Joe Ambler is raring to go ahead of his historic title fight this Saturday at Almighty Fighting Championship 29 against Blain McGill.
Ambler is looking to make Almighty history at the Metrodome in Barnsley by becoming the first-ever double champion for the promotion. Being the current Almighty FC middleweight champion, Ambler drops to welterweight to try to attain champ-champ status.
However, his opponent, Northern Ireland’s McGill, also has the opportunity to write his name into the Almighty history books by becoming the first-ever Irish champion. A clash between two crafty individuals that most definitely deserves to be the main event.
We caught up with a calm Joe Ambler before fight night. Read the full exclusive interview below.
Interview with Joe Ambler
Fight week is here, Joe and another massive fight for yourself. Having made the walk the ninth time prior to this weekend. Does the whole process of preparing for a fight and making the walk feel second nature at this point?
Yeah, more or less, I have always been a calm person come fight day, so I take the process in my stride well.
I didn’t get to catch up following your time at The Four Nations tournament in Liverpool. How was that experience as a whole, and were there any valuable lessons you took away from the competition?
The Four Nations showed me a lot about myself and the areas I need to improve. I feel I have improved in these areas. Overall even though I didn’t get the results I wanted, the experience there was amazing and something I’ll never forget.
You closed out the year, attaining another title on Caged Steel. You’ll be running out of space to hold these titles if you keep it up. How pleased were you with your performance Jhoan Salinas?
Great to capture another title at the back end of last year. However, I wasn’t very pleased with my performance, maybe I was putting too much pressure on myself to finish him as I was coming off the two losses from the four nations, but the most important thing was I got the win and back to winning ways.
Joe Ambler Talks Making History
You will be dropping down a weight to make history on Almighty FC 29 on Saturday evening. Talk to me about the thought process and how the opportunity came about. Was it an easy decision, or did you need to take time to allow for the weight cut?
The decision to drop to welterweight came very easily. To be honest, I’m not up there with the biggest middleweights even though I have shown I can definitely hang with them, but I have made middleweight same day weigh three times, so this tipped me to wanting to try welterweight.
Are these the sort of challenges that excite you at the latter stages of your amateur career? What does having the chance to make history do to your motivation?
This is a big challenge for me because it’s my first time at this weight and the opponent I have, but yes, to make history on Almighty is very motivational for me. It’s where I started my amateur career and hopefully where I will finish my amateur career. Almighty is a great show, and ray is a great guy who’s done and is continuing to do a lot for the mma regional scene. Ray and the show gave me a great platform to show what I’m capable of, so I can’t wait to be the first person to hold two belts in two divisions and make Almighty history.
You’ll meet a tough opponent in Blain McGill. Have you had the opportunity to watch any of his previous bouts back? If so, what are your overall thoughts on the fight from a stylistic standpoint?
I haven’t watched too much on Blaine, but from what I have seen, he comes to fight, so that’s all I can ask for, and hopefully, we put on a performance for the fans.
Keys to Victory
Where do you feel the keys to victory are for you against Blain?
Key to victory to me, I don’t really think about this too much, as I have shown in the past I can adapt well in fights, so if something isn’t working, I’ll switch it up and find a way to win.
This bout is the main event for a reason and is, rightly so, the correct fight to close the show on Almighty FC 29. However, tell those attending and tuning in on PPV what they can expect from Joe Ambler vs. Blain McGill on Saturday night.
Everyone in attendance and watching on PPV can expect the same joe ambler from all my past fights. I come to put on a show and look to finish my opponents by any means necessary.
You leave victorious on Saturday night and have cemented your success as an amateur. Not many would have had the success you’ve had on the scene. That being said, could we possibly see a leap to the pro-ranks in 2023?
I’m taking it one fight at a time, and this fight will answer a lot of questions I have about myself moving forward.
Finally, leave us with any last words for your opponent or anybody you like to thank who’s helped you ahead of fight night.
I wish Blaine a safe trip over and for us both to put on a show. I would like to thank everyone at my gym CBMMA who’s helped and pushed me for this my coach Craig, and my sparring partners, Quendrim, Reece, Branden, and Chris. Finally, a big thanks to my sponsors, The garrison, Under pressure exterior services, CBD healthy living, Ink junkies and Ralph’s cafe.
Featured image credits to Joe Ambler
