Ahead of his welterweight title fight at Cage Warriors 80, Karl Amoussou warns Matt Inman to expect a ‘brutal knockout or a submission’ in London.
Amoussou (23-7) and Inman (19-8) will headline CW 80, from the indigo at The O2 on February 18.
Amoussou is confident in his prediction
The MMA Factory fighter is on a six-fight win streak, which includes victories in Abu Dhabi, Italy and Finland. In the past, he has fought for promotions such as M-1 and Bellator, and now walks straight into a title shot against SBG Manchester’s Inman.
Having competed all over the world, Amoussou admitted that his main goal now is to make it to the UFC, something which he believes he can accomplish through Cage Warriors.
“I think it’s a good opportunity which is why I took it as well,” began Amoussou, who returns to Cage Warriors for the first time in almost a decade. “I’ve been fighting for approximately eleven years now, I’ve fought almost everywhere in the world for all the biggest promotions, apart from UFC.
“I definitely think I deserve to be in UFC I probably should be there already. After I get the title I am going to make my way there and I am going to continue my destiny in UFC but I’m going to win with either a brutal knockout or a submission and I am going to impress everybody and make my way to UFC that’s what’s going to happen.
“I think he’s a very good fighter, he’s good everywhere basically but I’m better everywhere and yeah indeed I make predictions, I don’t make any predictions to be cocky but I’m just being true and I’m just saying how I feel about it.”
Switching nationality over French MMA ban
Despite the sport of MMA being banned in France; mainly due to an uneducated and easily manipulated government, 31-year-old Amoussou has still managed to flourish as one of the country’s top stars.
Even his gym, MMA Factory has continued to produce top-level athletes, including “Psycho’s” training partner, highly touted heavyweight Francis Ngannou.
Protesting the government’s hardline stance on MMA, Amoussou switched his nationality to German, in spite of the affection he has for his home country.
“So that’s my way of protesting. I’m not delighted to do it. I obviously have both nationalities but I feel more French. I’ve lived my whole life in France. And why did I do it, it was to show France they don’t deserve us fighters to fight for them. If they don’t want me, I’m leaving and that’s it and I’m going to proudly represent another country. They don’t help us and I think it was a very good choice to make.
“I don’t exactly know what’s going to happen. I guess nobody knows. We have been fighting for years for MMA to be legal in France. We held our first MMA event in September 2016. It was organised once more by my coach [Fernand Lopez]. They managed to do it because MMA was not banned, it was not legal, but it was not illegal so they just did it. They had the guts to do it and it was amazing everything went perfectly and it should have been allowed after this because if you hold an event like this and nothing bad happens, well then it’s allowed. But it didn’t happen.”
Earning his way to the UFC
Amoussou spent a nine-fight stint in Bellator MMA; the longest tenure of his career, but was released from the promotion after going 1-3 between 2013 and 2014. Since then, the German has gone unbeaten, finishing all six of his opponents, with five in the first round.
Regardless of the difficult end to his Bellator run, Amoussou affirmed he is a greatly improved fighter and his experiences will not only help him win the Cage Warriors title on February 18, but will also earn him passage to the UFC.
“What’s going to be different? I’m a better fighter. I fought very tough competition in Bellator, I was very good in every single fight I think, I am more experienced now. What’s going to be different in UFC is that I’m not the same fighter anymore, my wrestling has improved crazily, same with my boxing and my grappling, so I’m not the same fighter anymore and I am way more skilled, I have many weapons that I haven even shown yet, so yeah it’s going to be completely different, it will be a completely different run, even the losses I have, they were all like super narrow losses. I [have] never been finished big time, submitted or knocked out, that’s never happened.
“It’s like my Olympic Games. It’s what I’ve been aiming to from the very beginning of my career. I know it’s not original but it’s my dream. That’s what I’ve been fighting for eleven years and now is the right time, it’s more than the right time to get there. It’s just where I belong, where I have to be, that’s it.”
