English Heavyweight Mick Parkin debuted at UFC Fight Night London. After six professional victories and no losses. He took on another fairly new contender in Jamal Pogues. The fight went the distance, after which Parkin won the unanimous decision.
The English prospect seemed comfortable both in and out of the octagon. In his post-fight interview, Parkin said, ‘I didn’t feel overwhelmed. I felt like I belonged there.’ Saying he ‘enjoyed it,’ Parkin named Bruce Buffer, calling his name as a particular highlight.
Parkin trains with Aspinall, who headlined the card. Agreeing that their gym is ‘the best heavyweight MMA gym in the world,’ Parkin commented on the luxury of having multiple talented heavyweights training under one roof. Full of praise for his teammate, Parkin said, ‘Tom doesn’t know how good he is.’
Mick Parkin Gets Hand Raised In MMA Debut
He named his coaches as key in keeping him calm during fight week. His coach ‘caught a pigeon with his bare hands’ in Canary Wharf in the build-up to the fight. Parkin made it clear that camaraderie like this was important in keeping him in the right mental space.
Parkin said ‘the support has been crazy.’ A place he had previously worked at as a doorman had named a burger after him in anticipation of his debut.
When asked who he wants to fight next, Parkin said, ‘calling people out this early is just not right.’ He said he would fight ‘anybody,’ saving callouts for when he reaches the Top 15 ranked heavyweights.
Parkin fought on the prelims for the event, headlined by teammate Tom Aspinall. Aspinall went on to beat Polish heavyweight Marcin Tybura by first-round TKO. He called out the winner of Cyril Gane vs Sergei Spivak. He made it clear that winning this fight should give him a shot against champion Jon Jones.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
