Justin Murray Interview - April 2010
Justin Murray is ranked number 2 in the Infinitemma.com Welterweight Rankings. He is currently training in Thailand for his upcoming bout on Cage Fighting Championship on the Gold Coast on April 16th at Southport Sharks. Justin will face American opponent Jesse Juarez from California who has an impressive record of 14 wins and 5 loses in MMA. Justin took some time out from training to answer a few questions for infinitemma.com
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You are fighting on the upcoming Cage Fighting Championship can you tell us who you are fighting and what you know about them?
I am fighting Jesse Juarez from Antonio McKees Gym in the states. I know he has had a lot more fights than me, he is a multiple time all American wrestler JUCO champion etc. So basically he is a really good wrestler. Watching his youtube clips he also has good striking with knockout power. Looks like it could be a tough night.
What do you think Jesse’s strengths and weaknesses are?
Obviously his strengths are his wrestling and like I mentioned he has good stand up and looks explosive. It’s hard to pick a weakness from what I saw but his record shows most of his losses by submission.
Saying that, he is undefeated in his last 8 fights and has fought some good submission guys, so it’s hard to say he has any obvious weakpoints.
What are you predictions for this fight?
I think it should be an exciting fight, It will be hard to stop the takedown so I will be fighting off my back a lot. Probably looking for a submission or sweep (in between getting my head bounced off the mat). It is a 25 minute fight though and anything can happen.
You are currently in Thailand, can you tell us what training you are doing there?
I had a pretty dodgy start to the fight camp working afternoon shift for a month and then injuring my knee, so I needed to step up my training and try to squeeze a lot into the last month. I took a couple weeks leave and came to Thailand, training with Ray Elbe and the guys at Tiger Muay Thai.
It’s been really good but very hard at the same time, the hardest aspect is being away from my usual crew during the last few weeks of camp. In saying that Ray has been great to me as well as being an awesome fighter and trainer and I think I will get a lot out of my time here (a lot of ass kickings too! haha).
It is also the best set up camp I have seen anywhere in Thailand and if you are looking to come over you’d be crazy not to give him a yell. http://www.mmaphuket.com
You are currently ranked number 2 in the Australian Welterweight MMA Rankings, can you tell us your thoughts on the other 4 people in the top 5 rankings
1) Brian Ebersole – Excellent fighter, I love watching him fight and he is a real character of the sport here in Australia. Probably my only real contender for ugliest man in Aussie MMA.
3) Jai Bradney – Seen him fight a few times and he always impresses me. Sick striker with solid ground and an exciting style. Jai is definitely one to watch this year.
4) Shane Nix – I’d love to see him back, one of those guys who doesn’t particularly excel in one area but has heart for days. I’ve seen him beat more technical fighters with pure tenacity. Hopefully his injuries are sorted and he’ll be back into it in 2010.
5) Luke Picklum – Should be way higher up the list (much higher than me!). Awesome fighter, I have trained with him a few times and this guy is on another level. I hope he gets a good international opportunity soon because he is definitely the kind of guy you’d want representing Australia on the world stage.
What else do you have lined for this year that you can tell us about?
I always just take it one fight at a time. But I would like to get a couple more in before the end of the year. This fight is a massive step up in competition for me, fighting a true professional of the sport with a lot of experience on the bigger shows. This fight will be an indication if I have what it takes to move to the next level.
Do you have any sponsors you would like to thank?
Firstly Shaun and Yvette at Australian Sports Nutrition Newcastle were my first sponsor (back when fighters being sponsored was about as common as us being paid to fight haha) and are still helping me out today, thanks massively guys.
Sportsmaster Australia have been great to me as well as Kettlebell Kingdom who helped me out with some kickass training gear which makes me vomit on a regular basis.
The sinisterstore guys got on board recently also, hooking me up with HITMAN, and are doing really good things with Aussie MMA on all levels, thanks a lot Paul and Mackenzie (Between me, Boney, Hippo and Ross there will never be a good looking sinisterstore advertisement though haha)
These are the guys that make it affordable to be a fighter. They support the local scene and that’s the only way to grow the sport in Oz, so forget about buying your gear from overseas hit up the local guys and it will further all our cause!
Apart from these guys the support I receive from trainers, training partners, family and friends all make it possible for me to pursue my goals in this sport so thanks massively to all my peeps.
Lastly thanks to CFC for giving me the opportunity.
Good luck with the fight
Thanks InfiniteMMA for the continued support and for being the only real information source for Aussie MMA.