Marcus Anderson is set to make his mixed martial arts debut at Rise and Conquer 13, and he’s looking to put on a show for those attending.
Rise and Conquer’s thirteenth show will take place on Saturday, October 7th, in the Rainton Arena. Those attending can expect an action-packed night of fights to cater for every fight night.
Marcus Anderson is one man who will be among the action and faces off with fellow debutant Connor Michael. We managed to get a quick word with the Scottish Hit Squad representative. Hear what he had to say below.
Interview With Marcus Anderson
Marcus, it is only a short time until you make the walk for the first time. Before we dive into it, please tell the readers a bit about yourself and how you found MMA. What was your earliest memory of MMA?
My name is Marcus Anderson. I’m from Carbrain in Cumbernauld. I’m 22, and I think my first memory of mma was actually a video game. And my dad kept mentioning the “ice man”, and I’d always play as him because I thought it was someone from a movie or something, and then I watched a couple of Chuck Liddell’s fights and loved how he’d just stand there and scrap and shut peoples lights out.
I started training in MMA when I was 16 for about half a year at Hit Squad because I’d been watching mma consistently for about a year and always wanted to get in there myself, and I took a couple of years off training, and it was the worst mistake I’ve ever made. I knew I had to get back in there at some point, so when I passed my driving test, I just went back to hit squad at 20.
Debuts can be daunting, the start of the unknown journey that is mixed martial arts. We are still a month away, but how are you feeling on the lead-up? Where’s the emotions at?
I’m a pretty chill guy, mostly, so I’m not overhyping it or making it a huge thing in my mind. I just love to fight and want to put on a show for people, so I’m mostly just excited but not too much to the point it would affect my performance.
Marcus Anderson Talks Learning The Craft
How long have you been actively training, and how did you know the time was right to get matched and put the skills you’ve been learning to the test?
I’ve been training consistently for almost two years now, and I knew it was time to get a fight after I had some success at inter clubs down in Manchester and then my last one wasn’t my best performance, and all I’ve done since then is work on my mistakes, sparring with killers in the gym like Michael Blair, Chris Bungard, Jordan Stronge and Gary McMillan gave me a lot of confidence being able to do certain things to guys of that level and learning from the bad spots they put me in helped me know I would have success at amateurs.
You’ll face Connor Michael, who will also be making his debut. Does it make it easier knowing your opponent hasn’t made the walk and will be going through all the same emotions as you?
It does, and it doesn’t. I’m not too focused on my opponents at amateur as I know it’s all about getting the experience, but to know he’s going through the same emotions as me does give me a bit of relief.
Nobody knows what to expect from you except the people in the gym walls. You’re a blank canvas for those attending. What can we expect from you on October 7th?
You can expect someone who is coming there to fight. I’ll be aggressive when I need to be, and I’ll control the situation when the other guy wants to put pressure on me. I will never shy away from any kind of situation in a fight.
Expectations
This stage is all about learning and getting in-cage time and shouldn’t be taken too seriously, in my own opinion. However, what expectations have you set for yourself? Will it take you getting your hand raised to wake up that following morning and be satisfied, or just give a great account of yourself?
I’m very hard on myself, and I know that I let it affect me in many aspects of life. I want MMA to be a part of my life that I don’t look at with regret if I lose, but in saying that, I’d love to be able to wake up 1-0 the next morning having had an exciting fight.
Finally, leave us with your official prediction. How do you envision you getting your hand raised at Rise and Conquer 13?
I’m going to go a bit wild here and say, 2nd round Ezekiel choke. I know that’s highly unlikely, but f**k it, I’ll go with that.
