With a dominant and convincing victory over top welterweight Peter Queally at BAMMA 26, Joe McColgan would earn plaudits and respect from many that wrote off his chances beforehand. Touted by many as “one to watch”, McColgan is tipped to go all the way to the top and despite having only two professional fights under his belt, may take big steps towards that goal in 2017.
With Cage Warriors 81 taking place at the 3Arena in Dublin this Saturday night, the rising Belfast prospect spoke to MMA Plus ahead of his Cage Warriors debut against dangerous striker Arnold Quero.
When asked about his impressive performance against SBG Ireland’s Queally, McColgan was keen to point out that there was plenty during the fight he felt could have gone better. Always seeking perfection, “The SBG Hunter” quickly turns out to be his own biggest critic.
“People think that was a flawless performance but it was far from a flawless performance,” said the Northern Irishman.
“I’m a perfectionist and you’ve got to be in this game to be successful. You have to critique your best performances and never be happy with any performance so looking back at that tape, I saw loads of errors and I’ve fixed them all.
“Maybe not fixed them all, it’s all a work in progress but right now, I feel like I’m on a different level than I was during the Queally fight.”
Displaying effective counterstriking and tenacious takedown defence in his last performance, McColgan’s aggressive style drew many admirers after his last fight and the good news is that doesn’t seem to be about to change.
“My style is that I’m an aggressive kind of fighter and I’ll just walk my opponent down. I’ll throw feints to get them to throw back and then I’ll counter them and that’s how I fight,” confirmed McColgan emphatically.
“I can fight on the back foot if I need to but I want to walk my opponents down, throw feints, get them to throw back and then I’ll counter their shots.”
McColgan on his struggles finding an opponent since Queally win
Now having moved down to lightweight, McColgan makes his Cage Warriors debut this weekend where he will face Frenchman Quero. This was a fight that McColgan thought may never come as he struggled to find anyone who was willing to fight him after his previous display.
“The position I was in was I’d beat Queally, the man who was signed to the UFC, and I didn’t want to take a step back from that and fight guys at my level record wise who are just starting out like 1-0, 2-0 and 3-0. I wanted to take on the guys who are on the cusp of the UFC like big name fighters and the top twenty in the UK so we asked them all and they all turned it down,” said McColgan.
“I was worried for a period that nobody was going to take this fight.”
McColgan’s struggle only continued after finally finding an opponent but seeing it fall through before the fight could ever materialise. Now though, he will finally get back into the cage with Quero in Dublin.
“I even accepted to fight at Welterweight against a French guy but he signed it and then turned it down. He said he couldn’t get bail for it or something so it’s back to square one again,” explained the Northern Irishman.
“Now Arnold has taken the fight so fair play to him. It’s relieving to have a fight because I thought I might never get a fight for Cage Warriors, might never get a fight for BAMMA. That thought had crossed my mind.”
Although he would have loved to have made it onto last week’s BAMMA 28, Bellator 173 event in his hometown of Belfast, McColgan is happy that Dublin will offer him the same advantages with it being so close to home and also because of the fans he made in his previous outing.
“It’s always good to fight close to home but I think I’ll get a good reception especially after the last performance,” said the enthusiastic lightweight.
“Whenever you are away from home, it’s just different. It’s difficult to fight, it’s difficult to cut weight, it’s difficult to eat out in the evenings with food you’re not used to however I’ll have it all and it’s like fighting on my doorstep so I think that will be a big advantage for me. Arnold on the other hand, he’s coming over here from France. We speak a different language over here. The menus are different, the food is different. He’s going to have to adapt to all of that so I think I will have the home soil advantage here.”
When talking abut the stylistic match-up between himself and “Silverback,” McColgan was quick to point out that not only does he think he’s better in all areas of the game but that he will possess a significant height and reach advantage on the night.
“He’s a striker, I’m a striker but I just don’t think he’s on my level of striking. They say he’s fast but I think when I’m in that cage, I’m going to be faster. I’ll have range so he’s going to have to cover a lot more distance to get to me and he’s five eight and I’m six foot and I am a rangy six-foot,” declared McColgan confidently.
“It’s going to be about speed, timing and accuracy and I think I’ll beat him every time.”
McColgan sets sights on lightweight champion Chris Fishgold and the title
If the Fight Academy Ireland fighter passes this latest test then he could achieve the incredible feat of pushing himself into the lightweight title picture in Cage Warriors only three fights into his professional career.
Although this would be a daunting prospect for most, the Belfast native seems to take it in his stride and when asked about the possibility of a fight with Lightweight champion Chris Fishgold in the future, McColgan see’s it as a certainty.
“Why would I need to fight anyone else? I’ve beat Queally, he was one of the best Welterweights in Europe outside of the UFC. I’ve dropped down to lightweight and although [Quero] more a featherweight, he’s one of the best fighters in the UK.
“If I beat him then why wouldn’t it get me a title shot? Why do I need to build up a record to get the title shot? If I’ve beaten all these top guys then just let me fight for the title.”
It’s hard to argue with McColgan’s logic and his argument can be further pushed with his claims of a division lacking willing contenders and the fact he feels more than ready for the Lightweight title.
“Nobody wants to fight Fishgold, nobody wants to take on this guy. I’m the only one who wants to fight him so let me take him on. I know I can beat him and have the style to beat him. I have the physical attributes to beat him but I don’t want to look past Arnold Quero. The only fight for me after this though is Fishgold.”
‘I would light him up like a Christmas tree’ says McColgan on Dillon Danis
A fight that could tempt the hot prospect away from his focused path to the gold is one with well publicised rival Dillon Danis. The BJJ gold medalist was brought in to help Conor McGregor with his ground game before the second Nate Diaz fight at UFC 202 and has stuck around at SBG Ireland ever since.
I'd KO him with feints.This isn't a pyjama party, this is real combat. The man is scared. I'm going to take this as another scalp #4-0. pic.twitter.com/VBIGtcsTEp
— Joe McColgan MMA (@JoeMcColgan_) October 11, 2016
After putting out the challenge to Danis last year, McColgan is still keen on the idea although is it doesn’t look to be any more likely with Danis still avoiding the move into MMA.
“That would be better than the title fight,” said McColgan. “Think of the exposure I would get and I would be representing the whole MMA community by beating the sh–e out of him.
“He sits and calls out all these MMA fighters saying that he would whip them all yet he won’t take an MMA fight. People have offered to fight him and he won’t take it. I’m actually bored of it already but if he wants to fight, I will be happy to fight him. If Bellator want to put it on, if UFC want to put it on then I would jump at the opportunity and I’m telling you, I would go through him like a hot knife through butter. I would light him up like a Christmas tree”
The ambitious goals for McColgan do not end domestically and he has his sights set firmly on fighting the best in the world in the UFC. Showing awareness of just how much interest there is in this performance, he shows no sign of nerves as he admits just how big a deal this fight could be for his career.
“If I keep going the way I expect to keep going, I’ll be in the UFC before the close of 2017. That’s my goal now and I feel it’s completely achievable if I win a title in Cage Warriors. If I put on a good show then there’s a chance I could get signed to the UFC afterwards with that exposure.
“This is shown on UFC Fight Pass before UFC 209 so if I go out and finish this guy in devastating fashion or convincing fashion, they could sign me on that basis so I wouldn’t be shocked if they did sign me.”
