Tom Green is a Mixed Martial Artist, possibly best known as the Fusion Fighting Championship Featherweight Champion. We last spoke to tom back in mid 2016 as part of our article The Best MMA Gloves – According to UK Fighters.
This time, we spoke to Tom a bit more in depth to find out a little bit about his favourite gear and training advice.
Hi Tom, before we get started, do you want to give us a quick summary about yourself?
I’m Tom the ‘K9’ Green, FFC Featherweight Champion and former Queensbury Rules Boxing, Middleweight Champion. Send anyone you want but don’t send anyone you want back.
So to start off with, what would you say stands out most as your favourite piece of fight gear?
My favourite piece of fight gear has to be my Fight Lab MMA shorts, they look and feel great, fitting the Thai style into an MMA short. I also have to mention my Twins boxing gloves.
How long have you been using those, or other products from the same brand?
I discovered the MMA shorts around 3 months ago after one of the guys from the gym kept raving about them, so I checked them out and ended up buying a pair and the rest is history! My Twins boxing gloves have literally lasted me well over a year and are still going strong, no other gloves have ever lasted me more than a few months.
What was the reason behind you getting those particular gloves in the first place?
When I very first started boxing, the gym had an old pair of Twins that I started using. Since then I’ve tried every other brand of gloves and none have ever come close to the quality of them.
What would you say are the stand-out features of them and what makes them better than other brands?
The shaping of the glove is distributed well all over, opposed to right in the end of the knuckles. Something that I find usually causes me wrist injuries and that specific shape gets in the way when in the Thai clinch. They have a lot of movement in them and always manage to stay strong without falling apart.
With your fight gear, do you tend to stick to a few select brands, or do you like to mix it up with a nice variety?
Now that I am no longer sponsored by a brand, I do like to mix it up especially with designs that look cool. As a wise man once told me ‘if I don’t look good, I can’t feel good and if you don’t feel good you can’t have good technique’ shout out to Blackhouse’s Kenny Johnson aka Bolt Wrestling for those words of wisdom.
Is there any other gear you just love to use when training?
Whilst on a fight camp at Blackhouse in LA, I was introduced to Sweet Sweat. It is perfect for shedding water to help weight cut, I can’t recommend it enough.
How much of your training is dedicated to martial arts/technique training and how much is dedicated to other aspects such as cardio, strength and conditioning?
I train every day for 3 hours in martial arts, I am very heavily into cardio as I used to compete in athletics at a regional level however I believe that technique is the most important aspect of my training. I also do power and endurance at the UPT Gym 2-3 times per week, training functional and explosive movement.
What are your thoughts on sparring – Should you go in hard and heavy, or keep it light and technical?
My favourite thing about training is moving light and technically with someone as it allows you to think and try new things without the fear of getting smashed. Training in this way helps to translate technique into heavy sparring and embedding it into part of your game. I only heavy spar 2 times per week when in fight camps.
What pushes you to do your best during training?
I am in a constant battle with myself to be the best that I can be and not be outworked. I believe that what you put in you will get out.
And finally what’s your best training tip for aspiring fighters out there?
My advise to any aspiring fighters out there is don’t overlook any aspect of the game, make yourself obsessed with it as this will make you think about your techniques and keep it in the forefront of your thinking. For motivation I always try to rate myself out of 10 for each session, aiming to hit a minimum of a 7 every time. This will push you to work harder on your off days.
If you liked this, you can keep an eye on Tom through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.