Kiefer Crosbie is one of those fighters that clearly loves fighting. Unlike some fighters that have other jobs or run businesses on the side, “Big Daddy” Crosbie prefers to remain fully focused on the fight game. That focus has brought him to Bellator 263, where he will face Georgi Karakhanyan in a lightweight bout.
Kiefer Crosbie vs. Georgi Karakhanyan at Bellator 263
After three previous attempts to make his lightweight debut due to last-minute changes, Kiefer Crosbie will finally drop to 155 pounds for Saturday’s contest. He told MMA Sucka that he feels ready to go, calling his debut “a long time coming.”
Although he has a tough out in 43-fight veteran and former WSOF featherweight champion Karakhanyan, the Irishman is brimming with confidence.
“I don’t really look into the opponents too much,” Crosbie said, “Four times the fights means four times the damage, that’s all that means. So if he wants to boost his confidence by saying he has way more experience and that’s going to do him justice in the fight, then fair play to him. That’s a little safety blanket. But in my opinion, I don’t care. Fights aren’t based on that. He’s never faced me before… I’m coming in here to take your f***ing chin off your face, and that’s my mindset going into this.”
There was also no concern that his lightweight cut would drain his energy or harm his power, saying that he had power when he was fighting at heavyweight for boxing.
“I had power back then, but then I figured out nutrition and how to get the weight down safely and how to become a better athlete, and now I’m fighting at lightweight. The power has never left, but I don’t have to hit hard because it’s mainly in the technique. I’ve only had ten professional MMA fights, but I’ve had thousands of spars, hundreds of kickboxing matches, boxing matches, f***ing grappling matches, all of it. Amateur fights, I’ve had so much experience myself that I know how to hit people. The power is just a little bonus.”
Kiefer Crosbie on Training at Glory MMA and Fitness
A dedicated member of the famed SBG Ireland, Kiefer Crosbie has been in America since UFC 264, where he supported teammate, MMA superstar Conor McGregor, for his main event fight. Deciding not to travel back to Ireland before his own fight this Saturday, Crosbie decided to finish his training camp at Glory MMA and Fitness in Lee’s Summit, Missouri in order to keep full focus on the fight.
“I’ve been here two and a half weeks, so it feels long.” Crosbie continued, “I’m missing the family a bit, but I had to come over here and put the blinkers on and focus. It’s into military mode in my mind. I’ve been looking up soldiers and how they go away into war for f***ing months on end, years on end, leaving their families behind. They’re flying across the world to fight wars, and I don’t even understand how that feels.
When I’m over here, I can’t complain. It is difficult and it is tough, but at the same time, there is a job that has to be done. If I have to make big sacrifices like leaving my family at home and focus on my training and my resting and recovering and my sleeping, nothing else matters other than gym and nutrition, gym and nutrition, gym and nutrition, and then get to sleeping at night, and then the fight.
It’s been the first time in a long time that I’ve done that. Ever other fight, I’ve been at home, I’ve had the baby, I’ve had my daughter, being up early, I’m trying to juggle about five or six things at once. It’s nice to be over here and just be selfish for once.”
He chose James Krause and the Glory team specifically after receiving recommendations from SBG teammate and Bellator bantamweight contender James Gallagher.
“Truth be told, James Gallagher came here about a year ago, and has been on to me ever since, saying, ‘Oh, you have to come over. The training is great’…
The gym has been great. James, he’s been asking me for a year to come, but I couldn’t get a visa for about a year, or I would have come earlier. But I went to Conor’s fight, and then I came up here to do the last few weeks of training, and I’m really glad I did, to be honest.”
Kiefer Crosbie also had a lot of praise for Krause himself: “James Krause is a great coach. He’s got great fighters, they’ve been giving me great work every day with a lot of high-level people. I’ve been getting a lot of great training and a lot of great information, and as I said, Krause is a f***ing great coach. He’s been giving me of time, and I feel like I’ve known him my whole life, to be honest. He’s a great man and it’s just a great gym, to be honest.”
With a fresh start in a new division and a change of pace from his normal pre-fight routine, fight fans can expect to see a brand new Kiefer Crosbie on Saturday night, but with the same level of violence and tenacity as always.
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