“What made you decide to make a transition down to Fightzone London and what made you specifically choose that location as the place to hone your own skills?” – Sean Lafferty
“I trained and competed in the IBJJF Paris Open and I fought a UFC veteran and he destroyed me, probably the first time I got manhandled and he destroyed the other guy. After this it made me realise that if I trained under a higher-level guy than myself, I realised that I could improve, I need to get smashed in training, to improve. I’m good friends with Braulio Estima and I’ve considered training with him but it’s a lot more difficult, so London seemed the best fit for myself. The first time I went there was about a year ago I started training under Marco Canha. I met him through a friend who took me down to do some training now I’m training with them regularly, I believe the talent level is growing in the UK which is exciting, and I want to try and contribute to the development of grappling in the UK. After leaving the United States I was trying to work things out, but there’s a difference between being a good black belt, a good competitor level and a world-class black belt. I needed to train where I could develop my skills as I knew it would be reflective on my own students. Canha he’s an excellent competitor, what attracted me the most was the ability he demonstrated in breaking down techniques, very technical grappler.” – Marcos Nardini
“For people that aren’t aware of your skills, how would you describe how you compete?” – Sean Lafferty
“I try to fight for position in the tournament, the last tournament I finished a man with a kimura. I’m very old school in my approach, the older you get the more you focus on the basics, back in the day probably a flying triangle or something like that was my go-to submission, however, I really have a love for using the fundamentals to secure myself the victories.” – Marcos Nardini
“What would you say are your biggest accomplishments in grappling and who are some talented grapplers you’ve faced from the UK?” – Sean Lafferty
“In the Gi I won the IBJJF Europeans, I had to fight so many guys it was crazy, I got to the finals, he was the smallest but he was the toughest, after I won it I wanted to hug someone and there was nobody to hug but I met Victor Estima and he gave me a hug. I have beaten high-level guys like Oli Geddes, and I won ADCC European Trials in 2008 at Masters, but I didn’t qualify because it was Masters, but it was an error on my part which was unfortunate. I would’ve entered adults if I knew prior, I’ve lost to Ross Nicholls in overtime, it was a good fight and very competitive, the referee gave him the win, I think it could’ve gone on forever, it was very evenly matched throughout the contest.” – Marcos Nardini
“What does the future hold for yourself?” – Sean Lafferty
“I’m training for World’s masters which is next week, I’m focused on that and excited for the challenge.” – Marcos Nardini
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