MANCHESTER hardman Matt Inman wants to emulate MMA icon Conor McGregor with a Cage Warriors title win when he returns to London on Feb 18.
The 19-8 hero will pick up the top European promotion’s welterweight title with a win over Karl Amoussou at the Indigo 02 and quite possibly a life-changing move to the mega-money UFC.
McGregor – the first man to hold two UFC titles simultaneously – started off in Cage Warriors where he held the top belts in those same weight divisions before moving to take over the world’s biggest MMA promotion.
And like the army of Irish fans who swarm to Las Vegas to watch the Dublin megastar wipe the floor with his rivals, Inman expects a legion of Mancunian supporters to witness his super showdown.
Inman said: “I have been fortunate in the way people have got behind me so I am looking forward to bringing a lot of support down from Manchester.
"I think I have had to work a lot harder than most people to pull myself up to this level.
“But that has just meant that my skill, technique, focus and dedication has just had to be 100 per cent.
"I don’t think he has fought an opponent who brings what I bring, with my experience, skill-set and toughness.
“Winning the Cage Warrior title would be huge in terms of my career.
“Cage Warriors has become a really big platform.
“Winning that belt - and being up there with guys who have been Cage Warriors champions before - would be exactly the step forward I have been looking for in my career.
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If risking his life in the brutal business was not daring enough, Inman quit a safe and lucrative career as a trainee lawyer to enter the octagon full-time.
The submission master swapped the robe and wig for grappling gloves and now has the chance to make that brave decision worthwhile.
He said: “I am fortunate that I got to turn my hobby into my job, that is what I get to do and what I have to focus on now.
"I am looking forward to fighting in the capital again.
“Come February 18 I am going to be ready to dig deep and do what it takes.”
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