Six British hopefuls have been among 24 fighters training in San Diego under a new development and management programme called MMA Fight Academy.
The academy was created to give upcoming fighters a clear pathway to compete for a major MMA promotion. Founded by Indonesian TV broadcaster MOLA, over 680 fighters registered for the academy's global trials in Bali, London and San Diego but just 20 made the cut. Each of the fighters in the academy are now preparing for upcoming fights in the Road to UFC and Cage Warriors.
Marc Fiore, who trained UFC legend Matt Hughes, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Jake Buracker have been coaching the fighters since February. Graham Boylan, President of Cage Warriors, has been watching the fighters develop whilst CEO of MOLA Mirwan Suwarso is the brainchild of the academy.
Talks are already being held for season two of the academy as MOLA's mission is to create a new fight team featuring the best prospects from around the globe. All of the British fighters will be competing on June 2 in San Diego, with many of the upcoming prospects making their professional debuts on the night. So here's all you need to know about the six Brits that could be calling themselves world champions in the near future...
1. Connor Wilson
A decorated martial artist having been introduced to karate as a five-year-old, Wilson has already amassed a professional record of 4-2. The 25-year-old is a childhood friend of fellow Fight Academy student Francis Breen having grown up in Liverpool and trained at Next Generation MMA together, the same gym which shaped UFC stars Paddy Pimblett and Molly McCann.
Wilson will welcome his second child into the world later this year, something that has given him added motivation to make a career out of fighting. “The biggest challenge for me is being away from my girlfriend and son,” he said. “I miss them loads. I’ve got a big contract lined up and all I have to do is win this fight. I don’t care who it is, what I’ve got lined up for my future they are trying to take that away for me.”
The Scouser has boldly claimed that he can showcase things in the cage that even UFC champions can't, with his purple belt status in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and 20 years of karate experience making him an extremely versatile fighter. "I’m capable of doing stuff that UFC champions can’t do. That’s not me being bigheaded and it’s easy to say as I’ve not proven it yet, but it’s something that I’ve proven to myself time and time again," he added.
"I feel like my time is coming, I’ve never had a big push throughout my career but my time is coming. I’m very fast in my feints and movements, I know how to judge distance very well. I know what I’m capable of and others will too soon enough. Tune in to my fight on June 2 and you’ll see something special."
2. Francis Breen
It's not every day you see a 22-year-old leading classes in an MMA gym, but Breen has coaching youngsters for years to help fund his dream of becoming a world-level fighter. Breen started boxing as an eight-year-old at Rotunda ABC in Liverpool, the same gym that is home to past and present world champions such as Natasha Jonas, Liam Smith and Tony Bellew.
Breen admitted he is missing his students back home in Liverpool, stating: "I coach as a way to fight myself, I don't see teaching as a job. I'm getting the pleasure of passing my knowledge onto the kids and seeing them grow gives you a proper warm feeling inside. It also helps me with fight IQ and basics of techniques, because I'm trying to install stuff in them that my coaches installed in me."
After getting bored of boxing in his teenage years, Breen turned to MMA and made his amateur debut at the age of 16. The Scouser, who is the only man to defeat top UK prospect Lewis McGrillen, admitted the academy programme is harder than anything he's faced before but is immensely grateful for the opportunity.
"I can’t be more thankful for the time and effort that has been put in me and I haven’t even fought professionally yet," he said. "We’ve got champions training with us and we are getting to see what it’s like to live like a professional athlete. You can’t get a better experience than this, people train for over 10 years and don’t get to fight in America but I’m doing it in my first pro fight."
3. Marin Vetrila
Boasting over a decade of experience in kickboxing, Vetrila has only been training MMA for 12 months but won his professional debut last September by tapping out his opponent in under two minutes. The 22-year-old, who is of Moldovan descent, won the featherweight grand prix for European kickboxing promotion FEA in 2019 and subsequently moved to Holland to train under the prestigious Holzken team.
Vetrila said of his time in San Diego: “It’s a huge opportunity to be here also after just one year in MMA. This will be a big step for me, I also have huge trust in my coaches and I believe they will take me to the top. "At the moment, my strong point is obviously my kickboxing because I have a lot of experience with this. Since coming to America, I've been doing more training on my ground game because I want to be a universal fighter.
Now training out of BST Academy in Northampton, Vetrila praised his coaches Danny Batten, Raymond Paul and Lee Edwards for moulding him into the fighter he is today. The 'Lion Puncher' had somewhat of an epiphany when he once competed in a kickboxing tournament with two broken hands, but managed to wrap his injuries in casts and fight on to place second.
"I was about 14 years old when I decided that I wanted to be a professional fighter and should not fight on the street, because I can injure someone or myself. For example, I broke my fingers on both hands fighting a lot on the street. One time a guy from my team was supposed to fight but pulled out and my coach asked if I wanted to step-in, but I had two broken hands. I said ‘Why not?’. I won two fights in one day, lost my third fight but got second place," he added.
4. Milad Ahady
Originally from Afghanistan, Ahady moved away from a life riddled with war and poverty to find a new home in South Shields. Ahady couldn't speak any English after immigrating to the UK and was bullied every day at school because of it, but he eventually found MMA and used to spend his lunch time in the library watching any fight he could fight online.
"Life is pretty hard in Afghanistan, there is a lot of poverty and the country has been in war for so long. There is not much opportunity over there, that's what drives people away. I moved to England around the age of 10 and I couldn't speak English, so it was very hard for me. In school I used to get bullied a lot, for the first three years it was happening every day," he said.
'The Baddy' has already put together a respectable professional record of 5-1 after competing for the likes of IMMAF in his amateur days. The 26-year-old, who trains out of SBG South Shields, takes inspiration from the careers of fellow Afghanistani MMA fighters such as Abdul Mohamed and Siyar Bahadurzada.
Ahady hopes that he can call himself a UFC champion one day and inspire those who are in the same position he was in as a youngster. "I want to eventually make it to the UFC and become a world champion. I also want to be a role model for anyone who is going through a similar background as me, hopefully they can take inspiration from my story," he said.
5. Jimmy Quinn
Quinn was inspired to take up MMA thanks to the rise of UFC superstar Conor McGregor. The 23-year-old vividly remembers watching a motivational video of McGregor on Facebook before the Irishman's boxing fight against Floyd Mayweather in 2017. Quinn, who was a dancer for Britain's Got Talent winners Diversity, had a drastic career change as he informed his dance partners that he was partying ways with the group.
"I didn’t turn up for training for six to eight weeks and I told them I wasn’t going to dance anymore because I wanted to start fighting. They were all supportive of it and said they were always here for me, that the door is always open. I got to the top stage of dance in the UK and it was amazing, but something flicked the switch in me after watching that McGregor video.
"I think my time as a dancer helps with fighting in terms of footwork and coordinating movement. I can watch certain movements and be able to copy them, in a way that's similar to choreography. I feel like that's helped me a lot because I can watch something and pick it up very quickly."
Quinn first stepped foot in the cage four years ago and has since put together a respectable amateur record of 5-1. Training out of the MMA Clinic in Romford, Quinn also spent time alongside the likes of PFL champion Brendan Loughnane and ex-UFC title challenger Darren Till in Thailand before flying out to San Diego.
6. Teddy Stringer
One of the most experienced amateur fighters in the UK, Stringer has put together a respectable record of 15-8 by fighting 23 times in just over four years. The 22-year-old turned down a place at university to train MMA full-time, a decision he admitted his loved ones hated to begin with.
Stringer is hoping the Fight Academy programme can fast track him into the UFC, where he plans to eventually capture the world title currently held by Islam Makhachev. "I want to be the UFC lightweight champion. Right now the best in the world in my weight class Islam Makhachev and one day I want someone to say the best in the world is Teddy Stringer," he said.
"That's my goal and I'm going to do everything that I can to achieve that, putting myself in a process like this is the best way to get there. I want to accelerate that process, five or six years time I want to be in the UFC and be knocking on the door for that title shot. If you don't want in that bad in this sport then it doesn't end well for you.
Stringer believes his skillset has drastically improved since touching down in San Diego two months ago and with an opponent now confirmed for his professional debut, he is eager to show off his new skills in the cage. "Training with some of the best people in Europe and Indonesia, getting a real mix of talent has been unbelievable. I’m putting my trust in Graeme, Mark and Jake and I feel like in the past eight weeks my level has gone up and will continue to keep going up," he added.
