IF CONFIDENCE WON fights, Kiefer ‘BDK’ Crosbie would already be a world champion.
SBG’s own, Crosbie just co-headlined BAMMA 35 in Dublin last weekend.
He put away his opponent in just under four minutes of the first round, cheered on by friend and mentor Conor McGregor.
He speaks a lot like McGregor. The same bold confidence, the same witty sense of humour and of course the same fondness of predicting the future. So far, he’s backed it up.
Crosbie even wants a blood-soaked post fight picture of him to go alongside the headline.
“Use the one of me and Conor (McGregor) and maybe the one of me with blood all over me or something!” he jokes.
Yet, he is on the verge of challenging for the BAMMA Welterweight Championship and that is his one and only focus. An undefeated professional record of 4-0 means it may just be a matter of time.
“My sights have been on a world title since I was a kid, and right now I’m in a position to be challenging for a belt.
“I want to be world champion next, that’s the only thing I have on my mind. No other fight makes sense to me,” he states.
The 3 Arena would be the scene for Crosbie’s fourth pro bout. A co-headliner in front of thousands of Irish MMA fans against England’s Josh Plant, the Leicester welterweight smelling blood after gaining a submission victory at BAMMA 34 that took just 55 seconds. The pressure was on.
Crosbie would be forced to show a different side of himself, facing an opponent he’d have to go toe-to-toe with in an all out brawl. Just 3 minutes and 47 seconds later, any doubters had their answer of BDK’s credentials.
The bout was stopped in the first round after three minutes as both fighters went back and forth but it was Crosbie who wanted it more. Finding himself in a position to land multiple elbow strikes to the head of Plant and score a TKO victory.
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“It was just a bit of a scrap,” he says. “Obviously I went into the fight with a different mindset this time, I just kind of wanted a different side, the type of fighter I am. Normally I go into fights very technical and defensively switched on and I don’t really give you a lot.
“I kind of just had that ‘fuck it’ mentally and I was kind of like ‘right let’s go it’s gonna be a fight’ and I just wanted to have a fight like that.”
Crosbie hits hard and hits consistently. He can defend takedowns and is more than comfortable to go down to ground on his terms but Plant was a formidable opponent. The Impact MMA man took the punishment well but it was Crosbie who wanted it more.
He claims he would have fought all day if he had to. Although he says the referee was right to intervene, BDK knows he didn’t sustain much damage and that Plant more than likely would have been ready and willing to fight until the end.
“He was obviously tougher than I anticipated, I didn’t think he’d be able to take my shots the way he was (taking them). Hats off to him, he had a head like a fucking concrete block so he was hard to put away which made it a little bit more exciting I suppose for the fans.
“I always want it more, I’ll always be the last man standing.
“I know there was a lot of blood and stuff and it probably looked a lot worse than it was but the worse I got was a couple of stitches on my eye,” he proudly claims.
A technical fighter, Crosbie has one way to describe himself; ‘I’m a perfectionist that doesn’t believe in perfection’ he states. The inner perfectionist in him will certainly have a lot to say about the nature of Saturday’s fight.
“It’s hard to say best when you get hit and the other guy is doing well as well. I’ve gone in and dominated people, gone into fights and not even got touched. So in terms of being the best performance, probably not. In terms of being the most exciting, 100% by a long shot.
“If that was a co-main event on a big show, it was almost like UFC Dublin. It was nuts,” he laughs.
Former two-weight UFC Champion Conor McGregor was one of the many in attendance to support him and some of his other SBG team-mates in action. McGregor is a long-time friend and has now assumed an almost mentor role in Crosbie’s career.
“He wanted to come and see my fight, he came out to support me and obviously when I was warming up he came backstage and was standing with me.
“He was watching me warm up, he gave me some good advice beforehand and had a chat with me. Obviously I have a lot of respect (for him), he’s a good friend of mine and a long-time teammate.
“He just wanted to see me perform on a big stage, he realised there was a big opportunity for me and wanted to be part of it and I respect that a lot. That’s called loyalty,” he states.
Yet McGregor wasn’t just there to cheer him on. He was there to help Crosbie, he believes in him and knows of his potential. Crosbie doesn’t want the praise, he wants the criticism, so he can better himself.
“After the fight I went to have my stitches in, he came in and he was heavily critical and I’m glad I’m glad he was.
“I don’t need anyone to tell me how good I am, I know how good I am. I need great people to tell me how to get better.
“Taking time out of his life to come see me and talk to me after the fight and tell me what to work on, different techniques I should be drilling, what I done correct and what I done wrong, how to get back to the gym and we talked for a long time,” he reveals.
The 28-year-old has a long amateur background in a variety of different sports. He’s been to a World Championship in kickboxing before exclusively focusing on MMA.
“I started martial arts when I was about 10/11 and I’ve been competing since I was about 12 , I’ve been doing martial arts since I was a kid.
“I had an early kickboxing career, in a lot of competitions, sport kickboxing, karate, taekwondo and stuff like this, I’ve boxed and I’ve done nearly everything.
“When I got a bit older, I got to the World Championships in martial arts and I lost by decision. I got a bronze medal but it was a ropey decision.
“I kind of lost heart in that then so I kinda said ‘I’m not into this kickboxing thing’, it’s very easy to lose fights because it’s not up to me. It’s up to the referee and the judge(s), it’s favoritism.
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He knew his potential and sought after the best place to train. He joined SBG where he trains full-time and also coaches some striking classes.
“I thought back then, who’s the biggest gym in this country? Who’s the best coach? And obviously that was John (Kavanagh) and SBG so it made sense to go there and I’ve been with those lads now a long time.
“I’ve had a lot of amateur fights there, a lot of years in the gym and now I’m early on in my pro career and I’m happy where I am now.”
Saturday’s win was his third after wins over Conor Riordan and Waldemar Cichy at BAMMA 27 and 30 and he has his sights set on the current champion, Terry Brazier. Brazier has an impressive 9-1 record and will be a formidable opponent but Crosbie is by no means short of confidence.
“No other fight makes sense to me, all they have to do is give me a shot at that belt, give me a shot at that champion and I swear to god I’ll go in there and I’ll blow him away in the first round.
“Even if people don’t believe me, you seen the type of fighter I am the other night again.
“If you want an exciting fight, you’re talking to the most exciting fighter in Irish MMA at the minute so put me in there against the champion,” he boldly states.
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He refuses to look beyond a World Title fight, that’s all he wants, for now. A win would see him within reach of the UFC but he knows it’s still early days, he has a lot of fighting to do until he really becomes the fighter he knows he can be.
“UFC, whatever, I’m happy enough doing what I’m doing now. I realise I’m only 4-0, I recognise that. I don’t want to be jumping the queue or anything,” he says.
“I know where I am in my career, I’m still only starting off. I’m still only finding my feet, I’m still only getting comfortable in there. This is nothing, give me a couple more fights and I’ll be more comfortable and more dangerous in there.”
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