On December 6 UK featherweight Mike Grundy took on Japanese jiu-jitsu expert Mike Cutting on the undercard of BAMMA 17 at the Victoria Warehouse in Manchester.
Grundy (2-0) extended his impressive start to mixed martial arts following his well documented past as a x2 Commonwealth Games wrestling bronze medalist with over ten British wrestling championships to his name.
It took less than two minutes for Grundy to force Cutting (5-4) to the floor and secure the D’arce choke submission in the opening round. While his MMA career is still young, Grundy is vastly experienced with world class grappling in addition to years of operating as world class athlete. Despite his fearsome transition to MMA, the humble featherweight is taking it one step at a time under the guidance of BAMMA and his coaches, but is there enough evidence to suggest that Grundy is already well ahead of the level he’s currently operating at on the domestic scene, and is he already developed enough to take on some of the more significant BAMMA featherweights?
“I think obviously my wrestling helps,” Grundy explained. “The fact that I’ve done sport at a quite high level from a young age, but you can only fight whoever’s put in front of you. If I’m above them then it is what it is, I just go out there to win.
“Whatever my coach and BAMMA decide, you’ve got to learn your trade fist of course, you’ve got to get a few fights under your belt before you get to the top, but I’m ready for whatever my coach decides.”
Grundy fights out of the renown Team Kaobon in Liverpool alongside a number of Britain’s top fighters including Andy Ogle, Paul Sass and Terry Etim, and the well functioning team has evidently spurred on his development.
“It’s fantastic training at Team Kaobon; it’s like a family. You don’t just come to train and go home, you talk to the lads, they’re your friends as well. I’ve been doing a lot extra in the morning with my coach Colin Heron and that has helped me quite a lot, and that’s where I think I’m progressing; I’m getting a bit more one-to-one coaching, picking out my mistakes and looking at them quite a lot. You get looked after at Team Kaobon in Liverpool.”
