Sitting pretty at 170

We made the fight happen



I’m going to smash him



It doesn’t matter how the win comes—but it will

Beating people until the day he dies



Ready to remind people exactly who Lew Long is

There’s no UFC this weekend, but there’s still plenty to get your teeth stuck into if you’re an MMA fan.On Saturday night, Made4TheCage heads to Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England for Made4TheCage 23: Carnage. The fight card features a mouthwatering welterweight title clash between two British fighters looking to make a big impact on the world scene in 2017.On one side of the cage, undefeated Ryan Scope (10-0) will move up from lightweight to face Welshman Lew Long (13-4) in a fight between two of the UK’s most talented mixed martial artists currently unsigned to a major promotion.Speaking exclusively to FloCombat yesterday, Long said he was feeling nice and relaxed before the fight and that he was just counting down the days until he steps into the Made4TheCage arena.“I’m feeling just awesome you know, usual same generic fighter response to that,” Long said, with a laugh. “I’m sitting pretty, feeling confident and I’m ready to fight. Making 170 is easy for me.“I love to cook you see, I got a house full of spices and that. I just clean my diet up and take out the wine gums and cookies—those are my thing so I kick them out. I just make it cleaner, more veggies, step up the intensity in the training and it [weight] just comes off easy for me. But you know, whether you are losing a pound or twenty pounds—it sucks.”Long, 27, then explained how the fight with Scope got booked. Suffice to say, it wasn’t exactly the usual way for fights to be made these days.“I was looking to get a fight early in the year because it wasn’t exactly a great year for me last year,” Long explained. “Cage Warriors told me their cards were full, but then out of nowhere, Ryan messaged me.“We talked about it a bit, then went through the proper channels and then we got the s*it together and basically just sorted it out.”The fight between Scope and Long should be a fascinating one with both fighters very competent in both the standup and grappling areas. Long thinks he knows what to expect from the Englishman and says that on fight night he’s going to prove he holds the advantages everywhere.“I think I’ve seen everything I need to know,” Long said. “I got an idea of how I want to fight and how he likes to fight. I’ve done all the preparation I’ve needed to do for this. My coaches have been there with me, helping me. I’m feeling good, feeling confident about it you know.“I know he’s fit, very strong. You saw how he [Scope] ended up taking it to from that guy in the east. He ended up taking it to him with the wrestling, but that’s something I’m ready for you know. I’ll beat him everywhere, I don’t care. It doesn’t matter what you think or what he thinks. He might be better than me—fitter, stronger, faster, but that don’t matter a dime. I’m going to smash him.”When asked how he could see the fight ending, Long wasn’t fussy about what type of stoppage comes his way. All the Welshman was adamant about was that he was going to get the job done on Saturday night.“I’m a fan of body shots, but it just doesn’t matter how it happens,” Long said. “As long it happens that’s fine by me—and it will. Trust me, it will. I got no predictions for the fight like. Like I said, I’m just going in there 100-percent for all three rounds.”Having won six of his last seven fights against good European fighters, Long has been a fighter a lot of UK MMA fans have been keeping an eye on. Asked what his long terms goals were, Long wasn’t so keen to put massive targets in front of himself about joining the world elite organizations. Instead, the Welshman focused fully on winning and only that.“I don’t really think about it that much, I just go with it and try and beat who is in front of me,” Long said. “I’ll beat Scope now, I’ll beat Karl Amoussou, and then I’ll just keep beating people until I die. It was the hardest year of my life 2016 for whatever reasons and some of them are still ongoing—trust me there will be a book on what I’ve been through.“But, I stayed in the gym and I’ve trained twice a day and I’ve stayed true to what I do. I’ve had a lot of troubles with illness and fought when I shouldn’t have fought, but that’s the risk you take you know. I guess that’s the way it is.”Long then explained what his immediate future was all about. For him at least, he starts with a fresh late on Saturday night and it’s all about showing people again what he can.“I don’t do this [fight] for the attention, but I was on a five, six fight win streak, stopping everyone, but after that one defeat last year everyone forgot about me you know—I just have to show people who I am again.“Oh hell yeah. A happy fighter is a dangerous fighter and I’m feeling good man—feeling great. You can give me a call after and wish me congratulations—I know what’s going to happen—I know.”Quite the character is Mr. Long.