Liberty’s Dylan Bowker spoke with Michael Hay ahead of his Bantamweight title fight at Unified MMA 33 against Noah Ali.
We discussed the ever changing Jiu Jitsu game within both MMA and submission grappling, not being able to appreciate the pageantry of big events he’s competing on (1:55), certain pressures he’s facing going into the title fight with Noah Ali (3:05), desire to compete on EBI or Submission Underground (4:42), the benefits of being more of an active competitor this year (5:37), learning from defeat and getting that much better (7:51), getting to train with Valentina Shevchenko in Edmonton prior to her UFC Women’s Bantamweight title fight (8:49), being regarded as a submission heavy fighter and the confidence that comes from his ever improving striking not being showcased as much (10:07), wrestling in high school to build a strong base for a future MMA career (11:27), learning from hard training sessions where he gets pushed to his limits (12:59), training to hip hop and suggesting that promoters play music during fights (13:50), his buddies comparing him to pro wrestler Michael “PS” Hayes (14:52), and more!