By Jake Smith
As Day 2 of the 2021 IMMAF World Championships ends, several new faces have emerged as top prospects in the competition.
One of which is English Mixed Martial Arts Association Welterweight prospect Teddy Stringer. With his place booked in the quarter-finals, the 21-year-old sat down with IMMAF to discuss his World Championships journey so far.
Despite this only being his second IMMAF tournament appearance, Stringer is no stranger to the cage. Having competed 14 times on the UK scene. One difference he has found between the two is ensuring that the body and mind are fully recovered every day. He explained:
“Recovery all day. Normally when I fight in the UK, I fight, then I go and have a few beers with my mates and chill, celebrate the win, eat some bad food but today I’ll go back and try and get as much rest as possible. Ice bath. Sauna, eat good food, recover. That’s the priority, I want it to go again tomorrow and I want to get rid of any little niggles or injuries I have.”
The mantra which Stringer sticks by to maintain mental clarity is one that not only helps keep him grounded and maintain his hunger on the quest for gold.
“Go to sleep a champion, wake up a novice.”
“That’s the one, I want to wake up a novice. Fresh and ready to go again, what happened yesterday doesn’t matter to me.”
Stringer will need to be on top form as, after an emphatic second-round stoppage against Ireland’s Ethan Guerin on Day 2, he will take on Pound-4-Pound number one Ramazan Gitinov in the Quarter Finals.
A challenge that may intimidate many, a defiant Stringer is relishing the opportunity to face off against the defending World Champion, admitting he has had his sights set on a showdown with Gitinov since the start of the championships.
“The mental recovery has been about not thinking about that (Gitinov) fight today more than yesterday, because I’ve wanted that fight since day one.
“I’ve been saying to all the English coaches ‘I am coming for Gitinov.’ I said it to the camera when I finished the fight today, I said ‘That’s number two. Gitinov, I’ll see you tomorrow.’
Stringer has scouted out his fellow 170lbs competitors and is keen to see how the division plays out. He said:
“I’ve looked at the division and I know he’s probably going to be the first person I know that I need to beat, then there is Murad (Guseinov) and Jovidon Mahmudov from Tajikistan. Those two are going to be on the other side of the bracket. I imagine I’ll face Jovidan in the final but I’ve just got to get past both the Bahrainis tomorrow and the day after.
“I want to win tomorrow and become P4P number one. I’m going to inherit that title, that’s the mindset.
“That’s tomorrow’s problem, I’m going to reset, wake up, go again. I want to see it in Cage 1 tomorrow, on the big screen, find lots of space for me to move around, jab his head off and show him how the English boys grapple!
“I’m just ready to do me, put on my performance; it doesn’t matter to me who the opponent is but I just know that when I beat him, that just levels up my name and puts respect on me.”
The remainder of the 2021 IMMAF World Championships, hosted by the UAE Jiu-Jitsu & MMA Federation, supported by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council in partnership with Palm Sports, can be streamed live on IMMAF.tv.
