Some translated bits of
Warrior Talk #15.
This was released on October 20th.
At the start the group talked a bit about the then-upcoming UFC 294 and Ngannou/Fury fight. Nobody outside of Noach Blyden seemed to give Ngannou much of a chance. That sure didn't age well lol. Not that anybody was wrong for doubting Ngannou, I don't think many liked his chances. I sure didn't.
Anwar Ouled-Chaib (
House of Glory-winner)
- Started kickboxing when he was about 9 years old.
- Had his first fight at 10.
- Was still a B-class amateur looking to make his pro-debut when his trainer registered him for
House of Glory.
- Says the casting process was pretty straight forward and that he was asked pretty basic stuff like how long he'd been kickboxing.
- Confirms his three fights in the show were indeed his first pro fights.
- Talked to some of the participants who were on Team Rico and they told him they missed the encouragement from Rico that Badr was giving his fighters.
- Still has contact with Ismael Ouzgni and Figueiredo Landman, but says he already knew them before the show.
- Says he really liked being on the show, but that things have gone really fast for him
- Believes his title shot against Semeleer is a great opportunity. Remy adds that for Anwar this fight is a win-win situation.
Giovanni Tjin (Fightsport reporter/Podcast host)
- Has been a fightsport reporter for 10 years now.
- It started in 2013 when UFC wasn't on Dutch television yet.
- He started a Facebook group and contacted some media people to get involved.
- Eventually the group got a following of about 50k and they were able to sell it to Talpa (Dutch multimedia company).
- With the money they gained they started travelling to cover events internationally (UFC, Bellator, Glory etc.).
- Is now more of a local freelancer who does fightsport coverage for multiple platforms and is part of the "Stand Em Up" podcast/social media platform.
- Feels Dutch MMA hasn't had the best year, but feels there is a bunch of talent on the way.
- Congratulates Remy on the platform he's been building with Warrior Code.
Noach Blyden (MMA fighter at LFL)
- Was a good student when his life got turned upside down at age 18: his girlfriend got pregnant and his cousin was shot and killed.
- Felt he had to take responsibility and started working full-time.
- Was looking for an outlet in his life when he joined a gym: Vos Gym.
- Took a liking to Kickboxing and MMA.
- When he had his first fights there weren't many opportunities for MMA; promoters were usually looking for Kickboxers.
- Appreciates local promotions like LFL who give up-and-coming MMA fighters a chance.
- Says he isn't really making money in LFL; he still has to work full-time to support his family with five kids.
- Is busy with lots of other activities; TV shows, personal trainer gigs etc.
- Has been sparring regularly with current names like Donovan Wisse (I believe there's even some footage on YouTube).
- Wants to make it to the big leagues so he can quit his day job and become a full-time fighter. Remy told him he went through the same when he was younger and found a sponsor that helped him out greatly.
Imad Hadar
- When Remy asked why he fell off the radar, Imad said he was still fighting for other promotions outside of Glory.
- He is coming off a difficult period in his life, though. His mother passed away, while his parents were in Morocco and due to travel restrictions during the pandemic he wasn't able to properly say goodbye. He didn't fight for a while after.
- Sees his Glory comeback fight against Muszynski as a symbolic closure of that difficult period.
- Says he's currently focused on the Middleweight division, but feels he also has some unfinished business at Light Heavyweight since he didn't have the best showing there.
- Says there isn't really anyone on his radar and that calling people out isn't really his style anyway.
- Him and his team have been looking and working toward his next fight.
- Doesn't really seem interested in becoming 'the next Badr' and is happy to forge his own path.
- Feels when you're a tall Moroccan fighter you quickly get compared to Badr.
- Outside of fighting, he works with troubled youths - keeping them out of trouble and off the streets.
Pretty good talk. My opinion on Tjin has improved; I gave him some shit when he couldn't remember Wrzosek's name while interviewing him, but he seems to genuinely care about the sport and giving off positive vibes. Hadar seems pretty cool as well.
Apologies for making it a bit shorter than usual, but I was doing this inbetween work and am already two weeks late with this one. I believe this weekend the next one comes out already.
