MMA or Mixed Martial Arts, is a competitive sport that has gone from infancy to worldwide acclaim in a matter of years. An art that is diverse as it is popular, MMA attracts a wide range of athletes, each with their own approach and style. Axiom sat down with a budding British fighter, Lee “Ninja” Wieczorek, to find out more about what it means to be an MMA fighter.
For those of our readers that may not know about MMA, what is it and what makes it different from other professional fighting styles?
MMA is a combination of multiple contact sports such as boxing, mauy thai, kick boxing, wrestling, judo, jiu jitsu, Tae Kwondo etc. But with MMA you can’t just be a guy who is a capable fighting on your feet, you need to be able to fight on the ground as well. This also applies to the clinch work, which is the more wrestling based side of the sport. Basically you have to be able to fight on your feet or on the ground. Most sports are 1 dimensional and MMA certainly isn’t.
As it is called Mixed Martial Arts, you must face a variety of fighters; what style do you prefer to use?
I train mainly BJJ, Wrestling and Thai Boxing, with aspects of judo as well. Along with this, I also do strength and conditioning to help with my endurance, speed and power.
Off the back of that, what style is generally most difficult for you to fight against?
I don’t mind fighting any style in particular, all I will do is adapt my game plan so in the fight I can keep it to where I will have the best advantage of winning. So if I am fighting a guy whose style is more stand up, striking based, I will look to take him down and either ground and pound them or submit them.
Were you always interested in becoming a fighter? What sparked your interest in the first place?
To be honest I never wanted to be a fighter, its just something that I have fallen into. I used to lift weights but had no idea how to defend myself, so decided to go to a local gym, which I saw advertised in a newspaper and the rest is history. What first sparked my interest was that I saw a UFC fight between Sean Sherk and Matt Hughes; both are solid, well built guys, but when you watched them fight, you could see they were skillful and had great cardio.
How did you make the leap from fighting as a hobby to becoming a professional?
The club I train at, TSGMMA(link), is run by Dan Burzotta. Him and his brother decided to start their own MMA promotion, UWC, and basically they asked me if I would like to fight, I said yes and its carried on from there.
The dedication to your trade is truly amazing; take us through an average day in the life of Lee “Ninja” Wieczorek.
There isn’t really an average day for me, as I also work, and as my job revolves around shift work, my schedule changes. So I could be working early shifts one week which means being up at 5am to get a run in before starting work at 7am. Then I would finish work, try to get a power nap in and then go training that night which will involve either BJJ, Wrestling and sparring or a strength and conditioning session. When I am working nights I get up around midday and go for my 1st session, either cardio or strength and conditioning, and then I will go for my 2nd session and then straight to work.
How did you get the nickname “Ninja”?
It was mainly my manager and trainer kept calling me the ginger ninja. So I kind of ran with it and took the ginger part off.
Are there any Japanese fighters who you would like to compete against?
I’d love to fight any of the Japanese fighters, they are all very skillful and have big hearts and do not like to give up. So I wouldn’t want to name anyone in particular, as I would be happy to fight any of them.
Do you have any long-term plans to fight in Japan?
Unfortunately I don’t really get to choose where I fight, I only go where I am offered fights. But one of my ambitions is to fight in front of a Japanese crowd, they are an extremely respectful and knowledgeable crowd to fight in front of. I always noticed that when I watch Japanese fights, from Pride FC and Dream shows in the past.
To date, what has been your biggest challenge and/or achievement?
I’d say my biggest challenge has been to drop to lightweight in the past. You have to dedicate yourself 100% and there are no excuses for not making weight.
My biggest achievements? I have 2 I think. The 1st was winning the UWC Lightweight Title in a rematch against a guy I’d lost to in the past. The 2nd was fighting for ADFC in Abu Dhabi, as that was a great experience.
To find out more about Lee and his upcoming matches, be sure to check out his Facebook page (link).