BCMMA have fast become one of the most promising domestic promotions in the ever expanding market of Mixed Martial Arts in the UK, so much so that they now have the star power to put together a female driven main card for BCMMA 16 on July. 23 We spoke to BKK Fighters prospect, Kerry Hughes ahead of her spot atop this landmark card and she revealed to us her views on the changing face of women’s MMA, as well as her own goals and aspirations as a fighter.
You’re headlining BCMMA this weekend. This is definitely a bar raiser for other UKMMA promotions. It’s the first time the main card features prominent female fighters. What do you think this says about UKMMA at present and also other promotions within the country concerning female MMA?
Well, I think it’s great that promotions such as BCMMA, which even a year ago was a relatively small regional show, are able to sell out increasingly large venues and that there is the demand for them to be streamed live online. One of the things I love about UKMMA is that whenever I go to a show there aren’t just a bunch of other fighters there, there’s families and members of the community who are unconnected to any fighter, the sport is growing and being enjoyed by large volumes of people spread across multiple demographics. It’s so nice to see the sport being recognised in the more mainstream media on a regular basis too… We have moved away from the tabloid headlines screaming about ‘Human Cockfighting’ and similar.
In terms of female MMA, this is a huge progression, and it’s great to see such a well-regarded promotion being the ones to pioneer this. The growth of MMA has been exponential and the growth of women’s MMA has, if anything, been even more accelerated in recent years. Even a year ago there would have been a real struggle to find enough high standard, UK based, female fighters to put on a credible and high standard pro card and I’m delighted that this opportunity has arisen. I think the ladies have finally shown both the UK and the rest of the world that we rarely put on a boring fight and the skill levels in WMMA are rising to the point where the fights are genuinely entertaining and skilful and have a valid place on main cards at all levels.
You previously were slated to fight Joleen Ross at EIKO MMA, but that feel through, what happened?
I don’t really know to be honest, my coach was contacted by the promoter and informed that there had been some issues with the venue and that, unfortunately, the event was going to be cancelled. These things happen from time to time and the promoter gave us as much notice as he could so I’m not unduly concerned by it.
Even though BCMMA have a prominent female line up on July 23, there are still limited opportunities available to female fighters, do you think many of you have to take fights above or below your natural weights just to be able to get in the cage?
I think a lot of fighters do that, yes, the reason for the limited opportunities are the comparatively small amount of females participating in the sport and the even smaller amount of them who are wanting to compete, this is something that is improving rapidly, even in the four years that I have been involved in MMA and I believe it will continue to improve as the sport grows. It isn’t all that long ago that male MMA fighters were having the exact same problems. I don’t see that taking a fight at an agreed catchweight is necessarily a problem if both fighters agree to it. One of the key issues I have with fighters accepting fights below their weight class is the number of them who take the fight and subsequently show up significantly over the agreed weight, knowing full well that they were never going to make the weight they agreed.
You took a stance with this when Sinead Kavanagh wanted to change the weight classification in your cancelled BAMMA bout – what made you take this stand?
A couple of things really, firstly I am a 135lb fighter, fighting at 145lb I wouldn’t be at my optimum and would be carrying excess and unnecessary body fat. I’ve fought at that weight previously and find that I’m not as mobile as I would like to be or as fit.
My second reason was that it was an unreasonable request, we had signed contracts some 6 weeks previously for a bout at 135lb – it was about 6 weeks before the event that the weight change was requested, she’d had ample time to manage her diet and training to allow her to meet the required weight and there was no reason given beyond that she ‘didn’t want to’. At that point I was walking around at about 145lb and giving away that amount of weight advantage to somebody who habitually misses weight in any case just seemed silly. To my mind her behaviour was unprofessional and I wasn’t prepared to engage with it.
There may be some people out there that haven’t seen you fight before, what can fans expect when Kerry Hughes steps into the ring?
Ha ha, the unexpected I guess! I don’t think I’ve ever been in a boring fight and the crowd will be guaranteed an entertaining night.
You were signed to Cage Warriors before they went on hiatus, is this deal still in place? Now that they’re back, are we likely to be seeing you on a CWFC show any time soon?
I don’t really know what the current situation is, I presume that the collapse of MirDar and the length of time since I last competed would render my original contract null and void. That said, I’ve not really looked into it in any detail. I was offered a match up on Cage Warriors already this year but commitments in my day job prevented me accepting it. Hopefully there will be more opportunities, I have always enjoyed working with Cage Warriors and they put on some truly spectacular events that it’s a pleasure to be a part of.
Have you watched the latest TUF featuring Kate Jackson, Helen Harper and Lanchana Green? Is that something you would consider doing?
I have indeed – I actually travelled over to Vegas with Kate for the tryouts and we roomed together, it was great fun! We met Lanch at the trials and got along brilliantly with her too, they are both awesome girls, super talented and I’m so glad to see them doing so well. I flew out for the qualification fights and shouted myself hoarse too. It’s incredible to see three English girls on one series and some brilliant talent on display – makes me feel very proud!
I actually did tryout for the current series as they auditioned bantamweights too, but they scrapped that weight class and it wasn’t to be – in retrospect I’m actually really glad about that, I hadn’t realised the level of time commitment required and I don’t think it would have been commensurate with my day job, I would have had to walk away from the opportunity if it was there and I’m glad the decision was made for me. Plus, if I’m honest, I’m not a very sociable or personable individual and I think being locked in a house in that close proximity to that amount of people would possibly have a detrimental effect on my sanity.
Laura Howarth finally made her long awaited debut with Invicta FC in May, earning a hard fought split decision victory, does seeing UK based fighters like Howarth succeeding abroad inspire you at all? Is this a career path that you might consider for yourself, with Invicta being the (widely considered) home of women’s MMA?
Seeing a promotion like Invicta bringing up such an awesome array of talent through the ranks is certainly inspirational. Pretty much every time I watch one of their events there is a fight that I then want to see over and over again. I think seeing talented fighters develop and perform certainly inspires me, if I was looking for a UK based fighter that I genuinely aspire to follow in the footsteps of then it would be Joanne Calderwood, she’s an exceptionally talented fighter who goes out and performs, conducts herself professionally and never steps away from a challenging fight. I would definitely consider Invicta, it would be really nice to have an English fighter going over there and making an impact on that promotion and from my perspective it would be a really exciting opportunity to go and test my skills against a new pool of talent – there really aren’t that many bantamweights active in the UK, or even Europe.
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Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with me, it’s always interesting sharing views with media outlets and it genuinely makes me think about things that I have never even considered before at times!
As ever there’s a long list of people that I would like to thank – My amazing coaches Stephen Byerley, Jez Lord and all the guys at BKK. Jack Mason and all at BCMMA for the great opportunity and all of my amazing friends and family who have bought tickets and arranged to travel.
Thank you to my amazing sponsors who look after me so well:
@SimplyPT360 – Stephen Byerley Personal Training, absolutely the best strength and conditioning in Colchester.
@LockdownFW – providing me with some of the most hard wearing but gorgeous training kit and equipment.
www.pascha.de – Brilliant entertainment venues if you’re ever over in Germany – make sure you look them up.
Kerry Hughes will face Clemence Schrieber for the BCMMA bantamweight title on June 23 at the Charter Hall in Colchester, Essex. A win for Kerry would be a step in the right direction for women’s mixed martial arts in the UK, and would also be yet another shining achievement for the notoriously successful team at BKK Fighters.
Questions supplied by Mark Wincott, introduction and footer by Luke Henaghan.
