Interview with LJ Adams

(20.02.12) On Sun 26 Feb 12 at UCMMA Contenders in Oceana, Brighton, LJ Adams who fights out of Olympians MMA, will be making her semi-pro debut in a bantamweight bout against Laura Howarth (1/0/0) who fights out of ZT Fight Skool.

Interview with LJ Adams

How are feeling about your upcoming bout at UCMMA Contenders this weekend?

Very excited! I love competing and have spent a lot of time in the gym developing as an MMA fighter, so now I am getting the chance to put myself to the test.

Has the training for the fight gone well and have there been any issues?

My fight prep has gone very well. My coaches and training partners have been pushing me hard, helping me to develop towards being a well rounded MMA fighter.

What is your training plan for this coming week and how much will ‘rest’ be featured in this?

‘Rest’ will be a very big part of my training plan this week. I will train but all my sessions will be very focused, short, specific and intense. This week is all about tapering and getting my mind and body ready to fight.

Who has been training and coaching you, and who are you taking to your corner with you?

I am very lucky at Olympians MMA, we have a very experienced coaching team. Paul Reed and Wez Murch are my MMA coaches and they have been pulling together all my skills and working on my mentality for the fight. Josh Saidi is my wrestling coach and I get to work with him twice a week, he is a former British Freestyle wrestling champion and has a great understanding of grappling and applies this extremely well to MMA. Finally, I work with Chris ‘Skemer’ Winters, who is our boxing coach who helps me improve my striking. My Strength and Conditioning is programmed for me by Guy Lewis, who has been developing my athletic ability now for the last 2 years, he fights too so he has a very good understand of how to make all my S&C performance relate to MMA.

Paul Reed and Wez Murch will be in my corner for the fight. I feel very confident with these guys in my corner and the team they put in place to develop us at Olympians. They have given me some very good guidance and advice since joining the team and I believe they are taking me into this fight with some very rounded skills.

What are your thoughts about your opponent, Laura Howarth?

I have a lot of respect for Laura, she is a very experienced striker from what I can see and has transferred this well to MMA. She has a good record and experience which means come fight time I will need to be on my game.

She gave an impressive show at UCMMA Contenders in November 2011; have you watched any of the footage and are there any danger areas that you will be looking to neutralise?

Yes, I have seen the fight. It was a great performance by Laura. She used an aggressive style of striking to overwhelm her opponent and claim the victory. I’m expecting her striking to be of a high standard when we meet.

When did you last fight competitively and how did that go?

I last stepped into the cage September 2010, since then I have had my share of injuries, moving to different part of the country and learning more about MMA. I have been actively competing with my grappling and last competed at the No Gi British Open last October. Where I went on to win my division.

You’ve not fought at semi-pro level yet, how are you feeling about this being your first?

Again very excited. I’ve been very lucky to be able to train and compete with some of the best MMA fighters in this country over the last year or so, which makes you have to bring your skills up to their level otherwise you just go home hating life. So I think my training has reflected for a long time the level to which I am about to fight at and you know what they say ‘train harder than you fight’.

What‘walk-out’ track can we expect to hear and why did you choose it?

Um I can’t tell you that just yet, I’ve still not fully decided. I have a few tunes which make me feel good and relaxed.

What else have you got planned for 2012 and can we expect some more fights this year?

My team and I have been looking for more fights this year and we will continue to do so. I am looking to use this year to gain fight experience and test my athletic ability so I can see where the gaps are in my game and then find ways to improve on them!

Paul Reed had this to say about Laura and her coming bout this weekend:

“LJ works very very hard and she’s a great member of the team. She’s very fit, has great technique and will do well next weekend.”