The stage is set for Brighton’s undefeated mixed martial arts fighter John Hathaway to continue his astronomic rise to fame in front of London’s O2 Arena audience this month. That stage being the eight-sided caged enclosure known as the “Octagon” of Ultimate Fighting Champion 120 fame.
John ‘The Hitman’ Hathaway, with a record of 14 wins out of 14, is going toe-to-toe with American veteran Mike ‘Quicksand’ Pyle on 16 October. It is a welterweight contest sure to capture the imaginations of a British audience still savouring golf’s Ryder Cup victory over the US. Since making his debut in 2006, the intelligent and mature Hathaway has risen to tenth in his weight division recognised by Sherdog, the largest US website devoted to MMA, and only top ten candidate never to have tasted defeat.
We met up with the 23-year-old at the state-of-the-art Hook’s Gym, home to London Shootfighters, which has recently undergone an Everlast brand facelift. After being taken through the guillotine and kimura chokeholds (yeah mess with us now!) Sport.co.uk plucked up enough courage to step into an imitation, but no less intimidating, cage with Hathaway, quizzing the Hitman about his love for rugby, dissing opponents, groin striking and challenging him to a spot of rock paper scissors...
So John, how’s training going?
Training’s going really well. We’re coming to near the end of the camp now and so far everything has gone to plan.
After your impressive victory over Diego Sanchez you must be champing at the bit to get out in the O2.
I can’t wait. It’s going to be fun to compete at the O2. It’s my first time in that arena, second time in the UK for the UFC [Hathaway beat Paul Taylor at UFC 105 by unanimous decision last November in Manchester]. I was fighting another Brit on that night and it was a bit of a tear up between two English guys but now I get a chance to fight an American in the UK.
You’re coming up against American Mike Pyle. Where are his weaknesses?
Weaknesses aren’t always the best to go for. You normally go for their strengths and obviously his strength is his experience, he has been fighting for 12/13 years now, as well as his Jiu Jitsu game. He is an incredible grappler and you look at his strengths and how to nullify them or try to stay away from those areas. It is about putting my game together, keeping disciplined and getting the victory.
Without giving too much away, what is Pyle going to be having to look out for?
Again I’ll try to come at him with a good pace. I will try to put a lot of punches, kicks and knees on him and probably take him down and beat him up there.
Fighting in front of a British audience, do you expect there to be an ‘us versus them’ mentality when you face the 35-year-old American?
I think almost the whole card is an ‘us versus them’. It’s actually one of the first UFCs where we’re actually stacked from top to bottom with all UK or European fighters so it really is an ‘us versus them’ event.
And after the Ryder Cup the British boys may just have a bit of momentum.
Yeah we’ve been doing better than them in the Ryder Cup so yeah, we definitely have the momentum.
How about the hotly anticipated middleweight bout on the same night between Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping and Yoshihiro ‘Sexyama’ Akiyama?
I think it’s a great fight for Michael. If he wins in good fashion he’s probably only one or two fights away from hopefully jumping up to being the top contender and getting a title shot which I think will be great for UK MMA.
How far do you think you are away from that level?
For me, about a year and a half, two years. I feel I have a lot to learn in this sport, I’m quite new to it and I’m trying to learn as much as I can as quickly as I can and I’m very dedicated to it so time wise that would be perfect and I think I should be ready by then.
You have fought in Las Vegas at the famous MGM Grand. How did the US crowd respond to you?
It was a dream for me to fight over there with Vegas being the combat capital of the world. The reception was pretty good at the end and obviously Diego got a great reception as well. I didn’t get booed or any bad reception and it was a great fight and a great show. After knocking him down in the first round I don’t think I will be classed as much of an underdog after that.
UFC’s first event was back in 1993 when you were six. Did you grow up dreaming of stepping into that cage?
To be honest I was more focused on rugby, school and growing up really. I didn’t fight in the ring until I was 16 so the first time I ended up watching it on Sky Sports I became captivated from that age. I did a lot of research into it on the internet and tried to get as much information as I could on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, wrestling and striking and I was hooked straight away.
The rules have become stricter now – no more groin strikes or fish-hooking – would you have liked to fight in that era?
I much prefer it as a sport now with dedicated, professional athletes putting in the time. There are some fighters now who love the no-holds barred craziness and the bare-knuckle side of it but for me it is definitely a sport and I take it very seriously and train to my fullest to compete to my fullest.
There are inevitably comparisons with boxing. Do you get involved with the pre-match fighting talk or leave it all to the ring?
I like to leave all the talking for the ring. With boxing and MMA I think there are a lot of people crossing over now and getting into both. Everlast are now sponsoring me and my gym and they are also sponsoring a lot of American fighters like Randy Couture so we are definitely trying to follow in the footsteps of people like Muhammad Ali who was sponsored by Everlast. It is definitely coming up through the mixed martial arts scene and shows both can be done.
Ever taken to tweet-slanging between you and your other social networking fighters?
I try to stay away from any verbal confrontation over Twitter or Facebook or in person. I try to stay mellowed out and just perform on the night, do all my talking then.
Ever made up t-shirts of you ripping off your opponent’s head like David Haye did with the Klitscho brothers?
No not for me. I appreciate those sorts of things and find them funny a lot of the time. Dan Hardy is another UK MMA fighter who is quite funny with his verbal bantering but it’s not for me though it is fun for it to happen in sports and can build the anticipation. [Dan ‘the Outlaw’ Hardy is known for antagonising his opponents before a big UFC event including encouraging fans to post doctored images of his adversary in 1999 on underground MMA websites to supposedly throw them off their game.]
Could you outline your training regime? Is it all weights and cardio or do you sometimes cut loose in a cold storage room a la Stallone in Rocky?
About 2/3 times a week I probably do a conditioning session which could involve a cardio or muscular-endurance circuit or explosive circuit. We drill a hell of a lot on technique, on pad work and a lot of wrestling and Jiu Jitsu. I try to drill everything until it’s all covered base wise so I’m never going to get unstuck in the ring or in the cage. Normally I’ll train for two hours, have the afternoon off and then come back in the evening and train again for two hours. There is a lot of time I put into training and obviously you have to rest in between each session, get good nourishment and come back stronger the next time.
And your diet? Do you read off the same menu as your namesake Ricky ‘the Hitman’ Hatton and indulge in beers and Big Macs, ballooning up between fights?
I’ve got a great nutritionist, his name is Darren DD Deane and he’s from my local area. He runs Physiques Training and has helped a lot of body builders. He’s finally got into combat sports and between him and Reflex Nutrition (a nutrition company that sponsors me) I always control my weight and come to fights in great shape. Between fights I put on a bit of weight but I don’t get fat or overblown.
How important is that undefeated tag to you? Does it make you feel like a marked man?
To a certain extent, but before a fight I never really think of my record or my opponent’s record too much. I take each fight as they are and just try to do the business and get a victory. Although I do feel I deserve that 14 and 0. I compete really hard every single time so it makes me happy, I’m glad I’ve got it still and I’m going to keep trying to fight really hard to keep it.
Is it similar to rock, paper, scissors? Will a Karate expert always beat a boxer, and Jiu Jitsu champion overcome a Muay Thai kick boxer?
Nowadays it is a lot more down to the athlete, who they are training with how they’ve prepared and not the style that they come from. Gone are those days of the rock, paper, scissors matches. Now it is a lot more professional and depends on the competing individual.
Who do you look up to in the sport? Fancy taking on your hero in the Octagon?
BJ Penn was one of the first fighters I started watching and I have followed him a lot but there wouldn’t really be the chance of a match up. I’ve just got to focus on Mike Pyle and move on from there. At the moment I’m looking forward to seeing James [‘Lightning’] Wilks. His trash talk is entertaining, he’s got a good fighting style and he will be competing at the weekend so I hope he’s going to win. Georges St. Pierre is a great role model, Jon Fitch is a good fighter and there are a lot of talented people out there [currently listed as numbers one and two respectively on Sherdog’s official MMA welterweight ranking]. You have to give respect to all of them and give props to all of them.
I heard you used to play open-side flanker for Hove RFC. What made you switch to MMA?
It was great for me but I loved trying out different martial arts. I miss rugby sometimes and I still have friends and brothers that play. I go to watch them when I can and think it would be fun to play but I’m definitely much happier with where I am and to do this as a living is great. It is very rare you get to do something which you love as a job.
Rugby is pretty brutal these days. You must know all about the physical side of sport. So, let’s be honest, does it hurt like hell in there?
To be honest it’s a lot like rugby in the sense that you get a lot of bumps and bruises. I wouldn’t say any sport’s worse. I think sometimes you get hit harder in rugby because you don’t always see it coming. In here it is just you versus one person so you always keep your eye on them and don’t get hit when you’re blindsided or tackled hard when you can’t see it coming.
Finally, when you’re in that cage at the beginning of a fight, sizing up your opponent about to tear him apart, what motivates you? What is going through your head, fear, anger, simply tactics?
Basically for me I just run through all the last techniques that I feel I will need to use like certain escapes if he’s going to catch me in a clinch or combinations I’m going to use. Other than that you just end up going out and putting the training from the weeks before into practice. No fear, no anger, just a will to get it done and do your job.
UFC Fighter John Hathaway trains using Everlast apparel & equipment. Everlast are proud sponsors of Hooks Gym & London Shootfighters. For more information: www.everlast.com and www.hooksgym.com