17-year-old Ioan Thomas has already gained quite the impression within Welsh MMA. Despite his extremely young age, the undefeated prospect has already shown that he’s destined for greatness. After a few months out of the cage, he’s now ready to make his return a big one. Thomas will feature at Cage Warriors Academy Wales’ ninth instalment, ready to pick up exactly where he left off.
Return to Fighting
Ioan “The Future” Thomas made his MMA debut back in October 2021 when he was just 15-years-old. Fast forward to today, he now holds an undefeated 5-0 record and doesn’t appear to be slowing down. After securing his fifth win last October, he’s now set to return to the cage in Ebbw Vale once again.
Speaking on his return, Thomas stated: “I’m extremely excited to get the chance to step back in there and put on a show. I enjoyed my time out of camp. It allowed me to improve in all the different areas of my game and become a better and more improved fighter”.
The youngster is set to face Scottish welterweight, James Pattie, an experienced amateur who is by no means an easy task. “I am well aware of my opponent, but I haven’t thought much about what he is going to bring, as I feel I only need to concentrate on myself and what I’m doing”, claimed Thomas.
Pattie was defeated in his last trip to South Wales but poses a real KO threat and isn’t afraid to engage one bit.
Reflecting on a Huge 2022
2022 was a big year for “The Future” as he bagged himself three big wins and continued his rise up the rankings. Despite this, the Welshman was less than impressed with his last performance against Zana Kalary in October.
“In one way, my last performance was my worst. Due to a few things going wrong and some bad luck. However, in another way, I’m happy I had a fight like that, as I just proved that when I’m not firing on all cylinders, I’m still able to dig deep and find a way to win.”
Continuing the build and add to his momentum is the number one mission this year. With that in mind, Ioan also touched upon the personal situation currently surrounding his head coach.
After Jack Shore submitted Makwan Amirkhani in his featherweight debut at UFC 286, he revealed that his father and head coach of Shore MMA, Richard Shore, was battling cancer. The news came as a shock to all those who were not already aware and Ioan has stated that it’s only motivated he and his teammates more.
“I think that it has made the gym a lot closer and stronger. It’s definitely added fuel to the fire as Shaky (Richard), is leading from the front with his own fight.”
What Does 2023 Hold?
Within the CWAW fold, we have seen several fighters compete for titles within the last year and a half. And although it’s something he does hope to achieve, Thomas is in no rush to stake his claim.
“I’m not bothered about the title just yet. I’m happy taking each fight as it comes. Concentrating on winning and improving each time and see where we are in the future. Also, having a lot of older teammates in the same division, I’d like to see them take the belt.”
There are a lot of ways 2023 could go, but Ioan knows what it is that he wants. “I see myself finishing the year with another three big wins. Remain undefeated and become 8-0 before my 18th birthday”.
Ioan Thomas returns to action at Cage Warriors Academy Wales 9 this Saturday in Ebbw Vale. We will be covering the whole event right here. Stay tuned.
Featured image credits to Cage Warriors Academy Wales
