Lewis Mackenzie returns to the cage at Almighty Fighting Championship 28 on the 26th of November.
Mackenzie underwent a period of inactivity from MMA competition after focussing on improving his all-around skillset as a martial artist. Now feeling the times right, the Englishman is ecstatic to display his improvements inside the cage.
We spent some time with Lewis Mackenzie to discuss his feelings ahead of his fight. Read the full interview below.
Interview With Lewis Mackenzie
Almighty FC 28 is on the horizon. Tell me how you’re feeling about your return to MMA competition.
Honestly, I can’t wait. It’s been hard for me to take time off wasn’t an easy decision, but it has been well worth it, and now I’m eager to get back in there and show off what I’ve been working on this past year.
You’ve been throwing yourself into MMA fights, kickboxing, and grappling matches. How vital do you think that experience is to you
competing in single disciplines, whether it be BJJ or kickboxing, when not fighting MMA? Have you felt the benefit already?
Any competition is always exciting for me as there really is no other feeling like it. I’ve stayed active this year, competing in grappling as regularly as possible and picking up a load of medals. All this experience adds up and helps you stay composed under pressure.
Your most recent MMA outing ended in a draw vs. Mitch Wood. Looking back, how do you reflect on your performance and the result?
What a fight. If you didn’t already know, I took this fight on 4 hours’ notice after eating a MacDonald’s breakfast. By far the toughest journeyman about. I had no corner team, just a friend of a friend at the time Liam Cann (who is now one of my main coaches), no warm-up, and no hand wraps. So considering all of this, I’m very proud of that performance.
Lewis Mackenzie Talks Previous Defeats
What do you feel’s gone wrong as of late to not find yourself in the win column? It’s not as if you’re being stopped, but only losing tight unanimous decisions. What do you and your coaches think?
I’m very glad you’ve asked this question, as this was something I was asking a lot myself. The truth is I started competing before I was ready. I wasn’t a complete fighter, just a grappler that wanted to compete in MMA. I gained a tonne of experience and wouldn’t have it any other way. Five fights never even came close to being hurt or finished just came up short a few times.
When having your kickboxing fight, you stated you were mainly a grappler. Is taking a kickboxing fight a testament to your eagerness to develop and grow as an all-around martial artist and put yourself into an uncomfortable situation?
Absolutely I chucked myself in the deep end with that fight, yet again came out completely uninjured after putting up a good fight and even winning a round. This definitely improved my confidence on the feet, and it’s only gotten better since.
Opponent Change
Jake Carey is the man that stands across the Octagon from you on 26th November. How do you view this matchup looking at his previous contest, and are you looking at this fight as a reasonable opportunity to leave with a victory and to start building some momentum?
Unfortunately, Jake had to pull out, a real shame, as I think this was a great matchup. Both of us were in similar situations, and he was very experienced and game for scrap. The new opponent is Joe Delaney, who is making his debut. Never heard of him or his gym, not the fight I wanted. I would rather have had someone more experienced, but I expect nothing less than another well-prepared game fighter for me to show just how far I’ve come since I started.
Correct me If I’m wrong, but I believe it’s been nearly a year since we’ve saw you in MMA competition after FCC last December. Where can people expect to see the biggest improvements from you? Would you say in the grappling department due to the recent hours on the matt you’ve been putting in.
Yeah, I decided to take some time off and focus on fixing the holes in my game. Obviously, the grappling has improved, this will be my first fight as a blue belt, but the main focus this year has been the kickboxing and just mma specifics. I’ve trained all over the UK, finding the best gyms and coaches to work with and picking up loads of little tricks. For this camp, I’ve been sparring at aspiring mainly as I they have one of the best amateur teams going. The difference between now and the start of the year is unrecognisable.
Final Prediction
Lastly, how does Lewis Mackenzie get his hand raised at Almighty FC 28?
I don’t know anything about my opponent, so it’s hard to say for sure, but I can see I finish coming. I’m fed up with experience and decisions. Now it’s time I got serious about my career and put some wins together. Gonna show everyone just how much I’ve improved and put on a show as usual.
Featured image credits to Laura Jenney
