The domestic MMA scene may still be reluctantly getting back into the habit of waking up at a reasonable hour and not punctuating every meal with Quality Streets but, in February, there already seems to be no shortage of phenomenal cards.

Cage Rage UK begin the assault of 2012 where they left off in December with a barn storming encounter packed with amazing action from top to bottom.

Many great domestic prospects have cut their teeth under the Cage Rage banner and, on February 4th, a couple of highly touted young middleweights will go head to head in what promises to be an electric encounter.

Tsunami Gym’s Luke “Bigslow” Barnatt matches up with knockout artist Ben “The Situation” Callum in an intriguing encounter which is liable to be fast paced from bell to bell.

The giant middleweight took the time to speak to us ahead of this fight, thanks to Fortuna PR, as his preparations intensify for a the toughest test of his career to date.

YourMMA.tv: Luke, thanks for the time. How are preparations going for your upcoming fight against Ben Callum?

Luke Barnatt: No problems. Things have been great this time around; shame I had to train over Christmas this year, but that’s how it goes. After getting injured last year when I was first scheduled to fight Ben, It feels like I’ve been preparing to take this guy on forever.

Preparation is the same as always. I’ve been training hard with the Tsunami boys. We are all hitting 2012 hard so there has been great buzz around the gym. There’s five guys fighting in February so everyone’s training hard, but I get the honour of starting Tsunami’s 2012 off with a win.

YourMMA.tv: Ben's a ferocious knockout striker who came through the semi-pro ranks, not unlike yourself. Where do you see yourself having an advantage?

LB: I’m not sure of Ben’s semi-pro record, but I was 6-1 at Semi Pro, and my only loss came in my second fight to Andrew Tate; a world class kickboxer who had a lot more fighting experience than me.

I took him to a decision, and out of all of my fights that has been my most important and biggest lesson. That was back in 2009 so I’m on a 6 fight win streak right now.

Ben’s got a lot of hype behind him but I don’t believe the hype, just because he’s caught a few people and got the KO means nothing.

He’s got a lot of holes in his game and I plan on exposing him and taking his hype from hi. The pressure is on him -- everyone expects to see him get the KO but it’s a lot harder to knock someone out when you’re taking shots and laying on your back.

Heavy hands aren’t uncommon at middleweight but the guy is going to need a lot more than that to stop me. I know my grappling is a much higher level than his, my training partners are formidable MMA grapplers and all of them are UK champions in one way or another. I train constantly with the likes of Jack Mason, Tommy and John Maguire and of course Robbie ’The Flame’ Olivier, who still in my eyes is the Cage Rage featherweight champ.

It would be nice to see someone grow a pair and give him the chance to get that belt back, with Cory Tait dropping to bantamweight. I think that was a decision made after the thought of facing ‘The Flame’ came into his head.

These have been my training partners from day one and helped me develop in all areas of my game. Although grappling is Tsunami’s base, I’ve always prided myself on my crisp technical striking that I spent 7 months in Thailand last year moulding, so I am not your typical Tsunami product. I want to show all my skills on February 4th.

YourMMA.tv: What areas of your game do you think are unique for any middleweight to deal with?

LB: [Laughs] It’s gotta be my dimensions. I’m a 6 foot 6 middleweight which is rare. It makes my stand up awkward, but I think it’s my grappling that benefits the most from it as I can get my legs to places others can’t and I’m really difficult to train for. Just ask all of my previous opponents.

YourMMA.tv: Do you plan to stand and trade with Ben as many are expecting a more grappling-centric gameplan from you?

LB: I don’t understand why people think I’m going to grapple, if you look at all my previous fights I look to stand up and pick my opponent apart with crisp hands and vicious knees and kicks but who knows? I’ve been training a lot with Joachim ‘Hellboy’ Hansen recently and he’s encouraging me to follow in his footsteps and just kick him in the balls.

We will have to wait and see how I feel on the day. I don’t really believe in a gameplan, not at this level. I can fight Ben in every area, but of course the smart option would be to just take him down and watch him hold on for dear life. A fight is a fight; I never know what I’m going to do until that cage door closes.

YourMMA.tv: Describe an average week in training as you prepare for a fight?

LB: I’m living at the Pro-Am Fight Centre right now from Monday-Friday and then I head down to Essex at the weekends to train down at BKK Fighters (run by Jack Mason). I hit up some Gypsy Jiu Jitsu a few times a week with the Maguires, some devastating Thai boxing with my coach Colm Gillane at Tsunami and some hard, fast and powerful catch wrestling down at BKK with ‘The Stone’ Mason. I also mix technical sparring and cage craft with Pierre Guillet and Robbie.

My training has been fantastic last few months and had the odd visit from world class athletes, like Joachim Hansen and Mohsen Bahari, and I’m topping it off with a weeklong visit to Sweden to train under August Wallen for a bit! I’m loving it because you know it’s going well when you are training like a beast, but enjoying it and looking forward to each session!

YourMMA.tv: How much has the atmosphere in your camp changed since John Maguire was victorious in the UFC? Has this given a positive energy to training?

LB: John was the longest reignning Cage Rage welterweight champion ever and fought and beat some top level dudes at middleweight and welterweight. He beat Jake Bostwick, the current middleweight champ, twice, and of course him winning in the UFC has been a fantastic accomplishment for John and Tsunami as a gym. We are all very close so it felt like we all won that day.

There was a fair few tears flying around the place afterwards but John will be the first to tell you, he is not a shining star at Tsunami. We all train hard and we all have our good and bad days, so the atmosphere hasn’t really changed much. John’s been pretty humble, and every time he gets a big head it gets deflated quickly. Usually by his brother Tommy giving him stick!

I think it’s just made us all realise that the UFC is a reality and can actually happen if you put the hours in and we will see a lot more Tsunami guys getting there in the near future. We want to establish Tsunami as a world class gym that has grown its talent from the ground up.

YourMMA.tv: How do you see this one finishing?

LB: There’s no way this will be a decision, I don’t think Ben has the gas to keep up with me for fifteen minutes. I see this finishing in the first round by me mauling him from the initial bell. If I get a limb, I’ll take it home with me but I’d like to take this one by KO.

However it happens, I will establish myself as a force in the UK middleweight division, and one of my personal goals in life is to take the Cage Rage middleweight title.

I’ve been watching the show forever, and I know I have a long way to go till I’m a title contender. I’m not fooling myself there is work to be done, but I’m willing to put in the work and everyone needs to watch this space, because the ‘Bigslow’ is coming.

YourMMA.tv: The best of luck in February Luke. Thanks again for the time and is there anyone you'd like to thank?

LB: I’ve got a few people to thank as always! I’d like to thank my team mates, and everyone who’s helped me prepare for Ben, you guys all know who you are! Thanks to QNT Nutrition (@QNTUK) for all the support and providing me with all the supplements and advice I could wish for! Thanks to British Fighter (@BRITISHF1GHTER) for keeping me looking stylish at training and in the Cage.

A special thanks to Steve, Tim, and everyone at BKK Fighters In Colchester, for letting me come down and use their awesome facility over Christmas to keep me thin!

Thank you to everyone who supports me and is coming down on the 4th of Feb to see me pick up my first win of 2012, and of course many thanks to Dave O’Donnell and everyone at Cage Rage for putting me on the show.

Cage Rage UK 26 – The Real Deal Fight Card

Cage Rage UK 26 is sponsored by Bad Breed, Officialwatches.co.uk and GBR Nutrition
 

Subscribe