This week, Peter Carroll spoke with former Cage Contender bantamweight champion Damien “The Rage” Rooney ahead of his Cage Warriors debut this Saturday night in Dublin. Looking at life in a new weight division, Rooney explained his reasoning behind moving down, his aspirations for the flyweight title and how he thinks he will get on against Bryan Creighton in their catch weight contest.
Damien “The Rage” Rooney will make his Cage Warriors debut on Saturday night when he faces off against Bryan Creighton in Dublin’s Helix, beginning a new journey with a promotion he believes will take him to the “next level”.
“Signing with Cage Warriors is a sign of me moving forward with my fight career,” said Rooney. “They’re definitely the biggest promotion in Europe and they’re arguably the second biggest promotion in the world, they’re competing with the likes of Bellator and World Series of Fighting now.
“They seem to be growing all the time and fighting for this promotion will bring my game to the next level. When you look at the amount of guys that have gone straight to the UFC after fighting for them you can tell that they’re the real deal.”
A former national bantamweight champion, the Down man insisted that his future fights will be at 125lbs. Rooney also claimed that he has been steadily moving toward the flyweight division as he believes that not only does it suit his body, but the move down should also put him in more advantageous situations.
“I’ve been gradually moving toward flyweight over my last two fights and I think it’s quite a comfortable cut for me. My last fight in particular, I think I weighed in at 133lbs, so I knew it was becoming more and more of a possibility. There seems to be a lot more opportunities for me at 125 too, it was looking like I could’ve fought Jens Pulver when he was linked with Cage Warriors there a while ago, but it fell through in the end.
“I’ll have to wait and see how my body feels down there and obviously how I perform will play a big part in the decision. I’m really confident that it will go well for me though, this is the most comfortable I’ve been with a cut. The fact that this fight will be at a catch weight of 130 is good for me too, but I’ll be looking to fight as a flyweight in the future,” declared the former Cage Contender champion.
A former opponent of Ireland’s latest UFC export, Neil Seery, Rooney revealed that the Dubliner’s vacated title has been firmly set as his goal, and if he is successful on Saturday night he will have no hesitation in requesting a shot at the unoccupied strap.
“Now that Neil Seery has vacated the title, the championship is my goal,” said the Newry based martial artist. “If I win on Saturday I will be asking Ian Dean and Graham Boylan for the shot, and I think I’ve got a good chance of getting it. Bryan Creighton has two wins under his belt for Cage Warriors and had he not had trouble making weight in the past, he’d be right up there.
“The fact that the fight is on the main card shows that the Cage Warriors guys do respect the bout too, but I know there’s some great guys in the division. Paul Marin is a great fighter and Martin McDonough is moving up after he just competed in the four man tournament for the bantamweight title, so he’s another guy that’s definitely going to be in the mix.”
Rooney has never been known to rush into contests due to responsibilities with his personal training centre, RITE Fitness, which is evident considering his last three bouts have been a year apart. Rather than seeing his other vocations as a barrier to his career in combat, the Team Torres stalwart sees his efforts to make time for his training as a testament to his passion for the sport.
“A lot of people fight full time and rely on it for a living and there’s nothing wrong with that, but I run my own personal training centre and I have my own supplement brand,” he said. “Having time the time to prepare to fight can be quite difficult when you’re working 50 hour weeks a lot of the time.
“I think it’s good in a way though, some guys fight because they need to get paid but I fight because I love it. That’s always the way it’s been, the purse has always just been a bonus for me.”
Rooney went on to evaluate Creighton’s skill set as well as outlining where he thinks he the fight will be won.
“Bryan Creighton is a very well rounded fighter. I generally focus on my own game in the lead up to a fight but I am familiar with his style. He’s got a great guillotine and as far as I know, he’s a British Muay Thai champion too. He’s a got a lot of great attributes, but so do I.
“I think he’s going to look to take the fight to the ground, but I really want to stand up and bang with him. I’m confident in my hands and I hope he meets me in the middle of the cage and trades with me.”
One of the bigger Irish draws during his stints with Cage Contender and Ultimate Conflict when the island’s MMA scene was in its developmental stages, no one could blame Rooney for looking to stake his claim for a place on the UFC’s Dublin card. However, the former champion explained why a packed summer schedule may not allow for it.
“I thought that there might have been a chance that I could try and get my name on the UFC’s Dublin card. I was looking for a quick turnaround after this fight and if I could have got back in for another fight by June, I thought I might be in with a chance.
“It looks like things might be a little bit busy for me now, I’m getting married in July and I’ll be having a house built around that time too, so it could be just too much of a stretch for me.”
By Peter Carroll – @PetesyCarroll
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