On Saturday night, March 18th Sean Tobin (4-2) will make his American debut in Denver, Colorado. The Limerick native faces Joey Banks (3-1) in the Sparta Combat League promotion (click here to read more).
Ahead of the contest we sat down with Tobin to discuss a number of topics including how the fight came about, what it is like over there, what the future holds and more.
Combat Gear: How did the fight in Denver come about?
Sean Tobin: The fight came about through my coach Ryan Schultz, he owns Trials Gym in Colorado. I've been going there to train regularly and we always talked about doing a fight over here so now seemed like the right time.
How long have you been out there and what has training over there been like?
I've been here three weeks now. Training here has been awesome, it's priceless to get to work with Coach Ryan and they have a massive stable of fighters here now so every sparring round you have to be on your game. There are some real good fighters here that I think you guys will see a lot of in the near future.
Has the altitude in Colorado effected you at all?
I get more used to the altitude each time I come here. It usually takes a few days for my body to adjust to the intense training at this high elevation.
One year since your last fight. What has Sean Tobin been doing?
Yeah it has been a while. I've been getting my own gym up and running back in Mitchelstown and developing my students there. I did have three fights booked during that time though but seemed like they weren't meant to be. First one - the show got cancelled,second one - my opponent got injured, and the third - I got injured. But I am here now, so I feel everything happens for a reason.
Talk a little about your opponent this Saturday. Who is he? What do you know about him?
My opponent is Joey Banks from Duane Ludwig's Bang Muay Thai gym. He has a good record seems aggressive and looks like he prefers to stand and bang it out.
Where do you feel you have the advantage?
I feel like I have an edge in the boxing range, I think I can have success there. But wrestling has always been in my favour in all my fights so I feel like if the opening is there then I'll have an edge there too.
Will this fight lead to more fights over there or is it a one time thing?
Our plan is for me to fight here a few times this year. It just requires extra planning for me to get coaches in place at my gym so I can get to Colorado for a couple weeks ahead of each fight. So you guys might not see me fight in Ireland for a while.
Thank you for your time, Sean. Is there anything else you would like to add.
I just want to thank a few people. As always, my family for always supporting and helping with everything, the guys back at Trials in Ireland for doing a great job while I've been away and everyone at Trials Colorado for all the help and training. Coaches Ryan, Steve, Jerrod and Jesse have been great as well as all my training partners here. And mostly thanks to Ryan Schultz for everything he has done for me. For anyone that wants to watch the fight it will be streamed live on the Sparta Combat League facebook page on Saturday, first fight starts at 7pm Irish time and I'm at the end, so roughly 2/3 hours later.
