A jubilant Shane Dougherty expressed pleasure towards his unanimous decision victory at Cage Titans 41.
Cage Titans 41 Post-Fight Interview: Shane Dougherty
Fresh off his victory over Sean Murrin on the main card of Cage Titans 41, Dougherty felt content with his dominating performance. The opening round was the closest of the three but it didn’t take too long for the young amateur fighter to adapt to the pacing and range of his opponent.
“More than range, I think it was more the tempo. In the beginning, it was a quick start, things got crazy real fast. Once everything settled down, and we were kind of able to maintain a pace then you can adjust to the [ups and downs]. In the beginning, it was just chaos.”
Potential Title Shot
The matchup between Sean Murrin and Shane Dougherty held significant weight in the minds of fans and promotion officials. Both competitors train out of highly respected gyms, Dougherty – USMMA and Murrin – Peter Welsh’s Gym & Broadway Jiu-Jitsu. Even before the bout took place, it could stand to reason, seeing the winner move on to challenge for the amateur featherweight title. Fans didn’t have to do much thinking for themselves as Dougherty himself called for the title shot.
“I think it would be silly not to give me a title shot. I mean right now, who else is in the (New England amateur featherweight division) that is really making noise. I’m sure there are guys out there, no disrespect to them if anyone is slipping my mind but I know that some people have lost recently. The champion is the Champion so let’s do it.”
High Stakes Matchup
The build-up of the fight seemed not to matter for both fighters. Shane Dougherty believes he thrives in pressure and considering the talk surrounding his main card matchup with Murrin, he proved so.
“Man, I feel so good dude. That was a very intense fight. It was a big build up going into this fight. Even though going into this fight I was only 2-0, there was a lot of hype behind my name. A lot of promotion going into this. Everyone was saying this is going to be ‘Fight of the Night’. So A good amount of pressure but I feel like I thrive off the pressure. We were talking about that at weigh-ins and I think today was the result of that.”
Bright Future
Dougherty and Murrin represent a bright future for New England MMA as the two are extremely talented at such young ages (Dougherty – 20, Murrin – 24). Both men have very high potential. Yet, Dougherty looks like an unstoppable force ready to handle any challenge and come out the other end with an infectious smile.
This fight held an extraordinary amount of emotion for Shane Dougherty. The full-time college student fighter lost his father in the months leading up to Cage Titans 41. Losing his father carried destructive emotions, which he was forced to hold at bay in preparation for the event. Simply having made it to weigh-ins and the event is a feet on its own considering the circumstances. Yet, it proves the mental maturity of Dougherty having fought through the loss of his father and a highly skilled opponent. From everyone here at the MMASucka team, our condolences and prayers go out to the Dougherty family.
