Mark Leonard Question time?

cowzerp

Ok after all the moaning about how busy the forum is i've decided to make a thread that should be of interest, Mark post regular and is 1 of the most experienced MMA people on the boards so we'll start with him, (as long as your cool with it Mark) easily deleted if not!

So the idea is simple, Ask any Martial art related question to Mark and after a few days Mark can pick someone to start a new thread on, and this can go on for some time..

So with that, i'll go 1st

Mark, who do you get most excited watching in Irish MMA, not necessarily who is the best-entertainment wise i mean?

mark.leonard

My favourite Irish MMA star, and rumour has it he will be back in the cage this year is Emmet McNally, coach of Sudden Impact.
He has all the qualities that make matches exciting, knockout power in both hands, explosiveness, tenacity, never gives up and can come back at any time no matter how much punishment he has taken. It doesn't hurt that he is a sound man either

I'll post a thread for the next person in a while, maybe before the end of today.

cowzerp

Is Mark "Grappletastic" Leonard ever going to be seen fighting in the octagon, hexagon, cage, ring again? and if so who would you like to fight?

dlofnep

What's the #1 problem that you feel obstructs Irish mixed martial artists from excelling and being able to compete in the UFC at a competitive level?

What do you feel has lead to the mass success of British fighters recently, and what can we do here in Ireland to emulate it?

mark.leonard

cowzerp wrote: »

Is Mark "Grappletastic" Leonard ever going to be seen fighting in the octagon, hexagon, cage, ring again? and if so who would you like to fight?

I was on the mat at the San Shou nationals last year, which was my first competitive endeavour since my shoulder was done.

Its weird how things change when you get older have more experience
I used to feel like I HAD to fight, I don't feel the same compulsion now. I would LIKE to fight again, but working and running the gym make training at that level difficult so I would have to really want to come back to actually do it. I am toying with the idea of fighting this year, so I wouldn't rule it out.

mark.leonard

dlofnep wrote: »

What's the #1 problem that you feel obstructs Irish mixed martial artists from excelling and being able to compete in the UFC at a competitive level?

I don't think there are any "problems" as such. We are younglings to MMA in this country, as time progresses we will be able to produce better and better fighters. Ultimately I think we will have the same problems as in the UK, ie a lack of wrestling. Cross pollination from the States is sorting that out for them and we would need to do the same.

dlofnep wrote: »

What do you feel has lead to the mass success of British fighters recently, and what can we do here in Ireland to emulate it?

The UFC wants to take majority share in the UK MMA Market, so they are promoting British fighters to do it. Dan Hardy getting as far as he has done is down to his own talent, but getting the shot in the first place is largely a business decision IMO.
Bisping was the flagship for UK UFC events, so he was handed a couple easier fights, I am not saying he is not good so don't jump on me Bisping fans, but he got found out pretty quickly when he faced a top flight fighter like Hendo.

dlofnep

If you had 3 prospects for us to keep an eye on, who would it be?

mark.leonard

Sid_Justice wrote: »

I think we all know where you stand on the Batman versus Superman question, and we all know you have a preference for Chuck Liddell over Randy Couture but who's your p4p number one (excluding Fedor)?

For me the best p4p is GSP, and he is getting yet another chance to prove it with Hardy!

Will Heffernan

mark.leonard wrote: »

I was on the mat at the San Shou nationals last year, which was my first competitive endeavour since my shoulder was done.

Its weird how things change when you get older have more experience
I used to feel like I HAD to fight, I don't feel the same compulsion now. I would LIKE to fight again, but working and running the gym make training at that level difficult so I would have to really want to come back to actually do it. I am toying with the idea of fighting this year, so I wouldn't rule it out.

How young are you and how little do you weigh for a man carrying awesome amounts of muscle mass and with such superior conditioning?

mark.leonard

I am the same age as Jesus (next year the joke is on him!)
I used to fight at under 93, but I am up over 100 kilos now, though the quest for fighting fitness has brought me down a stone since January and still dropping.

Will Heffernan

mark.leonard wrote: »

I am the same age as Jesus (next year the joke is on him!)
I used to fight at under 93, but I am up over 100 kilos now, though the quest for fighting fitness has brought me down a stone since January and still dropping.

Wow...you look so much older than that...maybe we can fight on your next birthday and you could crucify me and make me share Jesus's fate...I'd say it would take me just as many days to get up from the canvas afterwards as it took JC...I think JC was probably fighting welter not lightheavy from the photos I've seen so the imagery would be all wrong...I think people would get the message though.

It would be a good match of styles....as in you have some and I have none....a promoters dream

MMAIRELAND.ORG

Having suffered several freak training acidents in a row that left me with a dislocated shoulder the first week back to training this year and torn cartilidge in my knee the first week back from the first injury i have become depressed :mad:!

I was wondering what your worst MMA related injury has been and how long did it put you out for? Also how the hell did you keep yourself occupied during it?

Thanks

mark.leonard

Will Heffernan wrote: »

Wow...you look so much older than that...maybe we can fight on your next birthday and you could crucify me and make me share Jesus's fate...I'd say it would take me just as many days to get up from the canvas afterwards as it took JC...I think JC was probably fighting welter not lightheavy from the photos I've seen so the imagery would be all wrong...I think people would get the message though.

It would be a good match of styles....as in you have some and I have none....a promoters dream

Well, if I do fight again you can consider yourself in the frame, though it has to be said I am not planning on returning to 93, I am not strong enough for that division any more, being a full time doorman gives you more time to lift weights than a full time Software Engineer, who knew!

mark.leonard

MMAIRELAND.ORG wrote: »

Having suffered several freak training acidents in a row that left me with a dislocated shoulder the first week back to training this year and torn cartilidge in my knee the first week back from the first injury i have become depressed :mad:!

I was wondering what your worst MMA related injury has been and how long did it put you out for? Also how the hell did you keep yourself occupied during it?

Thanks

My worst injury was my shoulder, which effectively shelved me from September 2007 until December 2009. I was still coaching and training with it for far too long, but luckily it was surgically fixable and I am back good as new now, though I still can't upright row to save myself yet.

I have had far worse injuries from my TKD days, both knees blown multiple times from that.

In terms of keeping busy that was pretty effortless, running the gym, girlfriend, working, the League, Tribal Warfare and a healthy amount of time with my PS3 makes for a full schedule even without hard training.

Sid_Justice

Mark you've been offered a lucrative contract with a prestigious Japanese Pro-Wrestling Company. You've got to fight the current Tag-Team champions No Limit

in a tag team match. Who do you choose from your Galway training partners as your tag team partner and why?

mark.leonard

It would have to be the "Mad Dog" Tim Murphy.
1. Tim would be the high flyer to my power wrestling, we'd have a little of everything to get us "over" with the crowd
2. The tag team finisher could be a fastball special
3. Tim has a natural flamboyance that would generate a lot of pops in our match but also...
4. Tim would easily perform a heel turn after we win setting up a classic Battista vs Rey Mysterio type follow on singles match for Tim's Intergalactic Title!

Clive

1. Leaving aside coach (which is the obvious answer) which of your roles in MMA would you choose if you could have only one? Promoter, cornerman, fighter, MC or internet hype machine?

2. Can I have a free t-shirt?

Martin Walker

If we were to have an Ireland team to compete on the M1 challenge who would you put into it?
In fact give us two teams a team with current "Active" Fighters and an all star dream team with inactive fighters and coaches!

mark.leonard

Clive wrote: »

1. Leaving aside coach (which is the obvious answer) which of your roles in MMA would you choose if you could have only one? Promoter, cornerman, fighter, MC or internet hype machine?

2. Can I have a free t-shirt?

1. Promotion is the least rewarding of the 4 I think, I have burned out my desire to MC anymore by doing so much of it, so I would probably go with cornerman cause I could keep doing that for longer

2. yes

mark.leonard

Martin Walker wrote: »

If we were to have an Ireland team to compete on the M1 challenge who would you put into it?
In fact give us two teams a team with current "Active" Fighters and an all star dream team with inactive fighters and coaches!

current
Bantam - Steve McCombe
Featherweight - Tim Murphy
Lightweight - Greg Loughran
Welterweight - Emmet McNally
Middleweight - Tom Haddock
Light Heavyweight - Marius Lapenas
Heavyeweigh - Piotr Stawski (may not have fought yet, but the boy got game)

All Star
Bantam - Steve McCombe
Featherweight - Tim Murphy
Lightweight - Greg Loughran
Welterweight - Rodney Moore
Middleweight - Tom Haddock
Light Heavyweight - Mark Leonard
Heavyeweigh - Colin Robinson

Mrs Lynch

What has been your all time favourite "Irish" fight???;)

Urs
x

rovert

Do you ever foresee a Joe Duffy & the Head shops type furore on MMA in Ireland or do you just see it slowly gaining mainstream acceptance with minor/expected opposition from doctors and anti-violence activist types?

irishdownhiller

whats your opinion on tkd in ireland? my local club simply has a rep for being a buiness and money making "scheme", black belt gradings are a few hundred pounds, compared with other martial arts were generally the maximum price i have heard has been less than 100, or simply the cost of the black belt!

mark.leonard

Mrs Lynch wrote: »

What has been your all time favourite "Irish" fight???;)

Urs
x

Mark O'Toole @ Cage Rage Contenders in the Point

mark.leonard

rovert wrote: »

Do you ever foresee a Joe Duffy & the Head shops type furore on MMA in Ireland or do you just see it slowly gaining mainstream acceptance with minor/expected opposition from doctors and anti-violence activist types?

All it would take is for someone to die in an MMA event, or be paralyzed and the furore would knock MMA back into the stone age. Its a good notion for promoters to keep in mind I think.

mark.leonard

irishdownhiller wrote: »

whats your opinion on tkd in ireland? my local club simply has a rep for being a buiness and money making "scheme", black belt gradings are a few hundred pounds, compared with other martial arts were generally the maximum price i have heard has been less than 100, or simply the cost of the black belt!

I think TKD is fine, so long as anyone who is teaching it is honest with himself and his students about what it is. I have no problem with people making money off something if the product is good, and consumer choice ensures that bad products don't make money. It does get on my goat with TKD clubs that pretend they are teaching a functional art, but aside from that its all good.

If it weren't for TKD, I would probably never have done MMA.

Barry.Oglesby

Mark,

Stare into your crystal ball and tell me what MMA in Ireland looks like in 5 years time.

mark.leonard

It will be more stable, less clubs/coaches/fighters jumping the fence, less new promotions springing up everywhere.

There will be a hefty amount of attrition between promotions, only the strong ones will remain.

MMA Gyms will be larger, the League will (hopefully) continue to trend larger, the standard will improve greatly.

We will have had our first couple of UFC contenders fighting at that stage.

John Ferguson

mark.leonard wrote: »

It will be more stable, less clubs/coaches/fighters jumping the fence, less new promotions springing up everywhere.

There will be a hefty amount of attrition between promotions, only the strong ones will remain.

MMA Gyms will be larger, the League will (hopefully) continue to trend larger, the standard will improve greatly.

We will have had our first couple of UFC contenders fighting at that stage.

"attrition"

Now there is a word we don't hear very often

John Ferguson

A quick question Mark!!

How long did it take to master THIS

I think Peter done very well also

cowzerp

Hi Mark-do you want to pass the torch to someone else?
if you do could you start a new thread just like this 1, Thanks

Whoever is on we try make it 2-3 days at a time..

mark.leonard

cowzerp wrote: »

Hi Mark-do you want to pass the torch to someone else?
if you do could you start a new thread just like this 1, Thanks

Whoever is on we try make it 2-3 days at a time..

Will do Paul, its about time to change interviewer when John starts posting faux chippendale videos!

John Ferguson

mark.leonard wrote: »

Will do Paul, its about time to change interviewer when John starts posting faux chippendale videos!

lol...

Sid_Justice

I think it's interesting you've chosen Steve McCoombe over Neil Seery in your fictional team Mark, seeing that Neil has been Steve twice (I think). Is it because Neil has dropped to a lower weight or would your reckon McCoombe would match up better with the opposition abroad?

If Rickson Gracie was being hosted in Dublin for a 3 hours 100 euro seminar would you go?

mark.leonard

Sid_Justice wrote: »

I think it's interesting you've chosen Steve McCoombe over Neil Seery in your fictional team Mark, seeing that Neil has been Steve twice (I think). Is it because Neil has dropped to a lower weight or would your reckon McCoombe would match up better with the opposition abroad?

If Rickson Gracie was being hosted in Dublin for a 3 hours 100 euro seminar would you go?

I really wouldn't read too much into my M1 team picks, when I re-read it Monday I disagreed with myself so I would expect others to as well.

On the Rickson front, probably not, unless we would get to roll with him, then I would. Or if he would talk about the filming of the Hulk.