declan: Yea, it gives me a lot of confidence winning my last two fights so quickly, you are only as good as your last fight and beating a guy with a record of 9-5 in 17 seconds does make me feel confident, but not over confident cos its not in my personality to be lol.

Jay Cee: When looking at your MMA career and your future in the sport, do you want to make it all the way to the top or just achieve success on the regional circuit here in the UK?

Declan: I would like to take it as far as I can, in this country or wherever it may take me. If I don’t become a world champion I’d like to coach a future world champion, so the training I do now or the fights I have aren’t all about me, its what knowledge I can pass on to my team and members in the future.

Jay Cee: What are your goals for the rest of 2013?

Declan: I’m making small goals all the time, realistic goals that are achievable and when I achieve that goal I make the next one that little bit harder or further away. My goal this year was to get a win steak behind me and fight on Cage Warriors by the end of the year, now I’m ahead of my goal as I would have needed at least three good wins behind me, but I got two, and now I have the opportunity to compete on the the show, so my new goal is to win (obviously) lol and then hopefully get signed by Cage Warriors and maybe even fight for them again before the year is out.

Jay Cee: Thanks for taking some time to speak with me Declan and good luck at Cage Warriors 60. If there are any sponsors or people you would like to shout-out or thank, please go ahead and do that now…

Declan: I would like to thank Ian Dean and the Cage Warriors team for giving me this great oppotunity. Thanks to my coaches and team mates at Preds and Alpha Males. Thank you to my Family and friends who are always there for me, and thank you to my sponsor Gladiator who help me out with equipment to keep me safe when training.

Thanks again to Declan Williams for the time, I appreciate it.

Make sure you check out Declan Williams on TWITTER and give him a follow!!

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Jay Cee – @JayCeeMMA

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