Tue Trnka discusses Kenneth Rosfort's fight with Greg Loughran

 Pad work with Tue Trnka and Kenneth Rosfort - Courtesy Nicolas Dalby

Tue Trnka is Kenneth Rosfort's coach and is also know for his work as MMA reporter. I asked Tue some question on Kenneth Rosfort vs. Greg Laughran at Cage warriors 37, here is what came of it: 

Kenneth Rosfort has landed a title fight against Greg “Hitman” Loughran at Cage Warriors 37 in Birmingham, England, on May 22. How big is that fight?

- Well, obviously, the fight is a massive one. I mean, for any fighter this is a big fight. The Cage Warriors title is a title with leverage behind it. If you look at their champions, and how they’ve done, it tells you a lot about the event and their level. Of course, we’re looking at this as a terrific opportunity for Kenneth, and he has really deserved it, but we know we’re up against it here.

We’re fighting away from home against a dangerous, seasoned veteran, who’s hungry for a big victory. Hopefully, this fight will be a eye-opener in terms of recognition, as Ian Dean and the team behind Cage Warriors are doing a marvellous job of marketing the event. The winner gets another splendid opportunity in September, as a fight against the former champion, Alexandre “Xandinho” Izidro, already has been lined up, but we’re not even thinking about that possibility right now. All our focus is on Loughran and his skill set.

Do you have any predictions for the outcome of the fight?

- I’m not going to sit here and do a lot of trash talking. Loughran is a great fighter, and we respect his skills a lot. He seems like a likeable fellow, but of course, we believe in Kenneth’s skills, too. I expect Kenneth to come through, but this won’t be an easy fight. What Kenneth does best, is to absolutely destroy his opponents, but of course Loughran is ready for him. Loughran has showed, that he’s a top level fighter. He has improved a lot over the years, after a rough start to his professional career, and his record is deceiving. With wins over quality fighters like Peter Irving, Andre Winner, Francis Heagney, Daniel “Denzil” Thomas and Rob Sinclair, he has proven he’s a legitimate top fighter. He’s one of those fighters, who never back down from a fight, and he has faced so many elite fighters on short notice. I think this will be a gruelling war, and that’s what we’re preparing for. Loughran is really well-rounded, precise and calm under pressure, so he’ll probably look to shut Kenneth down both standing and on the ground. I expect fireworks, to tell you the truth. Both are really good strikers, who also have solid grappling, and we’re preparing for a war. A war of nutrition, as they say. These two are serious, professionals, who come to fight. Both are very exciting to watch, and there’s no doubt in my mind that leather will fly, and the audience is in for a special treat here. We’ll just have to see, who’ll come out on top, I guess, but it should be a sweet ride!

Kenneth was supposed to face Daniel “Denzil” Thomas at Fightergalla 13, but due to the now infamous volcano eruption, that fight was cancelled at the very last minute. Has the training continued at the same pace, or how have you handled that situation?

- Well, Kenneth’s manager, Manos Terzitane of Mano Management, offered us a fight against Jason Ball at Cage Warriors 37, before we knew the Denzil fight was off. So, we had that in mind, when the fight got cancelled, which took some of the frustration away. Then the Ball fight got cancelled, and instead Kenneth was supposed to fight at Fightergalla 14 on 29^th of May. Then, out of the blue, the call for the title fight came, because Izidro had sustained an injury. Kenneth took a week off after cutting weight and all that, in preparation for the Denzil fight, and then started training for the Fightergalla 14 fight immediately afterwards. He’s always in great shape, but of course we’ve upped the stamina training a bit, because the fight is scheduled for five rounds. So, right now we’re training with Loughran in mind, and everything’s going great. As usual, the entire Fightcraft Gym has stood behind Kenneth. This is a team effort, although it’s an individual sport. All the fighters have pushed him in sparring, the coaches have supervised and focused on his technique and conditioning and as usual we’ve also trained a lot with different fighters from other gyms, as well.

How much will the extra two rounds affect Kenneth?

- Honestly, I don’t know. When we got the call, we only had three weeks to prepare, so we haven’t really been able to change that much. But as I said, he was already preparing for a fight, and he’s in excellent shape. Stamina has never been an issue with Kenneth, and he’s always looked ready for more rounds, when his fights have gone the distance, even though he’s been in some gruelling battles. I don’t expect it to be a problem at all, and I actually think it suits Kenneth better, but we won’t know until the fourth and fifth rounds have been completed, now will we?

If Kenneth wins the fight, how do you view the future?

- As I said, we don’t focus on that at all. I have a heard time focusing on anything happening after the 22^nd of May. For sure, a win will boost Kenneth’s career, but we’ll deal with that after the fight. A win sets up the big fight against Izidro, as I said, but that’s not part of our calculation, right now.

Do you have a dream fight for Kenneth?

- Not really… This is it, pretty much. The next big fight has always been Kenneth’s goal, and that’s how we operate with him. In many ways, Kenneth’s different from most fighters. He’s not ambitious like the rest of our fighters, or all the other fighters I know. Yet, he’s without a doubt the best Danish fighter besides Martin Kampmann, and in my opinion one of the best in Europe. Kenneth views each fight as kind of an adventure. Simply put, he loves to fight! Of course, he’d like to see how far he can take it, and he’s as professional and dedicated about his training as the best of them, with 10-14 training sessions per week leading up to a fight. He never puts pressure on himself, and neither does the team, and I think that’s one of the secrets behind his ability to perform. He’s so relaxed. He’s in it for the love of the game, and not because he wants to fight in the UFC or any other big event. There’s no distant goal, and he’s very down to Earth about it. Of course, he’d like to fight against top opponents at major events, but he hasn’t one specific goal or dream with his career. As long as he enjoys training and fighting, he’ll fight on. We take one fight at a time, and as he keeps on defeating better and better opponents, we keep on advancing to the next level, so to speak. In many ways, this is kind of a dream fight for him, as it’s a really big fight against a dangerous opponent for a major organization. This is the biggest fight of his career by far, and he’s more excited than ever before. He always performs amazingly, and I think this fight against Loughran, win or lose, will showcase just how good Kenneth really is.

Anything else you want to add?

- I’d like to thank Ian Dean of Cage Warriors for giving us the opportunity, Manos Terzitane making it a reality and the team of trainers and fighters at Fightcraft Gym for making Kenneth ready for this fight. We’ve worked so very hard and dedicated for each and every fight, and his progression has been incredible. I think Kenneth deserves this fight more than anyone else, and I’m so appreciative of the Cage Warriors team’s job with this. I also want to thank promoter Carl Otto Knudsen, who acted very professionally, when we got this fight. He didn’t make a problem out of us cancelling Kenneth’s fight at Fightergalla 14, even though he had put in time and energy in finding Kenneth a worthy and willing opponent. Knudsen has promoted Rosfort well, and more or less solely promotes Danish MMA at the highest level, and has over the yeas kept on promoting major events from European Vale Tudo to Cage Challenge to Fightergalla.

Thank you for the interview!

- It’s all on me! Thank you for conducting the interview, DanishMMA.com, and thank you for doing a good job, giving the Danish MMA fighters some well-deserved publicity.