Popular Liverpudlian, Jack McGann is set to go to war in Russia on the September 24, but it’s nothing he hasn’t experienced before. ‘The Pilgrim’ faced Abdulla Dadaev last time out in Russia, and dispatched of the Russian in front of his own. This time, the challenge he faces is 19-1 Murad Machaev.
Speaking to McGann prior to his first fight in Russia, he remained calm, and was there to get the job done. When I asked him about what he thought the atmosphere would be like, he had the same answer again and again: “There may be 50,000 people booing me, but when that cage door locks, its me and him, they don’t come into the equation.”
McGann says he is feeling a lot more comfortable this time around, and understandably so. As the Liverpudlian was telling me about the lead up to his last fight, it seemed like everything that could go wrong, did. Coming in to the fight, there was a lot of pressure on his shoulders.
“I must admit I was a little bit nervous,” McGann said, “Not only had I not fought for seven months, but I was also coming off a loss”.
To make things worse, McGann only had one person accompany him to Russia and was forced to improvise last minute. “I was fighting on a massive show and I only had my coach Aaron Wilkinson with me.
“In the place we were staying, we didn’t have a bath, so I had to cut weight by solely running with a sweat suit on. I’d never done that before, I had to adapt and overcome.”
“Things weren’t even perfect on fight day,” McGann explained. “My legs were heavy. That could be down to the weight cut or the nerves, but it weren’t a nice feeling”.
Throughout the week, and on the day, McGann remained confident, even when the (literal) size of the task ahead dawned upon him.
“I’ve never fought in an arena that size, it was definitely bigger than I thought,” admitted McGann.
After months, weeks, hours, minutes and seconds of anticipation, the time was here. Almost nothing mattered to McGann, nothing but fighting. The massive arena, the fancy walkouts, the atmosphere, none of it. The only thing that does? “…the man standing across the cage.”
The fighters were called to the middle and McGann took the opportunity to size up his opponent, staring into his eyes. They touched gloves, they shook hands, and now it was time to fight. Early in the bout McGann was taken down, but that wasn’t the worst part. In an attempt to burst back to his feet, he was caught in a guillotine. McGann was determined not to tap out like he did to Damien Lapilus at BAMMA 23. “I was caught in a tight choke from an ADCC Champion, but I got out, and that is what matters.”
He worked his way back up to his feet, and silenced Russia. “As soon as I started pushing the head away, I knew I could land a knee. I pushed his head away again, spun out and then landed it.” Dadaev initially crumbled to the floor when McGann’s knee landed, but bounced back up, only to be greeted with punches.
McGann landed three punches and Dadaev fell again. “After he fell for the second time, I stopped, thinking the referee was going to step in.”
It wasn’t to be though, as McGann had to jump on Dadaev and land two more shots before the referee stepped in. A first round stoppage against a Russian in Russia is impressive, and Jack McGann wanted to make sure people knew it wasn’t a fluke. “That’s what I can do, that is what I can do!” McGann said as he pointed to the camera, with his latest victim lying on the floor, questioning where he was.
“I actually didn’t realise the magnitude of it all,” admitted McGann. “I was fighting on the undercard of an event headlined by Fedor Emelianenko. I found out afterwards that the card done millions of views on Russian TV and UFC President Dana White said it got big number on UFC Fight Pass, too. That doesn’t matter now, though, the past it the past, and now I’m concentrating on the next one.
“I learned a lot from the first fight in Russia, but that doesn’t matter anymore.”
‘The Pilgrim’ knows he has a stern test ahead of him and is not taking his opponent lightly, “This time I’m bringing Aaron Wilkinson, Ollie Coyne, and Gaz Crush to help me.”
In MMA, nothing is certain, something McGann seems keenly aware of. “It’s the fight game, shit happens.
“I don’t know what will happen or how it will play out, but what I do know is that I’ll be Russia Ready.”
