Toni Tauru talks to Kingdom MMA ahead of Cage Warriors 72 title fight against Cory Tait
by Ben Heather @benheather |
| Copyright: Dolly Clew | Cage Warriors |
Next Saturday in Newport, Wales a new Cage Warriors bantamweight champion will be crowned. Brett Johns was forced to vacate the title earlier this year after missing weight against James Brum in a fight he then went on to dominate. Since then the title has been on the shelf that is until next weekend when Toni Tauru and Cory Tait go to war to decide who the next champion will be. Before that fight Toni Tauru took some time out of his schedule to talk to Kingdom MMA about his upcoming fight.
Ben: Hi Toni, thank you for your time ahead of the big fight, when did you find out you would be fighting for the title and what was your reaction?
Tauru: I don't remember when exactly but it was probably a couple of weeks before the announcement. My manager called me and asked would I be interested about fighting for the title and I was like hell yeah! I didn't know who I was fighting but it didn't even matter because I felt that I'm ready to go.
Ben: This will be your second time fighting for Cage Warriors. Would you say that they are the top European promotion?
Tauru: Absolutely, no questions. Cage Warriors has been putting up high profile events for years in many different countries and they have very skilled rosters.
Ben: How would it feel to be crowned Cage Warriors bantamweight champion in Newport?
Tauru: Awesome of course. I have been fighting and training many years now and I have been able to keep on evolving after every fight. I think that this is going to be the first very big turning point in my career.
Ben: Brett Johns was stripped of the Cage Warriors bantamweight title for missing weight against James Brum but still went out and put on a champion worthy performance. Do you feel that even if you win the title you need to beat Johns to solidify your reign as the champion considering he never actually lost the belt?
Tauru: Well I didn't make the rules and Brett missing his weight was unprofessional, though I don't know what was behind it. But I'm more than happy to face off with Brett in the future.
Ben: For the welsh fans who may not have seen you fight before can you tell me what they can expect to see next weekend?
Tauru: They will be seeing a quality fight and considering my and Cory's history, the fight won't last 5 rounds.
Ben: This will be the first time you have fought outside of Scandinavia. How excited are you to be fighting in the UK and put on a show for the welsh fans?
Tauru: Yeah this is my first fight outside Scandinavia but I have been fighting homeboys in my biggest victories. So its ok for me to fight in the UK against a UK based fighter. I'm waiting to see if the audience is going to make some serious noise, as I expect and a couple of boooo shouts would be welcome also.
Ben: Last time you fought, fellow Scandinavian fighter Nicolas Dalby was crowned the Cage Warriors welterweight champion. Does his success for Scandinavian fighters inspire you to achieve the same goal against Cory Tait?
Tauru: Maybe in someways. I think that generally speaking we have good thing going on in Scandinavia even that we are separate countries. I would be happy to see Nicolas keeping his belt. This is actually the third time that we are on same card together.
Ben: What do you know about Cory Tait and do you think you match up well with him and have you been training for anything specific because of Tait's skill set?
Tauru: I have seen some of his fights and we have very different styles. I always like to study my next opponent so i know what kind of stuff he likes to do and what I'm going to be doing and training. I know him now and i have some tricks waiting. I believe that we are a great match up because we are always trying to find the finish. It should not be boring.
Ben: How do you see yourself winning the fight in Newport?
Tauru: Guys are always easier to finish off when you punch them in the face first and yes I'm probably going to go with that.
Thank you very much for your time, we wish you all the best and look forward to seeing you in action in Wales.
Toni Tauru vs Cory takes place at Cage Warriors 72 on Saturday 13th September from Newport, Wales and with two titles on the line plus other fights including Mills vs Marshman it is sure to deliver.
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