ECMMA 12 took place last night at the sold out Casino Rooms in Rochester and what a night it was. Absolutely stacked with some of the UK’s talent.
Amongst these band of warriors was the epic 3 round war between Draig’s Hayleigh Heather and GB Top Team’s Kerensky Fernandes. As always the ladies of MMA didn’t disappoint, giving those in attendance a fight for the ages.
I caught up with the victorious Hayleigh Heather shortly after, to grab some words on just what the night meant to her and her team.
Hayleigh Heather 3-3-0 is a Welsh amateur Mixed Martial Artist currently competing in the Strawweight division, representing IPC Wrexham. She has competed for IMMAF, Anarchy Fight Series and Preston based organisation UKFC
Congratulations on an absolutely outstanding victory Hayleigh, how are you feeling after your performance?
“Oh brilliant, thank you so much. I’m on a huge adrenaline rush coming off the fight, I can’t really think straight just yet haha.”
That was an absolute war throughout all 3 rounds, it must feel great to make all the hard work and the long trip worthwhile?
“Oh definitely, it was a 4 and half to 5 hour trip that we made this morning. To come here and get the win will make it a much nicer drive home, instead of thinking what I could have done. I was happy to get a good, quality fight in, it’s been 4 months since my last fight and it feels like forever. I can’t wait to go again, I got another one at the end of the month and can’t wait.”
Against such a great opponent in Kerensky Fernandes, it was such a compliment to your skill-set. Were you expecting a 3 round war out there?
“I wasn’t expecting it to be honest, but it was good to get one, it’s always good when it goes the distance as I get to try new things. My fight style generally is to come forward, quite aggressive. By the time it came to the 3rd I knew I’d done enough in the 1st 2, so I tried to play a little bit more of a longer game. It’s nice to go out there and see the things you’ve been working on work in the cage.”
Definitely.
What’s next for you, you mentioned another outing next month. Does the future hold another trip to this side of the country for you?
“I’ll definitely come back here for another fight. I’ve got a few things booked in. I’ve got a boxing bout booked in 20 days.
Oh yeah, on the Undercard for the Mayweather vs Chalmers card at the 02.
“Yeah, the undercard for the Mayweather card in 20 days. Also an amazing Grappling match against a professional fighter Shauna Bannon, that’s in Ireland in March, then I’m on GrappeFest on the 1st of April. We’re looking for another MMA fight hopefully on Adrenaline, at the end of April. So it’s a busy calendar, and I love a busy start to the year.”
A very busy start to the year indeed, congratulations once again and the best of luck for your upcoming wars. Before you go and celebrate with your team, is there anyone you’d like to give a shout-out to
“Yeah, huge thanks to all of my team at Draig who constantly push me to do better. Massive thanks to Charlie Falco, who made the trip to come and watch me today, always at all my fights so thanks for the support all the time. To my mum for constantly supporting me, and everyone who sent me good luck messages in the build-up, they mean the world.”
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