Fury FC are returning on Sunday to put on Fury FC 94. This weekend will see the middleweight title on the line. Adam Vigil will go on to face off against Ty Gwerder in the main event for the belt. Ty Gwerder is getting this opportunity off the back of back-to-back defeats in other promotions. Jordan Wright was originally scheduled to face off against Adam Vigil. However, he had to withdraw due to injury. Adam Vigil is coming in off the back of 5 victories in a row with 3 coming in Fury FC. Combat Sports UK has been able to speak to fighters ahead of their fights to try and see how they are going into the fight. Combat Sports UK was able to speak to Ryan Mondala ahead of his fight against Cameron Smotherman
Ryan Mondala on Last Fight
Ryan Mondala has had a fight since his last MMA fight. This is due to Ryan Mondala having competed in 2 boxing fights in between. In his last MMA fight unfortunately Ryan wasn’t able to get the victory losing due to a 2nd round stoppage. In the boxing fight he took part in unfortunately he wasn’t able to pick up a victory either. Ryan lost due to a unanimous decision to Rodrigo Mosquera. I was able to ask Ryan how he fought both of these fights. Ryan responded by saying;
“Against Luis I felt I started hard early. Chasing a KO a bit too hard and not respecting those body shots he kept delivering that I feel slowed me down dramatically by the 2nd round. Eventually, he brought a pace I couldn’t keep up with. Letting a close win slip through my fingers as I got a bit too emotional. Rodrigo I think started a bit late. I should’ve stayed in the pocket a bit more, get dirty and drive him back against the ropes instead of playing the angle game against the longer fighter.”
Ryan has found that in both of these fights he has had his timing hasn’t been there. This has either been due to him starting too quickly and gassing out or starting too late when the damage has already happened to himself. Despite the timing being an issue for him this was not the only thing he has taken away. In his last MMA fight, he didn’t respect Luis Gurule’s body shots. This then affected his body in the later rounds. This plus starting too early meant he wasn’t able to keep up with the pace in the later rounds.
Improvements Since
I was then able to speak to him about the improvements he has made since these fights. Before I was able to find out what he had done wrong in his previous fights. I was now wondering if he has sorted this out or if he has improved somewhere else as well. Speaking about what improvements have been made to his game he responded by saying;
“Since then, I’ve been working my conditioning with sprints and other intervals type of workouts. Working more wrestling and No Gi than Gi Jiu Jitsu.
As far as Rodrigo Mosquera, I’ve been improving staying in the pocket a bit more but that’s for boxing so that’s a complete different gameplan compared to this camp for MMA.”
Ryan Mondala says that boxing and MMA are completely different camps and a lot of differences between the two. For the MMA side of his game, Ryan stated that he has been improving his conditioning. This will definitely help him keep the pace throughout the beginning. This was an issue in his last MMA fight. Ryan has also improved his wrestling. He has been practising with Gi and no Gi so we may be able to see some of his wrestling play a part in this fight.
Weaknesses in Smotherman
Ryan Mondala is facing a very high thought of prospect in Cameron Smotherman. I was curious to see if Ryan has been able to see any weaknesses in Cameron’s fight game. Speaking about what weaknesses he has seen Ryan stated;
“ I did notice he’s a late starter and he uses only ground game defense to get back up and he’s not comfortable on the ground. I feel it’s something I can capitalise on”
Ryan believes Cameron starts the fight slowly which could be something he can capitalise on. If he has been able to improve his stamina he may have been able to keep the pace for a full 15 minutes and may be able to catch Cameron early. Ryan has also been working on his wrestling and believes this is an area in which Cameron isn’t the strongest. Ryan may be looking to implement this in his game as well.
Will Ryan Mondala Stay In MMA or Head Back to Boxing
Ryan Mondala has competed in both boxing and MMA shown by his last 2 fights being in both of these sports. I was curious to find out if Ryan Mondala is fully focused on MMA now or if he could return to the boxing ring. Speaking about his future he responded by saying
“MMA is my first profession and I know I can get further in MMA than Boxing because I feel I’m pretty well rounded. But Boxing is something I just love. I love watching it, studying the fight science, applying it as best I can. Growing up as a Filipino, my family and friends had to watch EVERY Manny Pacquiao fight. Then I believe in the Pacquiao/Bradley card they introduced Loma in one of the opening main card (I believe) I could never not love boxing. If there’s a way I can do both MMA and Boxing without breaching contracts, I’ll do it.”
While Ryan Mondala is currently focused on MMA and that is his first focus he wouldn’t reject an opportunity to get back into the ring. Ryan grew up watching boxing and loves the sport so is trying to do everything in his power to be able to do both. However, he does understand that it may be difficult due to many MMA contracts not allowing their fighter to fight in other sports.
Future
Ryan Mondala is making his Fury FC debut this weekend. If Ryan is able to defeat Cameron Smotherman he will have everyone in the organisation talking. I was curious to find out where Ryan believes a victory should go for his career and who he should face off against next. Speaking about this Ryan stated;
“UFC champion is always the goal. But since my record is not the best right now, I got some work to do to get in the UFC. A big name like Cameron will at least get me recognized.”
Ryan Mondala is always looking to get himself into the UFC. However, he understands he has a bit of work before he gets the call. However, he does state this victory would get him recognised so it could get him another big name in Fury FC to be able to prove he belongs here.
Training Camp and Prediction
Going into a fight a fighter will go into a training camp to be able to come up with the best game plan. During training camp, a fighter will be able to go over the tape and work on things his opponent may be weak at or holes in their own game. Also, a fighter will be able to see how the fight is going to go and come up with an idea of what is going to happen when they step into the octagon. Speaking about what he believes will happen and how his training camp has gone Ryan Mondala explained;
“I got a great team that not only pushed me beyond my limits, but also corrected me on my mistakes and came up with a game plan to beat Cameron. So fight camp sucked, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“I beat him by KO, Tapout, Decision, I’ll take it where it needs to go.”
Ryan believes he has a great team with him which pushes him to his limits. Not only that but they also correct him on what issues he may have had in a fight which is important to have to improve. If you have a bunch of yes men or hype men who don’t criticise you when you need then you aren’t going to be able to correct mistakes and your opponent will be able to get the victory. Ryan believes his team doesn’t hold back on him and they have come up with the best game plan to get the victory. Ryan also doesn’t care how the victory will happen but knows no matter what happens he is getting his hand raised.
Featured image credits to Embed from Tapology
