Sam Creasey: The Deserved Champion

The first round was the closest of the fight, with Creasey edging it on the feet, with his quick and powerful striking. In the second and third, he harassed Aby by throwing him to the ground back and forth when Aby tried to get up. Several ground strikes showed how dominant Creasey was, in one of the best performances of his professional career.

With a record of 11-3, two of those losses have come in title fights. Creasey was defeated by Nathan Greyson at Cage Warriors 92 in March of 2018 for the flyweight title. Two wins and 16 months later, Creasey was back in the cage competing again for the title. Samir Faiddine was his opponent on the second occasion, he was finished by him as well in the third round to bring more despair for Creasey.

He showed his grit and determination to fight and earn another shot at the title, with three wins on the bounce since his defeat to Faiddine. The flyweight title is now set up with Creasey facing former flyweight champion Luke Shanks, who impressed in a decision victory over Nicolas Leblond.

I had the pleasure of speaking to Creasey following his recent victory.

“Third Times a Charm”: Sam Creasey Interview

Congratulations on your win, it was an extremely dominant performance, how impressed were you with yourself?

Sam Creasey – “Thank you, I’m blessed to come through this fight with no damage and a victory,” he replied. “I’m never impressed by my performances really and this is no different, I see all the flaws in the win things I should have done differently in order to get a more efficient win. That being said Aaron is a tough fight for anyone and on a 5 fight win streak so a clean victory against him speaks for itself.” 

With Aaron being a quality grappler, was it always your plan to throw him on the ground and out-strengthen him?

Sam Creasey – “I didn’t and don’t ever go into a fight with a plan as such,” Creasey responded. “I’m comfortable in all areas of the fight and like to go with what feels right to me during the contest. I felt once I had control of the body standing and on the ground, I would stay in control from thereon.”

You now head into your third title fight and you came on the losing end on both occasions the previous times. Do you feel you’re more ready than ever before and is this your time to shine?

Sam Creasey –  “Third times a charm right? Haha. Who knows to be quite honest, I believe I was winning 90% of both previous attempts at the title and the fact I lost is upon me. I’m always ready and always improving, if this is my moment to shine then it shall be, but I know Luke is coming for that title with his everything too.”

What have you learned and adapted to your game since your last defeat two years ago, because you looked unstoppable last week in potentially your best performance yet?

Sam Creasey – “Improvements are made to my skill set for each fight though I’ve not necessarily shown what I’m really capable of,” he affirmed. “I believe my last fight showed I’m still a decent grappler despite my two previous fights being kept standing.”

Your title fight is set with Luke Shanks, did you watch his fight against Nicolas Leblond. If so, did you have any thoughts on his performance?

Sam Creasey –  “I missed the fight unfortunately but I’ll check it out,” he said “I’m told it was a war and Luke looked like a beast. I’ve trained with Luke in the past and he’s always been a very good fighter but he has come on leaps and bounds since moving up to Scotland with higher level.”

So, what are the aspirations for the future? Inside and outside of MMA?

Sam Creasey – My aspirations for MMA, as always I want to fight the best guys in the world. One fight at a time but I know that I can compete against any flyweight in the world. Outside MMA, career-wise I’d like to do some work in the film industry and set up my own school eventually. Apart from that to be a good husband/father and human.

If you enjoyed this Sam Creasey interview, make sure to check back in for more exclusive conversations with the world’s greatest mixed martial artists.

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Featured Image Credits to Cage Warriors