Bangers & Mash!! UK Heavyweight @StuartAustinMMAthrowing
them bombs!!He takes on Satoshi Ishii in the main event of
#EMC5 on Saturday!! pic.twitter.com/ZdzIctT7Y1— EMC MMA(@EMC_Promotion)
September 3, 2020
Former BAMMA
champion and Bellator
MMA veteran Stuart
Austin has bad intentions for his opponent at
EMC 5. On Saturday night, Austin (14-6) will lock horns with Olympic gold
medalist Satoshi
Ishii (23-11-1) for the inaugural EMC heavyweight title atop
EMC 5. Even though he was preparing for a different opponent,
Austin didn’t refuse the offer to face Ishii. He and his upcoming
foe share some common ground. Not only they started their martial
career with judo, but they also took part in some of the same
tournaments when they were younger.
“I competed in judo tournaments until I was 19,” Austin told
Sherdog.com. “I took part in some of the same ones like him, but we
never got to compete against each other before he went on to become
an Olympic champion. It’s a really, really fun fight for me. A lot
of my old judo friends are also excited because they know who he is
and are going to watch the fight. It was also an opportunity for me
to get in touch with some people with whom I lost contact.” In his
latest appearance, “He-Man” smashed Yuri Andrei
in the third round of their Contenders Norwich 28 encounter. The
Brit plans to put on a repeat performance against the
well-experienced Ishii.
“I think it’s going be a finish,” he predicted. “Both of us like to
finish their opponent, so I don’t see it going for five rounds. I
tried to visualize a lot of different ways to finish him. I think
my judo background is good enough to negate his judo. He’s been
beaten on the field before. I believe I’m going to knock him out,
to be honest.”
The Team Titan representative had to make some adjustments in his
training due to the ongoing COVID-19 emergency, but he managed to
prepare as well as possible for the upcoming fight.
“The COVID-19 forced me to learn a lot about myself. I had to think
more about what’s important in my training,” Austin explained. “I
used to do lots and lots of things because I’ve always done them.
Due to the COVID-19, I’ve taken things out of my training schedule,
things that weren’t beneficial. As you mature as an athlete, you
don’t always have to do everything. Sometimes you have to change. I
was doing a lot of training before. For this fight, I did a little
bit less. I’m not 22 anymore. I can’t recover as well as I did in
the past.”
The English fighter also seems to have found his ideal weight
class. His venture to the 205-pound division ended with one victory
over Nills van
Noord against with two TKO defeats at the hands and knees of
Ultimate Fighting Championship vet Dalcha
Lungiambula and current UFC contender Johnny
Walker.
“I will never fight in light heavyweight again because losing
weight to get to 205 pounds is just horrible for me,” he stated. “I
was sick all the time, I would get ill, and I had a lot of staph
infections. For some people cutting weight is a good option. Some
people need to be the bigger guy. For me, being the faster guy is
better. If someone offers some serious cash, I might consider
losing weight again. But heavyweight is where I want to be right
now.”
After four minor events,
Elite MMA Championship is planning to go big. The upcoming card
features several UFC,
KSW,
Professional Fighters League, Bellator and M-1 Global
competitors, along with a former BAMMA champion and an Olympic gold
medalist.
“EMC offered me a three-fight deal, and I signed a contract with
them,” Austin revealed. “But they are very reasonable and gave me
options. I can still fight anywhere else. EMC is definitely above a
lot of European shows in terms of how I’m being paid. I think this
is a great place right now. They are investing big time in the show
and the fighters.”
Austin won his first title after crushing Thomas
Denham in their battle at BAMMA 23 back in November 2015.
Should he prevail on Saturday, he plans to defend the EMC belt
while also building his career up to the top.
“I want to defend the title, of course,” he added. “It’s nice to
hold a belt and be the defending champion. EMC might be the right
place for me now, where I can build myself for the future while
wearing their belt. But MMA nowadays, you never know what’s going
to happen or what opportunities are going to come up.”
EMC 5 will go down in Dusseldorf, Germany, on Sept. 5. The same
card will also feature the first round of the EMC welterweight
grand prix featuring Ismail
Naurdiev, Amiran
Gogoladze, Pavel Kusch
and Tymoteusz
Lopaczyk.