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TIM RADCLIFFE Clark Kent’s Ready for Finland Super Fight
© Marc Wickert Special thanks to Wad Alameddine
Forget the volcano in Iceland – Tim ‘Clark Kent’ Radcliffe is about to erupt in Finland on May 8, and if Radcliffe has his way, his opponent will definitely be grounded. A brown belt in BJJ, Tim originally trained in traditional Chinese martial arts before he had great success in San Shou competition. “I competed for a number of years on the circuit and I was in the British squad for the World Championships many years back. But like a lot of things, I outgrew it and got a bit bored. At that point I had no idea about submission fighting and only a vague understanding of MMA, but on the request of a friend I went to a BJJ seminar where I met my current BJJ coach, Ricardo Da Silva, and the rest is history,” says Radcliffe. Knucklepit was fortunate to catch up with Mr. Kent at the Daily Planet, where he revealed his first inspiration in martial arts was not Superman, but Sly Stallone. “My involvement in martial Arts was one hundred percent down to Rocky II. It was the first video I ever watched and I was hooked on fighting from that moment. Clearly, my mum didn't want me to box at the age of 12, so she took me to Judo and that was good enough for me to begin with.” So how did Tim earn the nickname ‘Clark Kent’? “It was something to do with my lookalike being Dean Caine from the New Adventures of Superman... and the glasses. And I have a suspicion that it’s because I'm also a bit geeky. My manager thinks it’s because I’m a calm, collected, regular guy outside of the cage (with my classes on). Then I transform when I get into the cage and take my glasses off, turning into a fighter.” Sporting an impressive MMA career of 8-3, Tim will be clashing with Team Finland’s Anton Kuivanen in the evening’s main event on May 8, 2010. And MMA fans can expect this to be a HUGE showdown.
Tim, you defeated Joakim Enberg at Rumble of the Kings in Scandinavia, and you will be fighting in Finland in May. Do you intend pursuing more international competition as well as fighting in the UK? “Absolutely yes! I think that fighting abroad is a great learning process for a fighter; it opens your eyes and makes you more self-confident. It’s also just a great experience and an excuse to see new places. The unknown factor also adds to the challenge of the fight, besides there is nothing like winning on your opponent's home turf. In fact, I’d love nothing more than to come to Australia to fight, hopefully at some point the opportunity will arise, as that would be superb.” Do you find it hard to fight against opponents who have the hometown advantage? “I sometimes think that it actually takes a bit of pressure off as you don't have a large group of friends and family there. I feel you've got less to lose so you can relax and fight knowing that the other guy has those pressures of winning in front of a home crowd......that could just be me as I actually find it a little harder to fight with a hometown ‘advantage’.” And you’re a southpaw? “Oh, yes. Left-handed people are very creative people and thought to be leaders.....not sure what happened to me then ha, ha, ha…...but in the Thai gym lefties are considered freaks.” Can you give a brief rundown of your victory over Abdul Mohamed, please, Tim? “This was one of my biggest fights and I think everyone thought I would lose. In my mind I had everything to gain from it and the guys came up with a great game plan that worked a treat. We planned to keep the fight standing as long as possible and win it there. I had assumed that Abdul would take me down eventually so I practiced to push him away, stuffing his shoot rather than sprawling. The logic behind this was that by sprawling he could still push me to the fence and still get the takedown, but by pushing off and staying on my feet I had a better chance. In the end this worked perfectly.”
What are you expecting from Anton Kuivanen? “I've seen a few fights of his and I think he will be well rounded. He can hit and he has a good ground game. I think a lot will depend on his game plan for this fight so I'm intrigued to see what he'll do.” Is it a title match? “No, this isn't a title match, I don't think... I believe it’s being called a ‘Super Fight’ as it’s the international fight on the card.” How is your Muay Thai coming along? “Pretty good actually. I've been training for a few years now with Theo Theodoulou who is the Thai coach at Nova Forca. Originally I started training stand-up, again out of necessity, but now I do it because I really enjoy it. Recently I have been training at Keddles Gym with Alan Keddle who is one of the best in the UK, which has really helped me improve further.” You have a KO and a TKO to your credit. How do you think your stand-up compares with Anton’s? “It’s difficult to know until you get in there, but mine has been improving! I would still like to knock someone out Van Damme style with a head-kick though. That would be cool. I'll throw it out there this fight and see if I can get lucky, ha, ha, ha.” Who has coached you for this fight? “The main two guys who give me my direction are Ricard Da Silva for all my grappling needs and Theo Theodulou for my Thai. Although recently the guys at Keddles have really helped iron out my stand-up to make it crisp.”
Your training partners? “I spar regularly with Ricardo and Theo; but outside of these guys, the most notable is Jimi ‘The Poster Boy’ Manuwa who trains between Nova Forca and Keddles; Simon Gill who won the Feather-weight Grand Prix on UCMMA recently; and Ed 'The Edge' Lua who is a regular on UCMMA. Aside from these guys there is a huge wealth of training partners for grappling and Thai at Nova Forca. I couldn’t mention all the guys, but they know who they are. “Nova Forca is my home team. I will never outgrow Nova Forca. I have been with Ricardo for nine years or so and we were training together when I was his only student and he couldn't speak English. This arrangement actually tested both my patience and his as communication was almost impossible… I was glad when he started learning English as, not surprisingly; it was about the same time I started to properly learn how to grapple! I will always look for different training partners and places to up my game, but Nova Forca is the place I will always represent.” What will your strengths be against Anton? “I think I can win the fight everywhere, but my ground game is always a place I enjoy to take fights. I know my striking will prove awkward for him, and who knows? I may even pick up that other KO I mentioned earlier.” Your prediction for this bout? “For some reason I have imagined this going the distance and a decision win...not sure why. Maybe a KO by head kick, we’ll see....” Tim Radcliffe’s sponsors? “Primal Fight Gear for all my kit.” Tim, is there anything you’d like to add? “I would like to say a big thanks to all the gang at Nova Forca, and also to Vicky for putting up with the training!”
For more on Nova Forca gym: http://novaforca.com.
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