Brought to you by Gregg Mullen
Next month the Brits will invade America as both Rob ‘C4′ Sinclair and Martin ’50Cal’ Stapleton make their Bellator debuts in the lightweight tournament on September 27th.
I was just about as excited as anyone, when the news broke that BAMMA’s world lightweight champion Rob Sinclair had signed for Bellator MMA. I got a chance to catch up with the former BAMMA champ and speak to him about leaving BAMMA and his belt behind, joining Bellator, taking leave from his job to train, and the possibility of fighting a friend in Stapleton.
Rob (12-2) makes his American debut in Bellator next month in a tournament bout, going up against UFC veteran Rich Clementi (45-22-1). Rob says he believes Clementi is probably the toughest fight in the bracket, but isn’t going over there just to be another name on the card.
“Yeah I’m excited for it. I spoke with Zach Light at Bellator and he was very enthusiastic towards me, I’m over the moon to be with them and I intend on making a statement over there. I’m not in the tournament to make numbers up and I’m not here for Rich Clementi to walk through as cannon fodder. He’s very very good, probably the hardest fight in the tournament in my opinion.”
Clementi has fought all over the world against some of the biggest names out there such as Caol Uno, Gray Maynard, Shinya Aoki, and Melvin Guillard. That sort of experience can be extremely valuable in fights but can also back fire, as it’s easier for your opponent to get a hold of videos of your fights. Rob knows just how important experience can be, but feels that this is his chance to prove everyone who has ever believed in him right.
“You can’t buy experience at this level, he’s been in with the best in the world, he’s beaten the best in the world, so fighting Rich is an honour. If I can get the win, all those people that have had faith in me from the beginning, well I proved to them that I can compete at this level.”
Bellator are the consensus number two promotion in the world right now, and are available to 98.7million homes in America, as well as being on free TV over here in the UK on Viva. Just what does it mean to a working class man from Burnley to be signed to such a huge organisation and have the chance to showcase his skills to such a large audience?
“I’m over the moon. They have been very patient with me, they have the best lightweight in the world in Michael Chandler, and I’m 3-fights away from fighting the best in the world. Look at it this way, fighting for Bellator, within 4 fights I could be in the top 3 in the whole world if I won them all. I’m grateful to Bellator and I’m excited to represent them.”
Bellator made headlines recently by announcing that their first ever PPV will be headlined by two former champions in Tito Ortiz and Rampage Jackson (see here http://mmaplus.co.uk/article.php?aID=340). The move has received a lot of criticism from fans who are annoyed that two ‘has beens’ are getting the headline spot over some of the talent such as Michael Chandler, Pat Curran or Ben Askren. However, Rob sees it another way;
“Listen, people are very hypocritical of the fight, but how can you be? It’s Rampage v Tito, both will fight their hearts out like all the Bellator roster do. Neither will run away, neither will lay n pray. That’s what’s exciting about Bellator and this fight. I hope I get to be on the same card so I can meet these legends of the sport.”
Paul Sass and another good friend of Rob’s in Martin Stapleton have both been signed for Bellator as well, with Stapleton set to make his debut on the same night as Sinclair, and in the same tournament. This is obviously great exposure for British MMA, potentially the start of a British invasion in Bellator despite Paul Daley, Jimmy Wallhead and Ronnie Mann having all been released recently. Rob touches on just how close himself and Stapleton are, and his thoughts on the three who have recently left.
“Martin is a very good friend of mine, we’ve trained together for around 5 years, we’ve cornered each other. He’s part of the original 4 along with Carl Noon and my brother Mick Sinclair. It’s awesome he’s in the same promotion as well as Sass. I think all three of us can do well and represent the UK really well. Ronnie, Paul and Jim are great fighters and it’s a shame Bellator didn’t work out in the long run, but I’m 100% they will go on to win belts in their now chosen promotions.”
Given how close Sinclair and Stapleton are, have they ever spoken about the possibility of fighting each other?
“Yeah, we’ve talked about it. It’s a strange one because on one hand I don’t wanna fight him because he’s my friend, we know each others’ game inside out, but on the hand other I do, because if we do I know we’ve both done amazing in the tournament, if you get me? If I don’t win it myself, I 1000% want him to!”
Sinclair comes in to this fight on the strength of a five fight winning streak, but has given up his BAMMA title in joining this tournament. How hard of a decision was it to leave BAMMA?
“Yeah, it was tough, because they have really looked after me. They’ve given me good fights with a lot of exposure. They will go on to do great things, and have great champions, still number-1 promotion in UK in my opinion.”
The BAMMA gold isn’t the only thing the champ has given up in joining Bellator. He has also taken time off work unpaid to be able to train for the tournament. Considering he has a family and a kid on the way (this month), it must have been a tough choice to make?
“It was a tough choice, one of the hardest I’ve had to make simply because of the reasons you just said, but if I wanna win this thing or at least do well I’ve got to give it my shot and this is the only way to give myself a fair chance of competing.”
Rob’s mum has set up a page for him to try and raise money for training while he’s off work. I wanted to give him this time to tell us a little bit about it and what they he is looking for out of it.
“Well, British Gas gave me time off unpaid. After a lot of stress and uncertainty, they offered to keep my job open until after my first fight, but they took my van off me so I couldn’t get to training. So with no money coming in, girlfriend on maternity and about to give birth, my mother got a little worried about my finances, so she set it up all herself and all my friends and family as well as the good people of Burnley and around have chipped in to help me pay for training and fuel to get to Manchester. Everyone, especially my mother and girlfriend have been amazing. I can’t thank them enough,”
“I wanna shout out to a few people please… Glenn Slater contractors ,www.thebestvandeals.co.uk, Cross Keys pub in Burnley, Beijing restaurant in Burnley, Real Nutrition, Soulmatefood, Smuggling Duds, Funky Gums, my awesome gyms helping me get ready, Predators MMA, Perform Centre Hakuda gym, Wayne Bennett Boxing Club, Sinclair MMA, Fitness Factory, Bad Boy for kitting me out, my management TFL, My family, friends, fans and my home town of Burnley for all the support”
Sinclair vs Clementi will take place at Bellator 101 on September 27th, from the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. It will be live on Spike TV in the States, and will show on Viva over here in the UK.
To support Rob and help him with his training finances go to https://www.justgiving.com/local/project/sendrobtousa and donate whatever you can. Everything you give will help the boy from Burnley in his preparation for the fight of his career.
Photo credit: BAMMA
