On the 25th of June FCC 29 will go underway, hosted at the Bolton Arena.
The event, from top to bottom, is guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser. It boasts 4 championship fights, evenly split between the amateur and professional scenes. At the top of the card is Matthew Camilleri vs Azi Thomas.
In December Matthew Camilleri was crowned the FCC featherweight. He fought to a split decision win against Shoaib Yousaf, in a fight many did not predict him to win. Having surprised pundits and fans alike, he utilised his heavy wrestling base to squeak past the fan favourite and win the belt. Matthew Camilleri is looking to defend his belt in definitive fashion and put featherweights around the country on alert.
Matthew Camilleri in the Lead up to the Fight
In your last outing you won the FCC featherweight championship after a hard-fought fight, going the distance against Shoaib Yousaf. You are now returning to defend your belt. How do you feel going into this featherweight title bout?
“Yeah, it was a hard fight and I feel good for this one, always motivated to prove that I’m better than everyone in the featherweight division.”
You are going into this fight with the possibility of defending your belt for the first time and launching yourself into the top ten ranked featherweights in the UK. What can fans expect to see from you on June 25th at FCC 29?
“Well, they can expect a fight where I push the pace, wrestle and be dominating like last time and me getting my hand raise as the winner and still champion.”
When this fight was offered to you, what was your initial reaction? And was this a fighter on your radar before being offered the bout?
“I just said whoever, I’m the champ, I don’t get to choose I’m here to defend against the best. No, he never was on my radar… I thought I was going to get a rematch against Shoaib to be honest as it was the upset of the year.”
In the lead up to this event, preparing for your opponent, have you identified any strengths or weaknesses in their game? If so, are you training towards supressing their game plan or bolstering your own skill set?
“Yeah, I always study my opponents carefully, the only time I didn’t I lost. I know what he is good at, and I know what he is not good at. Same with me. I focus more on what I can do, at the end of the day every opponent that I fought knew exactly what I was going to do and by far they couldn’t stop me. But yeah, I got some more tricks that I haven’t showcased in any of my fight.”
Matthew Camilleri: Future Aspirations and Fight Prediction
We are at the midway point of the year, where would you like to be by the end of the year if you can walk away from FCC 29 with a win? And what is your goal over the next five years?
“Well I’d like to get a contract with a top organisation like Cage Warriors, Ares , Combate , LFA , Brave , UAE. Next five years, if everything goes as planned, I’d get the belt of the promotion I’m in and be in either UFC or One, that’s the goal.”
Lastly, how do you predict this fight will go?
“This fight I predict a dominant performance by me and a finish. Obviously, we all know there will be takedowns by me.”
We appreciate Matthew Camilleri giving us his time and answering our questions ahead of the fight. We wish him the best of luck!
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Featured image credits to Cage Warriors Academy North East
