Robert ‘The Hammer’ Whiteford spoke to us ahead of his featherweight bout with Frenchman Nicolas Joannes at On Top 4 on February 25^th.

This is 6-1 Whiteford’s return to On Top after brutally knocking David Galbraith out at On Top 1 close to a year ago.

Your MMA: How much do you know about Nicolas? Have you seen much tape?

“Well I know he's either French or Swedish, but it doesn't really matter to be honest, it's not as if he's going to have my babies. We are just crossing each others path on the 25th February to punch each other in the face, so for that we don’t need to know much.

“I saw him fight Marcos Nardini at SFC, and to be honest that fight doesn't do justice to what he's capable of. He played Marcos at his own game and lost, which a lot of people would do as Marcos is a fucking handful for anyone in that area.

“So that led me to watch some footage when asked if I would take this fight. In my head I had already agreed to it, but I thought fuck it, I’ll have a look. Every fight this guy has been in has been a tear up.

“To say the guy can fight is an understatement, so I gladly accepted the fight, which I’m sure a lot of featherweights would turn down as they are dreaming about padding their records for a UFC contract.”

Your MMA: Are you looking to exploit his weaknesses, or impose your own game?

“From what I’ve seen there’s not much to exploit, so I’ll be looking to put ‘The Hammer’ down pretty early. If I’m right in thinking, this guy will fire straight back.

“In my head, this will be the best fight on the card and I’ll be pushing the pace from the start. I’m sure my teammates will give me some competition for Fight of the Night though!”

Your MMA: Your last fight ended really swiftly, and your fight before that was in England. Very few people in Scotland have seen you fight much since On Top 1, how much have you improved since then?

“Fuck, do you need to remind me of that fight with Liam James? It was a close majority decision win over Liam and a quick win over Jonny Goodall, I couldn’t get two opposite fight outcomes if I tried!

“I’m improving every day I go to the Griphouse, there’s not a day goes by in there that I don’t learn something new. It’s impossible not to pick up stuff with the high level coaching and teammates.”

Your MMA: You fought on On Top's first show. How much have the promotion improved since then? Are you glad to be back on this one?

“On Top Promotions have gone from strength to strength since the first show. Although, it would be cool if they put on smaller but more exclusive shows like the one at Celtic Park, that’s the coolest show I’ve fought on.

“It was more expensive for tickets and stuff, but the feedback I got was that it was very good value for money.”

“I’m glad to be back. I’d be pretty upset if I never got asked back, going on my first performance on the show, and I’ll be looking to have the same impact this time. Bosh.”

Your MMA: 2011 was a great year for you, can we expect more of the same this year? What are your aims/ambitions for the year?

“I can’t complain about 2011 much, apart from struggling to get fairly matched towards the end of the year. That Liam James fight really fucked me for getting a fight. My ambition is to get as many fights as possible and to get in the UK rankings that some guys hide themselves within.”

Your MMA: You can't be far away from the top 20 in the UK. Is there anyone there you'd like to fight?

“I would love to fight any of the top 20, given it’s fairly matched on the right show at the right time (except teammates). Obviously I need to start chipping away at the lower end of the rankings rather than going in ‘baw deep’ at the top ten.”

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Tickets for On Top 4 on February 25 at the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow, Scotland are available via http://www.ontoppromotions.co.uk

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