Caitlyn Hadfield 1-3-0 is an English amateur Mixed Martial Artist currently competing in the Atomweight division, representing Warrington Submission Grappling/Blackledge MMA Wigan. She has competed for Cage Conflict, IMMAF and is due to make her debut for Xtreme Promotions on October 1st.
I’d like to start things off by thanking you for taking the time to speak with me today Caitlyn, and also to congratulate you on your upcoming inclusion to the Xtreme Promotions card.
“Thanks very much.”
I trust training has been going well in the build-up to your scheduled bout?
“Yeah training’s always taken quite seriously, any training at all whether it’s training for a fight or not, is quite serious for me.”
I remember you told me you’ll be travelling to Next Generation Liverpool today, that should be quite an experience training wise.
“Yeah, I’m at Next Gen this evening, it’ll be my first time there up there, we’ll see how that goes haha.”
They really do incredible work with their fighters, if Matthew Bonner is there do say hi from me.
“100 percent I’ll let him know you said hello.”
Appreciate that Caitlyn.
Xtreme Promotions had a very successful outing back in July, a vast array of combat sports were on display. The Grappling contests put on show was definitely one of the highlights of the night.
What did it mean to you when receiving the call to be part of Xtreme’s upcoming event in October and add to the grappling aspect of the card?
“It’s always a pleasure to be asked to be a part of anyone’s promotion, especially Xtreme Promotions as they put on such a good last time. Grappling has always held quite a personal meaning to me, I started grappling a number of years ago and I fell in love with it. To be asked to represent my skill set and abilities on a show that’s highly thought of, Is really rewarding for me.”
I’m in regular contact with Xtreme Promotions owner Adam, he really is doing all he can to make his promotion a great place for the fans alike, can’t wait for this one.
It has been an incredibly busy year for you, recently making the decision to change the home of your fight camps from Team Ryano Limavady was an exceptionally big one. Since making the move, has the decision impacted your goals?
“My goals going forward have always remained the same, I’m quite a goal driven person. Having to change gyms, starting university and moving to a different country has been the catalyst for me to try and push myself a little bit further. With starting university and my course being veterinary medicine, I’m quite jam packed out. I enjoy having very little time to myself because I just like to be active.”
It’s always better to keep busy, I agree. My colleague Stuart Henderson has a very fond memory of you when you were training in Northern Ireland, and competed at the first Northern Ireland submission series. He said you tried to choke him out hahaha.
“Oh yeah!, sounds about right from me to be honest haha.”
Your dedication to your craft has many accolades, one being your inclusion to the IMMAF Senior World Championships back in January. As you look forward on the possibilities the future holds for you, would a potential return to the IMMAF‘s interest you?
“Yeah, it definitely would be. I’ve recently been in contact with the English Mixed Martial Arts Association, unfortunately I’ll probably not be able to make the trip coming up. Possibly October if I can get the funding, and also the time off from university, But as my course has only just started I don’t really want to push the boat out too soon. Because the IMMAF‘s are self funded, it makes it difficult to make a regular appearance. I sort of rely on other people’s help to put me in the spotlight, so Shout-out to anybody that would like to sponsor a young female athlete you know where I am, give me a message hahaha.”
You and all that take part on your respective journeys across the IMMAF‘s thoroughly deserve all the help you can get. And I’m sure working with EMMAA will help immensely with your dreams, they really are a dedicated team with amateurs such as yourself best interests at heart.
Follow the link to the EMMAA website here, to see all the phenomenal work the team is doing to make these athletes’ dreams come true. As well as persevering to make sure many athletes across the UK have the safest journey across their Mixed Martial Arts careers.
Looking forward to the challenge ahead, you are set to take on Sonya Retezan in one of the many grappling contests fans on the night will not want to miss. What do you make of Sonya in the build-up to your scheduled meeting?
“From the research I’ve done on her, she is quite an accomplished grappler much like myself. But as I’m only little tiny haha, as an Atomweight MMA competitor, I’m not coming with very much body behind me. To take a fight out of my usual competition bracket is something that really excites me. I’m always looking to test myself in different areas, to make new connections and new friends. I think one thing with being able to take fights like this is it gives you the opportunity to see what you’re missing, or fill in the holes in your game that you might miss when you’re grappling someone in your own weight.”
The little fighters like yourself, 9 times out of 10 are the ones to watch out for, you guys can be very volatile haha.
“I think it’s the small ones you have to look out for sometimes hahaha.”
As previously stated, Xtreme Promotions made a huge impact back in July and Adam Thomas has laid the foundations for yet another barn burner on October 1st. Other than your inclusion on the night are there any matchups in particular that you’re looking forward to witnessing?
“I don’t tend to look at the cards that I’m competing on, I’m quite laser-focused on getting my inclusion out of the way. What I get to see from the card after that is icing on the cake for me really, the win, lose or draw doesn’t really faze me. I like to be around live events where I get to see exactly what’s happening, maybe pick up a few tricks that you don’t necessarily get to see on the PPV.”
You’re in for a treat, Adam has really implemented the grappling side of things into the card.
“It’s nice to see promotions also including the grappling side of things on their MMA events. Back home, my old coach runs a promotion with his brother-in-law Jason McCabe called Chaos. McGregor was on Chaos before he blew up, they have just implemented grappling bouts on their cards also. It’s a great setup, it runs similar to the setup at Xtreme Promotions, it’s nice to see it picking up.”
I completely agree. It’s good to see many other forms of combat across the regional scene, not just grappling but also Boxing and Muay-Thai also.
“I think that’s what we’re missing sometimes. We’re aware that MMA is a mixture of Mixed Martial Arts, each art as its own discipline, we’re seeing it as a collective. I think it’s important to give respect to those individual arts as well and give them a channel to produce athletes.”
I couldn’t agree more.
It’s been an absolute pleasure speaking with you today Caitlyn and I wish you all the best for next week.
“Thank you very much for having me and taking the time to rearrange your own plans around me.”
Anytime mate.
Last but not least, do you have a message for the fans that will be in attendance and anybody you’d like to give a shout-out to?
“I’d like to give a shout-out to Rob from Warrington Submission Grappling for taking me under his wing, he’s been working quite close with me finishing off my camp. Rob headed out to Mauritius yesterday to compete on the GrappleFest. I’d like to wish him the best of luck. Also to the guys at Blackledge Wigan for giving me some rounds as well, they’ve been nothing but sweet and terrifying hahaha.”
Make sure to head over and grab your tickets for Xtreme Promotions here, also available on PPV here for just £9.99, this is a night you will not want to miss.
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