Welterweight Danny Roberts is a sign of the changing complexion of combat sports in the U.K.
When he moved from Bristol to Liverpool and began training, it was at a boxing gym situated one floor below an MMA gym.
Roberts’ striking skills attracted the attention of the guys upstairs, however, and he found himself being propositioned to make the switch.
Three years after that day, Roberts (7-1) is a full-time MMA fighter that’s trying to make his mark in Cage Warriors Fighting Championship, where on Saturday he’ll meet Diego Gonzalez (15-7) at the promotion’s 54th event, which takes place at Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales.
It didn’t take long for MMA bug to bite Roberts, who got his name for the attention he got bouncing at clubs (and an addiction to chocolate).
“I had a little go of it and found out I like the different dynamics of the different martial arts, and it just took off from there,” he told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). “I had my first fight in eight weeks.”
Now, Roberts has come to appreciate the grappling aspect of the sport even more than that of striking.
“With the wrestling, it’s so fierce and so intense,” he said. “I think I get I get a bigger kick out of wrestling than any other aspect of the sport.”
And Roberts said the MMA gym, Next Generation U.K., has plenty of talent to sharpen his skills. Or, maybe more accurately, humble him on a daily basis.
Roberts said getting choked out was “the worst experience of his life” not because he went unconscious, but because the person who did it to him was 35 pounds lighter than he.
With a stable of talent that includes recent UFC signee Rosi Sexton, Roberts said it won’t be long before his gym makes its mark on the international stage. And with the globetrotting CWFC, he’s already making good on that prediction.
“I’d like to think within the next three years we’re going to have a handful of fighters that are going to be in the UFC,” he said.
Having recently returned to the winner’s circle after his first pro loss, Roberts aims to build a win streak over Gonzalez, who’s 1-2 with CWFC. He’s earned an equal number of submissions as knockouts, so all his hard work on the mat appears to be paying dividends.
Thanks to MMA, the scenery around him continues to change. The boxing gym is now a strength and conditioning gym that caters to cage fighters.
“It’s my new love now,” Roberts said.
For the latest on Cage Warriors 54, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.
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