Hot Prospect
Despite only entering the professional ranks in July of 2023, Cage Warriors bantamweight Jimmy Quinn has carved out a reputation as one of the most exciting young fighters to emerge from the UK in recent years.
The 25-year-old Londoner has delivered a series of scintillating finishes in the cage all while continuing to develop his skillset as part of an interesting reality TV-based project in California.
“The MMA Fight Academy is essentially a team” Quinn explained, “a super team that’s being built to basically take over the game really, it’s the best prospects in Europe and we’re all at early stages in our career. I was lucky enough to be chosen at the trials which they held two years ago. So I’ve been with them for two years now and I’ve never looked back since”.
Known primarily for his exciting striking, Quinn insists the work he’s doing behind closed doors has been rounding out his game quickly and he’s excited to show the fruits of his labor.
“Being out here, my wrestling and my jiu jitsu with (MMA Fight Academy coaches) Jake Buracker and Marc Fiore over the last two years has improved massively. I think it’ll be a shock to people because a lot of guys on the scene think I’m just a striker and maybe downplayed my grappling but that all plays in my favour because I’m training with the best.
“I’ve got D1 wrestlers here, I’ve got high level jiu jitsu coaches and I’m learning every single day so I’m getting solid rounds in and I know what I’m capable of on the ground. It’s gonna be a shock to a lot of people”.
Return To Action
Quinn (3-1) has fought his entire professional career in the yellow gloves of Cage Warriors to date, and will be back in action on November 15th when he takes on Giovanni Fernandez (2-2) at Cage Warriors 180 in his hometown of London.
“I’m super excited” said Quinn. “(It’s) gonna be a fiery start, we’re both quick starters and it’s definitely going to be a banger and I’m excited to display my skillset that I’ve learned over the year because I haven’t showed enough of it yet.
“I’ve haven’t seen too much of him” Quinn said of his opponent Fernandez. “He comes out, he’s fiery, he’s got two first round finishes but he’s got two losses. It’s mix-and-match, 50-50, I don’t know what to really expect of him but I’m very confident in my skillset and I’m gonna adapt in there. I’m not gonna rush, I’m gonna keep it simple and he’s gonna find out very early on that he’s with the wrong guy in the cage”.
Entertaining Fighting Style
Outside of the solitary defeat on his record, Quinn has finished every other opponent Cage Warriors have placed in front of him, and has done it in spectacular fashion. After ending his amateur career by pulling off a wheel kick KO which made him a viral sensation, the Dagenham native has continued to wow fans with his dynamic performances in the professional game.
A flying knee finish after just one minute in his last appearance against Imad Bouamri at Cage Warriors 174 in July again saw him making waves on social media, and prior to pulling off that spectacular act KO he unsuccessfully attempted the ‘suplex armbar’ combination that Demetrious Johnson made famous in his win over Ray Borg at UFC 216.
“Yeah I tried that” he laughed. “I’ve got it a few times in training before back home and I thought, ‘you know what, now’s the perfect opportunity to try it, he probably won’t expect it because not many people go for things like that’, and it’s a bit risky but you’ve got to take risks in this game and put on a good performance. I like to do the entertaining things and pull off the ‘odd’ s**t”.
Prior to his attempt at mimicking “Mighty Mouse”, Quinn had come close to catching his opponent with a flying knee early on in the fight. Although he narrowly missed first time around, the second attempt certainly found it’s target and he attributes this to the countless hours of work he has put in honing his skillset behind the scenes.
I spoke to Jimmy Quinn, one of the most exciting prospects in the world of MMA about his upcoming fight at @CageWarriors 180 in London next week.
💻 @MMASucka pic.twitter.com/t0RR9e1oqh
— Paul Browne (@BJJ_Browner) November 8, 2024
“I’ve practiced it a lot of times” he insisted, “so I know I can pull it off. It’s just (finding) the right moment and the perfect timing to be honest and that moment was perfect to go for it. Setting it up and getting the experience (executing it) in real cage time. But yeah, I’m very familiar with these sort of moves”.
Jimmy Quinn will be in action at Cage Warriors 180 on November 15th, live on UFC Fight Pass.
