Scotland’s Kieran Halliday is “buzzing” to kickstart his amateur mixed martial arts career with a victory this Saturday at UNITY Fighting Championship.
The FuDog MMA representative isn’t putting too much pressure on himself and is eager to build up cage time and experience while inside the octagon. Halliday will be one of seven Scots competing on the card this weekend
UNITY FC is set to go down this Saturday at the Dolphin Centre in Darlington. Currently, those attending can look forward to fourteen bouts throughout the evening.
Ahead of a special moment in his MMA journey, we had the pleasure of speaking with Kieran Halliday to get his thoughts. Read the full exclusive below.
Interview With Kieran Halliday
A couple of days out until you make the walk to the cage for the very first time. What are the emotions and general nerves like as we close in on fight day? You’ve got to have those butterflies soon, right?
Nah, to be honest, I’m not nervous yet, just really focused and, of course, buzzing to get in there.
Your MMA debut is a memorable moment to look back on in years to come. How did you and your team know the time was right to take that leap into competition?
I don’t know if there’s ever a right time to take that leap, but seeing other boys go out and do it makes you want to get involved in it. Some of the boys had asked about me competing as well, so I guess the asking shows you’re doing something right in the gym.
Some debutants I have spoken with in the past half mixed feelings in regard to making their debuts. Some keep an open mind and just want to get the first one out of the way to gain that valuable experience, while others expect so much for themselves, even when they’ve not had any cage time. Which side of the fence do you sit on with that? What are you realistically excepting from yourself come Saturday night?
I’m not looking to get too wrapped up in it being my debut. It’ll just be another day in the gym once we’re locked in there together, and I’ll be picking up experience and cage time as I go through it. My opponent has cage time and experience on his side, so I can’t let it be a factor in my game, knowing I’ve not been in there before.
Kieran Halliday Talks FuDog MMA
Fu Dog is starting to build a real team of guys who are travelling to compete, and it’s great to see. Who are some of the guys that have helped you the most in preparation for Unity FC in Darlington?
Gregor Fell is someone who’s helped me a lot through this with a lot of drilling certain specifics. Will Pringle has been great. I’ve asked him a fair amount of questions about little details. But there are so many boys I can pick because all the boys are equally as prepared to chip in at any time and help you with anything you want to pick up. And a special mention to Diarmid, who’s done a lot to help me when he’s travelled home and even had me up in Elgin for a couple of days training with him.
Your opponent on the night, Joe Prior, was set to face your teammate Will Pringle at some stage. Given his limited tape and experience, have you ever looked into him to try and identify some flaws in his game, or is it just a case of focusing on your own game and don’t over complicate it for your first MMA bout?
There is not much tape, you’re right, but there’s enough to look through and get a rough idea of who I’ll be facing, Gregor fell has watched the fights more than me, and he’s been giving me little details to work on and things to do on Saturday. There’s also the element of fighting my fight, and I think I’ll be focused on my own game as well, of course.
What’s it going to take for you to wake up Sunday morning and feel satisfied with your performance and the account you’ve given of yourself?
As long as I can wake up knowing my hand was raised on Saturday because I gave it my all, then I’ll be more than satisfied with my performance. However long the match goes on is just more chance to show people what I’m capable of.
Halliday on 2023 Schedule
All goes well on Saturday night. You leave Darlington with the win and come away uninjured. What does the remainder of the year look like for you?
Hopefully, I will get back out as soon as possible. I’m hopefully looking to fight 3/4 times this year and get as much experience and cage time as possible and show them that FuDogs are on the come-up.
Finally, tell the readers why they should tune in on Saturday night to witness Kieran Halliday make his mixed martial arts debut.
People like violence, and I’m there to give those people what they’re looking for, I’m fighting cause I enjoy it, and I know I’ll put on performances people want to see time and time again. They’ll also be mullets, moustaches and camo shorts that cannot be missed.
Featured image credits to Kieran Halliday
