Hi Mark, Thanks so much for taking the time to speak to us today. Catch us up on how training has been this year and how your recent trip to Texas was?

Training this year has been great. We were at Kingsway for almost four months. Earlier in the year we were there for, you know, just under four months. And that was absolutely incredible. The guys there were getting ready for ADCC trials and CJI so, it was a phenomenal room to be there training with the guys. We came back home and have basically just copied to a tee what they were doing there with regards to their sessions.

What was it like being in such a high level room before a massive comp. Like CJI?

They were obviously peaking for CJI, it was incredible. I feel like the last few months there, I made like years worth of progress. I did the ADCC trials and now I am home and back to business. We've got Euros (IBJJF), coming up next.

You mention ADCC trials, congrats again on another gold medal performance. Talk to us a bit about the trials.

It was not instant gratification, you put the work in and the reality is that the trials are won again. So yeah, honestly it does feel great, but I also was expecting it. I don't mean  to be arrogant. But my ultimate goal is to win the ADCC and again not to sound arrogant but, to win you truly need to believe that you will win. I know of course it will be difficult to win again but, the main thing is to keep going and not dwell on things. Never getting too high or low on something. The reality to me is that it is just another step on the ladder and there are a lot of improvements to be made.

Scottish grapplers have been breaking on to the scene a bit more in recent years, how has it been competing on the global stage coming from a place that isn’t necessarily a “hub” for grappling?

I am pretty sure that I am the only person from Scotland to win the IPL powerlifting world championship and one of the few from Britain. From Scotland, I am not sure if anyone has even qualified for worlds before. So, I guess believing that I could do it considering the situation has something to do with a healthy form of delusion haha and that has carried over to grappling.

Mix that with the discipline to to actually back up and be willing to do what it takes. You know, because as I say, we're from Scotland and it's like we're not particularly good at anything and all honestly or not anymore so, it’s wanting to always prove that wrong.

When do you think you started to take sport a bit more seriously or start to think about in terms of a professional career.

I have actually done sports as long as I've been alive. I did rugby when I was really young, I played football, I started boxing, I don't remember exactly when, maybe 11 years old, 10 or 11 years old. I boxed competitively. I wasn't very good, but I did that for a while, I'd say growing up, I wasn't particularly good at any sport. If I am being honest, I would say that I was probably very, very lazy, actually. That was probably one of my downfalls, especially with boxing. I'd say with boxing, I was probably pretty technically good. You know, I would go out in the first round and do great, and then I'd lose the second or third round because I was so unfit. And I think, honestly, I think when I got to 15 or 16 and and I started to get left off and things began to change.

Now lets look forward, what is next for you? What is still motivating you to keep going on?

There is  so much more to do…Like, I've won the most trials ever from the UK. But the reality is the UK is a tiny island. I want to be the best at something from a worldwide perspective. So that's the case of ADCC. You know, it's like the literal best, the best guys. So, you know, if you win ADCC, you are like undisputedly the best grappler on the planet.That is what I want.

I've experience defeat massively. And the reality is, that it  is not actually a bad thing. You know, it’s an opportunity to get better. And I don't mean to say that to like saying strength or anything, but it really is true. And the reality is, is that again, if you can't deal with embarrassment and defeat and making a fool of yourself. You're not willing to do what it takes. The best guys in the world have all suffered defeat and lost and, you know, at some point and just been willing to be a man, take on the chin and just just crack on. 

That’s awesome Mark. Thanks so much for the time. It has truly been a pleasure connecting with you. And just want to wish you the absolute best on behalf of the Progress community!