Ryan Lockyer prepares to face Venet Banushi at Golden Ticket Fight Promotions 19 this Saturday in Wolverhampton.
Lockyer is confident he has the power to gain a stoppage victory on the feet to throw himself back in the win column.
We had the pleasure of speaking with Ryan Lockyer ahead of fight night. Read the full interview below.
Interview With Ryan Lockyer
Saturday night you meet Venet Banushi at GTFP 19. What were your initial thoughts when offered the bout against the undefeated Banushi?
My original opponent pulled out so I was just glad I had someone to fight, didn’t give it much thought other than that really.
You’re currently undergoing a tough run of results. Assuming you’ve analysed those fights back. What do you feel has been going wrong from your standpoint?
Hard to say really, my recent losses have all been close fights against solid opponents. I’ve been working on all the technical mistakes I’ve made in those fights. Other than that I think I just need to show a bit more patience and fight a bit smarter.
Back in the Win Column
What measures do you need to ensure you take to leave GTFP 19 back in the win column?
I trained hard for this fight and I know if I fight at the level I’m capable of I’m getting my hand raised.
You’ve fought under the GTFP banner once before, what are your thoughts on the show, and is it somewhere you like competing? If so, why?
Actually, this will be my third fight on GTFP and yeah I really enjoy competing there, it’s a very professional run show and I think it’s becoming one of the best regional shows. I think it helps as well when you’re dealing with a promoter like Dan Cassell who is a pro-MMA fighter himself and knows exactly what you’re going through.
Ryan Lockyer Talks Ammy Career
You’re doing your amateur career the way I wish many did before rushing to the pro circuit. You’re constantly putting yourself in uncomfortable positions gaining as much experience as possible regardless of results. Is that the mindset you find yourself in?
Yeah pretty much, when you look at boxers they’ll have sometimes hundreds of amateur fights before going pro. No one’s gonna care about your amateur career when your pro, it’s there to prepare you for the pro scene so I think it’s important to get plenty of experience and tough fights before making that next step.
I like to ask those I haven’t spoken with before about how they got into mixed martial arts and their earliest memory of the sport. Do you have any cool stories in that aspect?
Growing up I didn’t really know about MMA, the only combat sport I knew about was boxing. When I was a teen one of my friends got in a fight in school and he decided to start training boxing, so l followed him into a boxing gym and trained there for a while then I followed another friend into Japanese jujitsu, which was my first introduction to grappling and from there I learned about BJJ and MMA. So I tried a class at my local MMA gym the MAT academy and become obsessed with it after that.
I think my earliest memory of the sport is the first MMA fight I saw which was Lew Long vs Steve Dinsdale, which if you haven’t seen I’d highly recommend. One of my friends showed it to me because Lew was from the same town as us and it’s funny really as now he’s my coach and in my corner for my own fights.
Opposition Expectations
What type of fight are you expecting from Venet Banushi on Saturday night? How does one shut down his style?
From what I’ve seen he’s gonna want a kickboxing fight with me, which I’m not opposed to at all, but then again I’ve had fights in the past where I’ve thought the same and they came out and shot for a takedown straight away so you never know but I’m confident wherever it goes.
Where would you rank Venet to the opponents you have faced in the past? Is he up there?
I guess it’s too early to tell until I’ve been in there with him but certainly, on paper, I’ve had tougher opponents.
Watching tape on his two amateur fights. Everyone off-course has flaws, but where do you feel his strengths lie?
He’s got a decent jab and nice kicks but nothing I haven’t seen before.
Lastly, can we get an official fight prediction? How do you see yourself getting it done?
I feel I’ve got the power to hurt him on the feet and I think someone with his body type, I can see myself catching his neck in a scramble, so I don’t see it going the distance.
We thank Ryan for his time. How do you see the fight going down on Saturday?
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Featured image credits to @ryanlockyer97 on Instagram
