This weekend, Bellator 210 heads to Oklahoma, USA and sees returning Irish featherweight Brian Moore (11-6) clash with Noad Lahat (12-4). This time around, Brian has fully invested in his new-found ability of full-time training and has been making the most of it.
“Training’s been going great,” Moore told Graeme on the Severe MMA Podcast Premium. “I’m delighted with the progress so far. This is my second time doing a full-time camp. My first one was for my last fight in April and I’ve been training consistently since. This is the most calculated camp I’ve ever been involved in, so I’m feeling ready to go right about now.”
“Before this, even when I fought AJ McKee and all my Bellator fights bar my last fight, I had to put so many hours into the gym that I own. Now I’m able to delegate hours and get far more training in. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still putting a good few hours in the gym whilst building my house, but I’m able to get practice in a lot more regularly. It was never for a lack of effort or love of training, it was just prioritising and having a business to run.
“This is the second full-time camp I’ve done, so I’m looking forward to showing what I’ve been improving on since last April.”
One of Brian’s best, most recent performances against the outspoken AJ McKee. A fight in which both men still discuss today. Despite coming up short versus the American while arguably two rounds up, the ‘Pikey’ feels that, under much better circumstances than what were served upon him, should the two meet again, the former would certainly pick up the win.
“I never wanted to bring it up, but AJ keeps mentioning it,” Brian opined. “In one interview he said he had three weeks to train for it and the next interview he had four weeks. For that fight, my wife was extremely sick, so my training was all over the place. I had a very poor camp and felt half broken being in there.
“The last thing I wanted to do, even with my wife’s sickness, was pull out of the fight. It means a lot whenever you get the opportunity to fight. I went in, done what I could and should’ve got the win. I won the first two rounds and he won the last up until he finished me. It was a tough one to take, but we encourage the positives and address the negatives and move on from there. I think we’ll meet again, though.”
While Moore may be a veteran of the Irish MMA scene, his activity level was non-existent during a pivotal time; the ‘Irish Invasion’ in which saw an influx of Irish fighters soar in popular and the sport reach a whole new level in Ireland. It’s a period of time in which Brian wishes he could’ve been involved in, but having seen the benefits rise from the invasion, he’s very happy to be involved in the aftermath.
“The team we have now is amazing,” the 145-pounder beamed. “I mean, I wasn’t there from day one, but I was there pretty early in the days and when I took two years out, that’s when the whole explosion happened. I regret missing that stage as it was a great time to be in the sport.
“Since then we’ve invited a big crop of young talent to the gym like Lee Hammond, James Gallagher and Cian Cowley and seen them take over. I mean, you look at James Gallagher with the weight he has on his shoulders and how well he handles it, he looks fantastic doing it.
“Lee Hammond, everyone knows how fantastic his Jiu Jitsu is, but now he has super striking too. His flashy Jiu Jitsu is amazing to watch and his striking is becoming just as good as his grappling abilities.
“Cian has come along brilliantly, too. You see how he’s taken Lee’s advice in the grappling facets and is putting it together well. We’ve welcomed in the younger generation with open arms and it’s fantastic to have all the different mixtures there that make our team so good right now.”
This weekend, Brian will look to make it 2 wins in a row versus the Israeli Lahat. A bout that he’s dying to make the most of. With his aforementioned training regime now being that of a full-time competitor, Moore’s confidence and skillset, he believes, has reached a whole new level.
“I’m so ready for this weekend,” Brian exclaimed. “As I said, with the young bunch of guys we have right now, it’s amazing how quickly everybody is getting better. From novices to amateurs to professionals, we’re all developing leaps and bounds faster than we could’ve imagined.
“It’s a lot of sacrifice and hard work, but I’m happy with where I am right now in my career. My gym, my coach, even my wife. It’s taken a lot to get to where we are right now. You say about confidence, I don’t need a sports psychologist blowing smoke up my arse. It’s not for me. I get my confidence from my preparation. I’ve never been in a camp as good and as strong as we’ve had this time and that’s why I’m oozing of confidence going into this one.
“Noad can bring whatever he wants, but if I submit him he won’t be the first black belt I’ve tapped out. If I knock him out, it won’t be the first man I’ve finished either. I’m ready for all parts of combat and I’m ready for Saturday.”
You can listen to the full interview below:
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