Madars Fleminas is a Latvian mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division for Cage Warriors. The former Caged Steel FC Welterweight Champion has competed eight times as a professional picking up five finishes en route to a 7-1 record.
Transcript
Madars Fleminas: How are you doing, how have you been throughout the whole pandemic? Um? It was good. I think it’s a great great great experience, like i say uh this will be, will be a little bit harder to talk because it seems like i already talked with you. You know so yeah it’s good pandemic is definitely beneficial for me because after the last loss is a lot of changes in the gym, gym, wise and coaching wise and get get some work done. Where need to be done and then yeah it’s working hard and can’t get can’t wait to get back in a cage with your with your training. Did you take some time off before jumping back into it, to try to like, refocus and accept the loss? Or did you were you just back in the gym like the day after, like after the last loss is, was like? I realized the mistakes that i made and the things what i need to work. I realized already dead in a cage by by getting beaten. You know and then, as soon as soon as monday come i was back in the gym and i was working on the and improve the all the little things and then pandemic starts and obviously all gyms start close. So i make my own little garden gym and was training there for a couple months and yeah till all the professional fighters can get together and start working together. So yeah, it’s been great. Speaking of your last loss, adam proctor is fighting for that belt. Does it hurt a little bit or is it a little bit bittersweet? Knowing that that could have been you, you know, had you done a little bit different in the fight, you would have been the one competing for the belt. Um yeah, of course, because me and adam was fighting like kind of for title eliminator. So is that like yo, you are that close and same time you’re pretty far now so i need need to bounce back and get back on the title. Title title shot: no, no, no! No yeah um! I hope i i don’t know. I hope i’m gon na win. That’S gon na look better on me. Obviously yeah, but he’s got a tough, tough fight, uh mason jones, so we’ll see how his dad go. Yeah, it’s it’s weird! Usually when people lose to someone they’re like man, i work. I hope the worst for him, but it’s good to see that you’re, like you, know what i hope he wins, because if he wins it makes me look better as a fighter. It’S weird because some some people don’t like you know if they lose to someone they wish them the worst. So it’s good to see that you still uh you’re still rooting for them, even though you lost to them. No, of course, he’s like he was better on the night he’s like if he, if he’s knocked me out or submit me that being pre, i probably take even harder, but he didn’t didn’t do anything like this. It just was better than a certain places in the fight, so i just need to improve them places them things, and i think i’m gon na beat him anyway. He’S like next time. I’M gon na see him the result will be different. Maybe there is maybe the result was not gon na be different, but the fight definitely gon na be different. What’S the uh, what’s the lesson you’re gon na take from this i mean your last loss prior to this one was way back in your amateur debut when you were just you weren’t, even doing any jiu jitsu at that point or any wrestling. So what’s the uh? What’S the biggest lesson you’re going to learn from that loss, the first one rather than fight the atom fight adam five yeah? Obviously, like i told you yesterday’s uh, i was on the training camp. The first lesson what i learned when you’re going to training camp you’re going for more than two weeks and you’re not going too close to the fight because, like i was go to the hard training camp in sweden, training to go together, it comes at you at All starts and the training camp was really really hard, so i find myself banned myself out. Come back was very tired need like two three nights to sleep, just to get overtired. You know like to get back to normal, like life and then and then this was fight night and i was still still in the mood a bit tired and not that much focus uh a lot of pressure on me and yeah. It’S just yeah. Never ever before the big fights uh – i’m not gon na – go that close to the fight to some training camp. I’M gon na go before the fight, but i may i will make sure i come back like two weeks before the fight, so i can get back to my normal me and then and then obviously fight how i want to fight, not how he’s going to be Speaking of hamza, he fights tonight um, as i think, a lot of ufc fans are looking forward to it. But there’s a lot of people saying like he’s, had the right fights there’s a lot of hype behind the guy. He hasn’t fought a tough, tough opponent. Yet, as someone who’s trained with him, how good is hamza tamaya, so, first of all uh, the guy who is fighting tonight is not a bad guy. Yeah people need to realize he’s, not a bad guy, and i don’t i actually read today. Dana white says not like they feeding some bags for him. You know like they give him a good guy. So i think, if he’s gon na beat this one, i think the old questions will be answered. You know because the guy is good on the ground so basically now like, but you you feed them to the wolf. You know you feed them to the wolf and i the way i see comes training he’s just gon na run over this guy as well. Obviously his level is uh, i think higher than actually people realize so we’ll say i think he’s gon na get he’s gon na smash this guy and he’s gon na smash, damier, maya and so so newsman will get one as well. I want to speak a bit about your upcoming fight. I tried to pronounce his name yesterday when we talked, and i butchered it so, but i’m going to try it again. So what are your thoughts on mathish, figlach, mateusz biglack he’s good he’s good like, like. I told you yesterday. Obviously i was training with the guy uh two years ago in thailand, so it was good competit, competitive sparring on the ground and then in a stand-up uh. So i think the guys who gon na watch ufc fight past on thursday night uh will be for a good treat. I think it’s gon na be very, very excited fight, he’s a striker i like strike. I think i’m better. He thinks he’s better and we’re gon na find out who’s. Who’S actually is better, so good for fans. You were originally scheduled to fight chris atley, who i think is his teammate, so so kind of describe what it’s like to have. A change of opponents who have completely different styles – i was i loved. First of all, i was pissed off because the chris hassell is more like a grappler, so i was getting ready for the grappling in two weeks, not even two weeks. Ten days out of the fight they change opponent so from from the grappler to the striker, but it’s not you can’t say it’s going to be striking much. Maybe the matters matter swiglock will keep the game plan same. Try take me down, you know, like people, people still thinking my ground game now. Maybe not that good though we’ll see about that but yeah you will see and then it’s hard it’s hard, but you know if you don’t, if you don’t believe you can beat anybody. So why are you doing it? So i think it doesn’t matter it’s like 10 days, five days, you change the opponent. I go fight. If he’s gon na be better he’s gon na be bad, but i don’t think so. So i’m going to beat mata ocean will be good. When someone has, i mean you’ve, obviously trained with the guy um, but when someone has such few fights, is it harder to kind of like watch his tape because usually, if guys have 10 12 fights, you can watch three or four fights and know what his weaknesses Are but if there’s not much tape on him, is it a little bit harder to prepare for someone like that? That is definitely harder but, like, like i say i was training with him, so i obviously i got some some taste how how the fights can go and how it’s going to be and plus these go previous fights is not so far back and they they are On youtube, so you can watch it. The last fight actually is fi here, 5. 15 minutes. So you can see some things on ground and stand up as well, so you can take something from there. But yes, it’s not that much about what he gon na do he’s like you. Just i like a lot of people telling me i just need, go out there and be me you know and when i’m me i’m very very dangerous guys. So that’s always matter! I want to talk a little bit about your career because you did jump into the sport a little bit later in life, a lot of people like start mma training when they’re in their like early 20s or some people, even they’re teenagers. So what why? Why did you get involved in the sport? What was it that led you to to fighting, obviously yeah when i come to england, uh there’s a lot of things like foreign people doing you know like, like i told you, yes sit in the sofa drinking bears watching tv and uh enjoy the factory lives, but I kind of not see myself doing the factory jobs, so i start training boxing and kickboxing and after boxing and kickboxing i did one mma fight without the ground game. What i lost. So i changed the coaches and put some work in the ground game and some of the coaches say i got pretty much pretty good talent, you know so start working more more and more and yeah couple years in now. I’M i think years, all together from my first lost, is i think, six years when i do mma and i’m already professional, eight fights in so doing well just keep need, keep pushing and keep reach the goal. What i put for myself, you did have a long amateur career. What was the reason for that? Was it just trying to make sure that you were you understood all aspects of the game? You you got the wrestling down. You got the ground game down. Was it just trying to do that, or was it just trying to get as tough opponents as you can to make sure you were ready before making the jump to professionals yeah? Basically, you answered all the questions. Yeah, it’s ex exactly same as like you. Try get get the amateur, like i told, is like the record in amateurs. Uh means nothing. Records is for the djs. You just uh, you just keep, keep keep fighting the best guys best amateurs to see where you need to improve what need to improve and obviously the more fights you do. Do it the more experience you get under your belt, because the amateur and professional is not big difference, so the more amateurs you’re gon na get the better professional you’re gon na, be you know, so, basically i did yeah. I did all 10 fights to. I get to that point when promotions can’t get me opponents to fight anymore, so i was ranked as number one in uk and ireland. So there was time when me and coach just uh think we need to go to professionals. So that’s how i move. If i, if i have a chance to fight more amateur, i probably do even more, maybe one more year, but there wasn’t the guys who want to fight me. So i’m more professional with this one of the one of the things that i noticed. First off, when i watched it was your nickname is one of my favorites in all of mma, the latvian express and there’s not many people who can say that because there’s not many latvian mma fighters. So what do you think it will take to see a lot of mma uh coming out of latvia? Yes, i’ve been in love with a couple uh like yeah. I go once a year at least to love there, so i trained with the guys there there we go. We got some talented guys over there, obviously and then, and then yeah. I think we’re gon na hear more about loving them. Maybe we got a couple good guys and i think if they’re doing the right thing, training grappling training, training, wrestling and and and then strikes. Obviously striking is pretty good in our country anyway. So if they’re gon na stop mix it all together very well, and i think we’re gon na hear some more names from latvia and i think in uk we’ve got a couple couple. Good luck! Man, guys who lives in uk and training as well same as me, is uh cool yeah he’s there is a mati zacharo. He goes pusarsky. You know he’s yeah. I think we are by bringing the name latvia out over here. We’Re gon na get bear fighters from lobby as well. I think so, that’s gon na be good. Do you think you’re gon na need someone uh to become a champion in one of these big organizations, something like conor did with ireland. Do you think it’s gon na? Take one person to really inspire the entire country to start doing mma yeah. Obviously, when i’m gon na win the cage warriors belt uh, i’m gon na inspire more more people yeah. I know there is mati zaharos in brave fc privacy is pretty big uh promotion as well. In our days, i think when mati is gon na win his bell. Uh in brazil he’s again dislike. Yeah he’s is up to us. You just need get them bigger promotions. The people will see we can do it and the more people gon na recognize mma in latvia as well. You know, speaking of european mma, there’s there’s a big fight coming up um, it’s polish fighter. Jan blejovich is fighting for uh the light heavyweight belt that jon jones vacated against dominic reyes uh. Who are you rooting for and who do, you think, will win um. I’Ve got quite a lot of polish friends, so i’ve. Obviously i i wish to young black, which win, but in my like with my heart, i want black which to win but but mma mma muffs telling me rey is gon na. Take it because, i think, he’s a little bit, i think eures is a younger fighter faster fighter and be well more rounded fighters. So i think ray is going to take that one. So obviously, your goal now is to win this fight on thursday and then win the cage warriors belt. But where do you see yourself long term? Do you see yourself competing for a bellator, a ufc, or are you happy there in cage warriors just staying in the uk and doing what you can in in in the united kingdom? Well, yeah cage writers is good package is something was build you up for the bigger promotion, uh, that’s for all fighters, so the the main goal is the bigger promotion is uh. Is i got still three fights with cage warriors? I drive in my belt and then we’ll see what the mma god’s gon na bless me. You know i get, these might be, ufc’s might be bellator, this might be privacy, it doesn’t matter as long as the journey is nice and i enjoy fighting. I enjoy training and yeah, we’ll see where we going from there. I love that, if something like the contender series were to come up was that something you’d be interested in as well yeah. I was looking at looking that one as well. So that’s one of the options as well. After i finish my contract with cage wires, i will try my my try. The contender series is pretty good good option. A couple friends tell me to try as well so we’ll see. How is that? Go? Okay, i’ll ask you one one last question, then i’ll: let you go so for people who haven’t seen you fight, some people are strictly ufc fans. Most of the people who watch me are are just ufc fans. So for those people, what is your fight style like and what can they expect from you on thursday? My fight styles unpredictable is like very, very, very messy technical striking so and this test they are going to put clinical striking on material swiglock and i will get the big victory so enjoy the fights on ufc fight past test the night. I love it. How do you see it getting done? First round finish decision how’s this going to go. I never predict my fights. I will win the fight and yeah. It will be a very watchable fight. I promise you as soon as the uh belder ring the bell. I will go after him and we’re gon na get the fight and that’s what funds won all right man. Thank you very much for speaking with me. I know you’re only a few days out, so it’s probably hard times right now, but i appreciate you taking the time and all the best thank you. You can see in my cheeks yeah, oh yeah, so yeah cheers nice. Thank you very much. All right stay safe,
