Calum Murrie speaks to MMAUK ahead of title fight

Calum Murrie is fighting Luke Ord for the Made 4 The Cage Featherweight title. Murrie is 2-0 (7-0 amateur) and made his pro debut at ACB in Glasgow and looking to experience more big shows.

MMAUK: You are due to meet Luke Ord at Made 4 The Cage for the featherweight title. 

What do you know of your opponent?

How do you see the fight playing out?

CM: I’ve watched a few of his fights. He looks pretty well rounded, decent striking, pretty basic but effective and a tricky jiujitsu style. I don’t really have a game plan for this fight im just going to go in there and have fun.

MMAUK: You are on a good win streak 9-0 in total (2-pro), 6 of these fights were finished by submission.

Would you say you are becoming a bit of a submission expert?

CM: Nah got a long way to go before becoming an expert, I’ve trained jiujitsu for quite a while now and I do like to go for submissions but I will take whatever is there whether it’s a submission, ko or decision.

MMAUK: Having seen your record I was surprised to see you started out in taekwondo.

Can you tell us a bit about your journey to mma?

CM: Yeah I started at my local Taekwondo gym in Alloa in 2008 really to keep me out of bother and give me something to focus on other than fast cars at the time haha after a few classes I was hooked and wanted to train more and compete. Only a few months in I started grappling for a bit of fun down the local judo/mma club and ended up having my first semi pro mma fight at in 2010.

MMAUK: You made your pro debut at ACB 47 at the Hydro in Glasgow. 

How did it feel to make your pro debut at such a big venue in front if a home crowd?

CM: That was a great show to be a part of, the whole build up to that fight was great, I did a couple weeks out at 10th Planet Corona and finished camp back at Higher Level for that fight. There was quite a lot of media and promotional stuff along with it that got me excited about it. Unfortunately my opponent had to pull on the day of the weigh in as his gf went in to labour but I still managed to get a game opponent to step in which was ideal. It was a buzz walking out in the SSE Hydro in front of the home crowd, I had a good support that night.

MMAUK: To make your debut with one of the bigger promotions must have given you a taste of what could come?

CM: Yeah definitely, i just take it a fight at a time but I would definitely like to fight on ACB again, it was a great show with good production. Some buzz.

MMAUK: You fight out of Higher Level Martial Arts, one of the best MMA gyms in Scotland if not the UK.

Has training there taken your game a step up?

CM: Of course, my game has totally changed since moving to Higher Level mma. When I first went to Higher Level I had my Taekwondo and jiujitsu off my back, it was winning me fights but only up till a certain level. Since moving to Higher Level and working with my coach James Doolan I have worked on all aspects of the mma game and I think it has shown in my last 9 fights.

MMAUK: There’s some high profile fighters at the gym, training with them must improve you?

CM: Yeah of course, training with guys like Stevie Ray, Danny Henry, Stevie Mcintosh, your definitely going to improve. The gym is full of talent, there’s never an easy round in sight for mma sparring.

MMAUK: I recently covered Budo 21 in Grangemouth and 5 Higher Level guys were fighting that night, all 5 won, I was impressed with the quality of fighters some of whom were only 17. 

There appears to be a bright future for the gym and MMA in Scotland.

Who would you say to look out for?

CM: The gym is just getting busier and busier. The sport is becoming more well known and more common so more guys and girls are getting in to it at a young age. The future is definitely bright for mma in Scotland and in the Higher level gym, there’s too many to name all the young guys coming through but a few off the top of my head to watch out for are Kunle Lawal, Logan Mcgonagal and Jordan Struthers.

MMAUK: Finally what are you hoping to achieve within MMA?

CM: I really don’t know. Like I said before I just take it a fight at a time, I’m getting old now haha 30 this year. All the training takes its toll on work and family life, but the main thing is im still enjoying my training, and I’m still improving, so as long as I keep winning fights and getting better I will keep competing and see where it takes me.