neil mcleod Extreme force mixed martial arts fighter interview

Neil "Hurricane" McLeod is arguably the most exciting British fighter around. His all-action-balls-to-the-wall style of fighting has resulted in a series of absolute classic fights and soaring popularity amongst fans, fighters and promoters.

McLeod took the fight with Ricky 'Ninja' Salhan on short notice and only a couple of weeks after losing his Extreme Brawl belt to the brilliant newcomer, Paul McVeigh in stunning match.

Pre-fight interview, Extreme Force, 13 July 2003

By Ashley Webb, additional questions by SFUK

AW: Well, Neil, you’re into this at very short notice. How do you feel about this fight all in all?

Neil McLeod: Looking forward to it. I’ve wanted a rematch for a long time now, so I can’t wait to get in there.

AW: Have you trained any differently since you’ve heard that you are going to be in on this one?

Neil McLeod: No, I train all the time anyway, just upped the training. I know he is a tough guy - I look forward to beating him.

AW: OK, do you ever train specifically for your opponents or do you train your own way and that’s that?

Neil McLeod: My training is pretty well rounded anyway from stand up to ground, but normally if I know I’ve got a stand up opponent then I’ll emphasise the take downs obviously, so yeah I change my fight game slightly. But when you get in the cage you tend to change your plans anyway.

AW: Yeah of course. I saw you fighting at Bracknell a few weeks back which culminated in an unfortunate end to the fight for you. Was it just one of those things?

Neil McLeod: Yeah, just one of those things. Loved the fight. Great fight. Really liked the guy, felt I really took him apart until the final 8 seconds (laughs). But win lose or draw doesn’t matter to me cos I get paid, and I get better. As long as they don’t kill me I’m going to get better anyway.

AW: How does it feel to be on a show that most people rate as a big show in terms of international visibility. Does it make any difference to you?

Neil McLeod: The venue doesn’t really matter to me. At the end of the day when I face someone that’s the only person I see - I don’t hear the crowd.

AW: I guess what I’m getting at is that because this event will get a bit more publicity than most, if you do something good here it raises your stock a little bit more in the eyes of the world. Had you thought about that?

Neil McLeod: I’m pretty much a karmic person, I’m a good person. If I do things right good things will happen.

AW: Sure. Good philosophy.

SFUK: I guess we all know that Ninja is gonna want to take the fight to you…

Neil McLeod: Yeah he’s gonna want to hit me, unless he gets tired in which case he’s gonna try to take me down, but pretty much he’s gonna want to stand up and hit me, and that’s cool because I want to trade with him.

SFUK: How do you feel about your climb back to getting your title back? Which opponent would you like to start with?

Neil McLeod: Andy (Jardine) is talking about me fighting an American guy in September on Extreme Brawl 4 and I have spoken to Dougie Truman and he is talking about me fighting for the Cage Warriors title vs Paul McVeigh early next year. The title doesn’t really bother me, whether I’ve got a belt or not. I just want to put on a good fight, a good show. My instructor Eric Paulson says that for every fight you have you gain a year’s experience, so the more fights I have the more experience I will get, and that’s the bottom line, you can’t not get better.

SFUK: How do you explain giving the fight away in the last 8 seconds at the last extreme brawl?

AW: Was that karma gone too far?

Neil McLeod: It certainly was (laughs). It was me being arrogant more than anything. I wanted to beat him at his own game, and his own game was on the ground. It was almost to test myself.

SFUK: McVeigh said you were bashing him from one end of the arena to the other until then. Seriously, he said afterwards, "Look at me, I look like I’ve been run over by a car, and you look at McLeod and theres not a mark on him". Great result though for McVeigh.

Neil McLeod: Yeah, always a pretty face (laughs). I’ll know better next time. I won’t take him as lightly. But its not that I took him lightly even, its just that I was enjoying the fight so much. Fights like that I enjoy so much. I was talking to him, I was talking to his corner, I think he was talking to my corner.

SFUK: It was an amazing fight. Is that part of your fight style or game plan, to have exciting fights? I mean, you’re not like a sort of cold blooded fighter that gains position then bashes your opponent into submission, you give things away when you go for your moves.

Neil McLeod: The bottom line is that I’m not egotistical in any way shape or form, I’m really not. I don’t give a crap whether I win lose or draw, and that’s the honest truth. I’d say that for my first two, three or four fights I did feel that way (wanting to win) but that’s why I’m trying to fight more, so the ego goes out the window. Just get in there, have a great time, have a great tear up. Its almost like its not that big a deal. People look at it like its macho and egotistical, I look at it like ‘it’s a game guys, it’s a sport’. Some people play racquet ball, some people play squash, we play vale tudo.

AW: But it’s a game that you want to win still though?

Neil McLeod: Yeah I want to win, but I enjoy the game, I enjoy the taking part. If I win, great, it’s a bonus.

AW: So you’re saying you don’t want to win at the expense of your karma right?

Neil McLeod: Yeah

SFUK: So when did Aylesbury become a Mecca for the mixed martial arts?

Neil McLeod: (laughs), yeah, no one knew did they!

SFUK: Eric Paulson is your instructor, but he’s a long way away isn’t he?

Neil McLeod: He certainly is. Basically, I moved to Aylesbury when I was 8yrs old, 22 years ago. I started martial arts when I was 10. I started travelling down to London in my mid teens to train with Bob Breen. I started training with Bob when I was around seventeen. Almost immediately in 1991 I was training in Shooto. In 1996 I went to Los Angeles and did some training with Eric (Paulson) and really rated him.

SFUK: On a weekly basis how does it work?

Neil McLeod: We all get together. I run a club in Aylesbury where we have a kick boxing class for an hour, then we have a weaponry class for an hour, and then we have a vale tudo class for an hour and a half. Everything we use comes direct from Eric. All our techniques, all our training comes from Eric. I go out to Los Angeles twice a year to train with Eric, and he gives me loads of information to bring back. Then I come back and we work it.

SFUK: What’s all this about you in back street bars in Bangkok beating people up with sticks then? (jokes)

Neil McLeod: Yeah, we’ve done a bit of that! (laughs). We’ve fought all over the world in sticks.

SFUK: You’ve done stuff without pads haven’t you?

Neil McLeod: I’ve done no holds barred (stick fighting) in the Philippines without pads.

SFUK: Surely that’s got to be about the worst place to do one? I’d say Surrey would be a nicer venue!

Neil McLeod: We were told that there was going to be a regular full armour competition for the light weights. Then we were told there would be a World Championships without the armour, and I was well up for that. Then when we got there no-one wanted to do it including the Filipinos. So it got to the stage where me and my team coach said shall we just fight each other? So we did. They called it a demo match but I still beat the crap out him, busted shin bones and everything. What was good about it was that after the fight the old masters with the scars on their faces came over and checked our wounds and they could see the welts, and they said "you are real stick fighters!" *imitates master’s voice*

SFUK: What did your instructor with the broken shin say?

Neil McLeod: Nothin! Its part of the game.

AW: How does that sort of thing compare to vale tudo?

Neil McLeod: Its (stick fighting) a lot faster, a lot more furious, and hard to judge. I think that like in any arena its an adrenaline rush. That’s probably where my all out style comes from, the fact that in stick fighting its three one minute rounds, and you just have to go for it. It scores like boxing but you just have to go for it, so pretty much that’s where my style of fighting comes from.

SFUK: It must take the fear factor away from hitting or being hit with fists?

Neil McLeod: A punch in the face is stinging, especially vale tudo where you have gloves. A stick getting cracked around your body or your ribs is tough, although again when your adrenaline is on it’s a stinging experience, its not like a baseball bat. I mean how do you actually compare or relate pain, a poke in the eye or a kick in the groin? They both hurt!

SFUK: Thanks Neil. Good luck for tonight

Neil McLeod: Thanks

Neil McLeod post-fight interview, Extreme Force, 13^th July 2003

Interview conducted ringside a few moments after Lee Murray had knocked out Pele

McLeod made short work of the explosive Ricky 'Ninja' Salhan, finishing the fight with a nifty face down armbar in about a minute of the first round. McLeod has been extremely prolific in the two years sabbatical that Salhan has taken from MMA. Experience counts. Alex Evans and Paul Jenkins are perfect examples of fighters notching up loads of experience and getting better every outing. Lack of ring-time is probably what undid the Ninja. For McLeod is was a bounce right back to winning ways.

AW: Congratulations on your win tonight. How did you feel about it?

Neil McLeod: It went exactly how I planned. That’s all I was working in the changing rooms, catch the round (house) kick, go in and double leg takedown, get him out powered, then the armbar, and it worked perfect, it was cool.

AW: Well you make it sound easy. Is that how it felt?

Neil McLeod: I don’t think it ever feels easy, its just nice when it goes your way! (laughs)

AW: So from a karmic point of view, everything flowed right tonight?

Neil McLeod: Everything flowed perfect. I’m gonna go and meditate with my gurus now! (laughs)

AW: Well done

Neil McLeod: Thanks very much

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