Matt Inman ahead of FCC 14: Too many fighters “happy to crush cans and pad their record”

Matt Inman (15-7) is the current FCC welterweight champion and on October 17th he’ll try to defend his strap against Dez ‘The Arm Collector’ Parker.

Inman last fought at FCC 13 against Frenchman Vincent Del Guerra in a fight that had a bizarre ending:

“After a back and forth first round, in which I sustained a fairly bad cut from a head butt above my eye, Vincent retired in his corner with a suspected broken hand, although some people have told me since this may not have been the case.

“I felt at this point the flow of the fight was changing in my favour so I was disappointed not to be able to go out for the next round. Ironically it turned out that I had broken my hand in the fight and two weeks later I had to have surgery. The surgery involved wiring and casting and then an extensive rehab programme. In some ways it wasn’t a bad time because the period meant I had to change the way I was training and look at some different areas. I feel like I came away from the injury a better fighter and that’s why I’m able to step back in so quickly.”

His next opponent Dez Parker (6-3) is another former Cage Warriors combatant and is coming in fresh off a first round submission win over Ant Davies less than 3 weeks ago. Parker has taken this fight at fairly short notice a fact that Inman acknowledges:

“I was originally asked to defend my title on the show in September but nobody wanted to challenge for it at that point. We had looked for a few other matches in Europe and the Middle East but with no success. Dez’s original opponent has pulled out so he’s stepped up. Fair play to him he’s seizing an opportunity that many wouldn’t, but I think he’s overmatched in all areas and he’s in for a very hard night.”

After the enforced absence due to the surgery Inman plans to stay extremely active for the remainder of 2015:

“I have a busy few months ahead, on November 28th I fight Tommy Quinn for the Made4TheCage British title, interestingly on the same night Vincent is challenging Colin Fletcher who has moved back up to welterweight, I believe Colin will win this fight comfortably so I think they sets up nicely for a rematch of our fight from 2009.”

Matt also is looking at potential challengers for his FCC title and wants one name in particular:

“Rudeboy (Mario Saeed) has been calling me a pussy from behind his keyboard and I’ve heard he’s looking to match up to welterweight so I’d be happy to give him a shot at the belt, although personally I think he is a fantasist and would be extremely surprised if that fight got made.

“Other than that I’ll take on any challenger, the domestic scene feels really quiet this year with the absence of Cage Warriors and it seems like only a handful of guys in the division are stepping up in 50/50 fights, the rest are happy to crush cans, pad their record and wait for that golden ticket. Personally I’d rather go to every domestic show and take on any challenger.”

Matt Inman defends his FCC welterweight title on October 17th at FCC 14 at the Macron Stadium Bolton.

By @SteveCA_MMA