Joe Prior readies himself for his upcoming bout on Unity FC’s stage, which goes down Saturday, February 17, at the Dolphin Centre in Darlington.
The amateur MMA fighter promises to captivate audiences as he steps back into the octagon against Rory Sinclair.
Ahead of the matchup on Feb. 17, we had the pleasure of catching up with Joe Prior before battle. Hear what he had to say below.
Interview With Joe Prior
Joe, in a few weeks, you kickstart your 2024 campaign of competition before we get into the nitty-gritty. What are you looking to get out of this year? When the years are done, which sort of position do you want to find yourself in?
I’m not really setting myself any goals with wins and losses or how many fights I want to have. As long as I come out of this year a better fighter than what I was going into it, I’ll have done my job.
2023 saw you out there twice; how would you sum up the year you had lost and picked up one win? Were you happy, and if not, what weren’t you happy about?
2023 was a massive learning curve. I was gutted at the start of the year with my performance. I knew I could’ve done a lot better in that fight, and to this day, when it’s brought up, all I can do is apologies, but that loss really pushed me to train to my limit and then go past it throughout the rest of the year over and over again and it’s what led me here to a point where I’m a much stronger fighter than I was last year.
The Bout
Rory Sinclair is the man you face this time around in Darlington. What are your thoughts on this matchup and the style he brings to the cage?
I think the matchup makes sense. We’re both coming off wins and want to put our name out there. I’ve come across the style before, so it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.
Looking at Rory’s last three fights, what can you take away from them and has your preparation altered in any way for this one?
No, preparing for this fight hasn’t been too different from any other fight. Some things have required a bit more focus, but it’s all more or less the same routine.
Finally, can you highlight what it would mean to kickstart your year with a gigantic win and start picking up the momentum and moving forward?
This win means more than I can put into words. I genuinely don’t know what to say here. I’m putting everything I’ve got into this.
