Kevin Brown is excited about the experience of making his first walk to the cage at Goliath Fight Series 3 against Houdifa Shadad.
Goliath Fight Series 3 is set to go down this Saturday, April 29th, at the Lochgelly Centre , Lochgelly. Promoters Steven Harris and UFC lightweight Chris Duncan have put together a fun-filled card for the sold-out crowd expected to make it a noisy night.
Ahead of fight night, we caught up to see where he heads at prior to his MMA debut. Hear what he had to say below.
Interview With Kevin Brown
It’s fight week, Kevin, and you are set to make that walk for the first time in your amateur career. Talk us through the process from when you first began to now step into a fight for the first time.
I always enjoyed watching UFC over the years and would watch most of the events. After COVID, I saw Goliath on social media a couple of times. I saw a post about a beginner program, and I thought I’d give the 6-week program a try. After my first session, I was hooked. One of the best things I ever done was starting the beginner program. I loved the training. Now here we are today.
Making your debut can be a daunting task, and during fight week, you can go through a mixture of emotions and different visualizations. How are you coping with the stress of the fight constantly being on your mind, or are you the opposite?
I like the fight being on my mind a lot gives me that extra motivation. I’m not feeling stressed because I know I’ve put the training in and done everything I can to be ready for Saturday. I’m excited about the experience of my first walk to the cage.
Kevin Brown on Journey into MMA
Tell the viewers a bit about your journey into MMA, how long you’ve been training and ultimately, the decision that made you want to compete.
I’ve trained for roughly about a year and four months. But would say the first four months were just casual, but trained a lot more over the last year. Even before I started doing any training, it was always on my mind that I would always love to make the walk. Once I started sparring and getting rounds in, I definitely knew I would compete in the future.
As an amateur, how does the conversation unfold between coach and fighter if the fighter is ready to make their debut? How did you and Harris know the time was right for Goliath’s upcoming show?
I think if you are showing up improving, doing well in sparring/live rounds. We had spoken about it before quite a while back, but I still had quite a lot of weight to shed. Once this fight was offered, I didn’t have to cut much weight. It was a home show felt like I could not miss this opportunity. It just felt like the right time.
Goliath is a gym that’s been put on the radar for the last several years, and boys continue to go from strength to strength. Just explain the positivity in the gym when you train alongside your teammates competing on the same card as you.
The boys at the gym are great, it’s always said, but it’s true it feels like a family here at Goliath. One of the most daunting things for me was coming into a combat gym myself with no experience. It can be a scary thing, but everyone was so helpful from the start.
Expectations
Saturday night’s fight against Houdifa Shadad will be your first walk to the cage, so obviously, you can’t be hard on yourself. With that in mind, what expectations have you set for yourself?
My expectation for Saturday is to just fight my fight, not let the occasion get the better of me. He’s going to be a tough opponent, but I’m more than ready, and I’ll be looking for the finish.
Also, all goes well on Saturday night, and you win on your debut. What does the rest of the year look like for you? Have you allowed yourself to think that far ahead?
Genuinely hasn’t even crossed my mind. I’m just fully focused on Saturday. We’ll see what happens.
Finally, I’ll leave you with the last word, is there anyone you’d like to thank ahead of your debut and any final words for your opponent?
Would like to thank my head coach Harris. Coaches Scott, Chris and Ben, I’ve learned so much from all of them. My parents are always there if I need any help with anything.
Featured image credits to Kevin Brown
