“Chopper” Chi Lewis-Parry, 6-1 (2KOs), is characteristically bombastic ahead of his GLORY SuperFight Series main event vs Moe 'The Pirate' Greene, 4-2 (2KO). The British born kickboxer is predicting not only a KO in Virginia, but one sufficiently impressive to earn him a title shot later this year.
“'Moe the Pirate' is getting sunk. That's the gameplan,” he said. “He's going to need to wear a pirate eye-patch over his whole face by the time I have finished busting him up. I am going to kick one of his legs off so he can finally get himself a wooden one to go with his nickname.”
Chopper – best known to UFC fans as Daniel Cormier’s training partner who usually has something to say about Jon Jones – added: “It's been over a year since I fought for GLORY and now to be back in the ring and ready to reclaim my shine is very exciting. This is a really important fight for me.”
Lewis-Parry has trained for this fight at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, where he has spent the last four or so months as part of training camps for both “DC” and Cain Velasquez. San Jose, California is a long way from London but Lewis-Parry says the team already “feels like home”.
“There's an arsenal of athletes at American Kickboxing Academy and it's a pleasure and an honor to be there. The talent in the room is incredible but there's no attitude from anyone, everyone collaborates with each other and takes what they can from each other's game. It's like a family,” he says.
In recent weeks the team's focus was on getting Cormier ready to rematch bitter rival Jon Jones at UFC 200. Of course, days out from the fight, Jones was removed from the card after failing a prohibited substances test administered by USADA.
Lewis-Parry was in Las Vegas with Cormier when the news broke.
He said: “UFC 200, we're in Vegas for the biggest event probably in the history of fight sports. 'DC' was ready, really ready, to take Jones on. He was more than prepared. Then Jones failed his test and was pulled out. The vibe among the camp in Vegas, we kept surprisingly calm and positive, but 'DC' was very frustrated. He had trained very specifically for Jon and it was all about beating Jon.
“I was also personally invested because I don't like Jones on a personal level. But what's done is done now and, for his own sake, his family's sake, I hope he is able to overcome this. We're all human beings and you have to have empathy. I don't want to see him come to bad end.”
He does, however, have a bad end in mind for Greene on Friday. “I like to give the fans what they want to see and you are going to see that on Friday night when I flatline Maurice Greene have and remind people what I am about.
“I am the full package. I am not just an athlete, I am an entertainer. You watch these other guys doing their videos and photos and they are just flat, they are not putting energy and effort into everything like I am. I'm here to entertain people, that's what I am about and that's why I need to be the champion. The current guy Rico Verhoeven is boring. So first I win this fight and then I am calling him out. We have a date, and he's buying.”
GLORY SuperFight Series 32 is live on FIGHT PASS Friday at 7:30PM ET and for a preview click here
DON’T MISS PANCRASE – FEATURING UFC ALUMNI – THIS SATURDAY
If you are a UFC FIGHT PASS subscriber and haven’t yet checked out a live Pancrase event, this weekend’s Pancrase 279 will serve as a fine introduction to the modern Pancrase.
And there are several fighters in action who will be very familiar to UFC fans.
The eagerly-awaited main event sees Jonathan Brookins challenge old rival Shintaro Ishiwatari for the Pancrase bantamweight championship. Brookins, UFC fans will recall, won the 12th season of The Ultimate Fighter in December 2010, beating Michael Johnson in the finale. But after going 1-3 in the UFC’s featherweight roster, he briefly retired from the sport before returning and, ultimately, settling in the Pancrase organization.
Brookins, 15-7 in MMA, actually outpointed Ishiwatari in a cracking non-fight two years ago. That November 2014 win was his lone bout in Pancrase but now he returns for the rematch with the title on the line.
The 31-year-old champion is 19-6 in MMA and has reigned as the King of Pancrase’s bantamweight division for almost half a decade. While Brookins hasn’t fought since while Ishiwatari has gone 2-0 since, including a win in a non-title fight and a successful defense of his King of Pancrase crown. Ishiwatari feels his legitimacy as champion will be validated with a big win over the TUF winner.
Also on the card, former UFC middleweight title challenger and seven-year UFC veteran Yushin Okami makes his return to Pancrase to face No.1 ranked welterweight contender – and former Pancrase champion - Shingo Suzuki.
Okami – who faced the likes of Anderson Silva, Rich Franklin and Chael Sonnon in the UFC – last competed in Pancrase in 2004. The popular Japanese fighter turned 35 today, and a win over big-punching Suzuki would almost certainly put Okami next in line for a title shot at reigning welterweight King of Pancrase Akihiro Murayama.
Pancrase 279 starts at 11pm PT/2am ET this Saturday night on UFC FIGHT PASS; and the entire card will then be available on replay, on-demand, within an hour of the original live broadcast. For a preview, click here
McGREGOR vs DIAZ GETS THE TWENTY/20 TREATMENT
The brand new episode of FIGHT PASS’s popular Original Series – TWENTY/20 – will drop on Tuesday July 26.
This time the UFC’s definitive repeat viewing experience focusing on the already infamous UFC 196 main event between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz. With the UFC 202 rematch coming in just a matter of weeks, can TWENTY/20’s mix of statistics and analysis give a clue to who wins the return bout?
To enjoy the opening three minutes of the episode as a special preview, click here
FIGHT PASS TWENTY/20: McGREGOR v DIAZ 1, drops Tuesday July 26.
