Professional MMA fighter Dylan McGee was victorious on his professional mixed martial arts debut at Almighty Fighting Championship 32.
McGee entered the fight riding high on momentum after closing out his amateur career with four straight wins and claiming the AFC amateur championship. Meanwhile, his opponent, Ayoub Tounsi, came into the fight boasting a (5-4) amateur record.
With both men looking to kickstart their professional debuts with a bang, the fans were treated to a frantic start to the fight. After being dropped and coming through some early adversity, McGee had the fight in his world and latched onto a triangle choke, submitting Tounsi in the first.
We had the chance to catch up with Dylan McGee following his successful debut. Hear what he had to say below.
Post Fight Interview With Dylan McGee
Dylan, you are a few days removed from kickstarting your professional debut in a big way against a tough opponent. How satisfied are you with your performance, and has the high worn off yet?
The high is still there from the fight, and life is good right now. I have mixed feelings about my performance. I am happy I got the first-round finish like I wanted, but it wasn’t how I thought I was going to. I have learnt so much from this fight, even though it only lasted a couple of minutes and walked away with the win, so I am still on Cloud 9 at how good it went.
You took your opponent out relatively quickly but did have to dig a little bit deeper than you’d have been licked after being dropped. Tell me, how hurt actually were you, as the IQ to transition to the submission seems as if you were still all there?
Yeah, he got me with a good shot. He covered up, countered and landed. I just remember being on my a**e and him coming down on top of me. Not a problem for me because now we are in my world, and my jui-jitsu just kicked in straight away, and I’m attacking an arm and then transitioning to the triangle.
McGee Talks AFC 32
In terms of expectations for yourself before going in there. Did you meet all of them, and did the fight plan out entirely how you envisioned?
For some reason, I had some over-optimistic feeling I was going to knock him out. I just thought, now it’s pro, I will just go in there and run through him, but that didn’t go to plan and backfired, really. I also didn’t expect him to say something to me during the fight since he was so nice at the weigh-ins. It threw me off. He said something like, ‘Is that all you got?’ and I said, “I’ve just started,’ but it made me lose my head a bit and rush in, which he would have wanted because I was picking him off before that point. That’s when he caught me because my defence went out the window, but it is a massive lesson for me to always stay composed.
Despite facing some adversity, debuts don’t come better than that. A first-round finish to kickstart your professional journey. What did it mean on Saturday night to have all your friends and family in attendance supporting you as you embark on your dream?
It was one of if not the best nights of my life. Winning the fight and going to see everyone who came and hugging everyone is just like nothing else. Fighting is a crazy roller coaster I love, and seeing everyone after just puts the cherry on top.
Finally, that’s the first one in the book. What’s next? What’s your ideal 2024 looking like?
Hopefully, I will get three fights in next year starting around March. I’m in no rush; I’m just gonna continually work my way up and enjoy the journey!
