Luke Riley prepares for the fight. Not in the UFC or Cage Warriors, but in an amateur fight in Thailand, at only 10 years old.It was there, skipping school to fight on the other side of the world, where Riley knew that mixed martial arts would be his life.At 13 years old, he won a European Muay Thai title in Liverpool, but he wasn’t satisfied. What bothered him wasn’t his performance or the level of competition, but the lack of violence.
At my age, I’m disappointed to have to use protection and not be able to strike with elbows and knees. People don’t really get hurt, there are just cuts and bruises, nothing too serious. I’d prefer there was no protection and we could fight with bare shins and use all the moves.
Luke Riley
Riley can’t imagine what he would be doing if he weren’t a professional wrestler. It’s all he knows.Obviously, I come from a working-class family. So any money that was earned was spent on me to pursue this career basically. I can’t wait to pay them back in the future. It’s always been a big motivator. Honestly, just rewarding them and anyone who has been by my side from the beginning and helped me. I’ve always wanted to be able to reward them in the future and I’m going to do it, definitely.
Luke Riley
Riley has fulfilled his ambition, first becoming one of Europe’s most promising talents with Cage Warriors, and then winning his first UFC fight by knockout, three months after signing with the company last year.His rapid hands sent Bogdan Grad to the canvas before unleashing a series of ground strikes to secure the victory by stoppage in the second round in Qatar and maintain his undefeated professional record.Sometimes I think about it, but it’s very difficult to think about that. The common options are being in jail or doing this. I don’t know… I wish I could tell you, but everything has come to a good end. So I’m here now, where I said I would be, in the UFC. The best, the biggest, the big league, the best promotion. So I don’t need to think like that.
Luke Riley
With roots in Muay Thai, Riley preceded his UFC debut with an 11-win streak in Cage Warriors, with nine of those victories by TKO or knockout.His action-packed fighting style, along with his microphone skills, made him an asset to Dana White, whom Riley did not hesitate to challenge when he was regularly winning in Cage Warriors.The fact that the 26-year-old fighter is part of the co-main event in his return to the UFC, ahead of Bellator star and now UFC fighter Michael “Venom” Page, who is further down the main card, says a lot about the potential that the organization sees not only in his skills, but also in his brand.Riley has already gotten used to the treatment received.I’ve been telling you about Luke for years, I always knew he’d end up in the big show. He’s destined for greatness, he’s going to be one of the most important fighters in the featherweight division, everyone will know who he is.
Paddy Pimblett
For the joy of his parents, the fight ended up working out for Riley.I have my equipment bag, the things with the PI [Performance Institute], preparing your food. The whole place, how it works. It’s a proper promotion. I’m looking forward to doing my thing, I’m not a big fan of intervening at the last minute. I feel like you should do things on your own. It should be you. I want a full camp of eight to ten weeks, fighting against the best in the world. It will be on my terms when it comes to fighting.
Luke Riley
Now he has another opportunity, in what will be his first UFC fight at home on March 21st, to show the world that there is another “Scouser” ready to triumph on the biggest stage, and that he doesn’t get knocked out either.I’m a kind of businessman. I just get in the cage and take care of business. The UFC runs the show very well. It met all expectations… I’m happy to fight.
Luke Riley
