Jack Grant looks to claim his first piece of Cage Warriors gold, when he takes on Jai Herbert for the vacant lightweight title on June 29.
The showdown will take place on Cage Warriors 106: Night of Champions, the second show of this sort in the history of the promotion.
“This is really exciting. This is, probably the biggest card I’ve ever been on personally. So yeah, that’s what I want here. I want to fight on big stages for bigger rewards and this is both of them,” Grant explained to The Body Lock.
“It feels great. I think I have had some great performances. I feel like my fight style is very exciting as well. Same goes for Jai, I think we both deserve it.”
Recent Cage Warriors success
Since signing with Cage Warriors, Grant has picked up three consecutive wins, two of which coming from first-round knockouts. Grant stated that he was happy with his recent form of success and hopes it continues.
“I think so far it’s been a great journey at Cage Warriors and I’m looking forward to continuing the success.”
Grant tore the house down in his last fight, brutally finishing lightweight rival Aleksi Mantykivi in Liverpool, only four minutes into the fight. For Grant, this was how he envisioned the fight going down.
“Yeah, definitely. With my style, I do take risks and I like to risk it all to get a finish. I really will. I love going in there with a mentality to finish someone. It’s kill or be killed as Nate (Diaz) says and I always face that mentality. It makes it exciting for me. Like I don’t want to go the distance with anyone. I want to finish fights.”
“I just think I’m very dynamic in the sense I’m very explosive standing. I feel like I’m definitely one of the most heavy-handed in the division, especially on Cage Warriors, the whole show. I can snatch a submission from anywhere. I’ve got a variety of skills, a very wide variety. ”
After making a quick success over Aleski, Grant was in talks to then fight recently crowned interim featherweight champion, Soren Bak. According to Grant, the fight was offered but things didn’t go to plan. Grant had some strong words:
“He’s a f—ing pu–y.”
“Every opportunity he has had, he made up excuses. He should have taken the fight. But instead, I heard he had an accident with his axe and he’s had to move to the female division.”
“I did try it. I tried to tease him. If someone pi–ed me off like that, I’d fight them. A little tip to any fighter, If you want a fight with me, give me enough sh-t and we will have it.”
Training at AVT MMA Leeds
Jack trains at AVT MMA which is situated in Leeds, England. The center is full of up-and-coming contenders hoping to make it the big leagues, like Grant.
“AVT is a huge gym and Danny Mitchell’s got an unbelievable amount of fighters. You know it is very likely that one of my teammates could be joining me on that card.”
“I’ve got many training partners such as Mullen brothers. Grapplers such as Josh Mulberry, we’ve got Scott Askren and then we’ve got ‘Mad Boy’ and everyone knows ‘Mad Boy.'” These are only a few names mentioned by Grant.
The Cage Warriors Lightweight belt
Jacks opponent, Jai Herbert has equally torn through the division winning his first three Cage Warriors fights all within the last year.
However, Jack has predicted a finish in his first shot at the gold.
“I just see myself finishing him.”
“I believe I can finish anyone in the division and I’ve been keeping an eye on everyone in Cage Warriors and I see many opportunities where I could finish most of these people. So yeah, I’m looking to go in there and finish.
“This is going to be the one. Like I’ve trained hard for every fight that I’ve been in. In the past, I have had fights where I thought that I was training hard enough for but I wasn’t doing things just quite right. I’m experienced enough now. This camp is going to be the best one that I have had yet.”
You can listen to the full interview below to learn more about Jack Grant’s story as well as his thoughts on the UFC lightweight division and what’s next for him if he gets through Herbert.