The Daily Telegraph - 29.08.2019

Sport

H

aving retired from

professional rugby

in May after 17 years

of brutal,

unremitting physical

punishment, you

might expect James Haskell to be

ready to give his body a rest.

Not a bit of it. A summer spent

DJ-ing in Ibiza and dealing with

rumours regarding him taking part

in I’m a Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of

Here! – suggestions he dismisses as

“a bit of tabloid spice” – clearly did

not satisfy the former England

international and a search for the

next challenge was on.

So instead of putting his feet up,

the hulking back-row forward has

signed with Bellator MMA, one of

the leading mixed martial arts

organisations in the world, to pit

himself – in the cage – against

heavyweight fighters.

Make no mistake, Haskell is

aware of what he is getting into. I

have known the 34-year-old for

years. I have worked with him on

MMA shows on television, and his

interest in the sport and

knowledge of it runs deep. Haskell

has previously used ju-jitsu as part

of his rugby training, saying it

helped in positioning himself to

steal the ball during his 77 caps for

England in a 12-year international

career. But now it is time for the

real thing.

At 6ft 4in and 18st 8lb you

might think Haskell has a

natural advantage but, when

we speak, he has just been in

a wrestling session where he

has been “owned” by a

much smaller man.

“There are people that

can fold you up like a travel

mat at the gym,” he says.

“But I’m already taking this

deadly seriously.”

This is no experiment, he

insists, and should not be

bracketed alongside the likes of

cricket all-rounder Freddie Flintoff

taking up boxing.

“Oh, God. If I looked like

Freddie Flintoff did when he got in

that ring, I’d be f------ embarrassed.

Those boys are fannying around. It

looked like he’d never taken a

punch before. That won’t be me.

This is a complete career change.

I’m in this. I will work hard.

“I’m not a novelty. The way they

train at London Shootfighters

[gym], where I train, I will have

had 40 or 50 fights before I have

my first official fight.”

So how did it come about? “I got

a phone call from my agent after I

retired and he said the fight

promoter Bellator wanted to do

some stuff with me. Brilliant,

I thought.

“I used to do an MMA show on

BT and I still get people who

come up to me saying they

loved that show. But my

agent laughed and said

they wanted to do

something else. They

suggested transitioning

into MMA. I laughed

nervously, at first.

Then I looked at the

situation and I got

quite excited about it.

Excitement and fear. I

was done with

rugby and this

is another physical journey.”

Yet even someone as used to

physical pain as Haskell was

unsure about the switch.

“In rugby, they put players on

pedestals as tough guys. Rugby

makes those demands but MMA is

a completely different discipline

and mentality of training. I said I’d

only do it if we did it properly. I

didn’t want to p--- around.

“The first thing I did was speak

to the guys at London

Shootfighters, who I’ve known for

20 years, and asked them was I

insane to consider this? They all

said no, if I did it properly.”

And Haskell has been doing it

properly. His wife, Chloe Madeley,

asked whether he was ready to

take it easy after one particularly

strenuous wrestling session, but

Haskell is not for turning, no

matter the risks. “I see a lot of

people saying I’m going to get

f------ killed,” he admits. “Nobody’s

applying normal logic to this. You

don’t remember Conor McGregor’s

or Mike Tyson’s first fight.

“It’s a progressive process. I’m

going to get in the cage when I’m

ready and I feel comfortable. I go

Hardest game:

James Haskell in

training and

(right) playing for

England

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

James Haskell tells

Gareth A Davies that his

taking up MMA is a very

serious commitment

‘If I look like Flintoff, I will be embarrassed’

‘I’m an

ex-rugby

player. I

do what

I’m told

in the

gym’

‘This is a

personal

test. I

want to

see

what I’m

about’

Vunipola to be fit for World Cup opener

By Ben Coles

Mako Vunipola, the England prop,

is still on track to be fit for the start

of the World Cup after the Rugby

Football Union confirmed that he

would require 10 days’ rehabilita-

tion following an injury against

Ireland last Saturday.

Vunipola has a small tear of scar

tissue, the RFU revealed, which has

led to Exeter Chiefs prop Ben Moon

being called up to train with the

squad as a temporary replacement

during their camp in Treviso.

Moon, who has eight caps and last

featured against Scotland in the Six

Nations, has dropped down the

pecking order at loosehead prop

since Joe Marler’s decision to come

out of international retirement.

Ellis Genge, the Leicester prop,

is  the other option in England’s

31-man squad.

Vunipola has only played 17 min-

utes of rugby since suffering a ham-

string injury during the Champions

Cup final for Saracens, with his

comeback against Ireland cut short.

His latest setback will keep Vuni-

pola out of England’s final World

Cup warm-up match against Italy in

Newcastle a week tomorrow.

England’s first game at the tour-

nament comes against Tonga on

Sept 22, giving Vunipola plenty of

time to recover, but leaving him

short of match fitness.

Meanwhile, Welsh Rugby Union

chief executive Martyn Phillips has

said that Wales will review the 60-

cap rule, which prevents players

with fewer than 60 caps from play-

ing for Wales if they move abroad,

at the end of the World Cup.

and do it and it’s as simple as that.

I don’t really care who I fight.”

Haskell has been training for

three weeks now. Does he feel like

a fighter?

“I have been in fights in my life,

but am I a natural fighter? I don’t

know. I feel like I’m a fighter and

aggressive, but everyone’s got a

game plan until they’re punched

in the face, as Mike Tyson used to

say. I’ll find out pretty quickly

what my mentality is.

“There’ll be moments where

I’m thinking what the f--- am I

doing and others where it feels

natural.”

But he is realistic about where

he is right now. “I’m a 34-year-old

ex-rugby player. I walk in and I do

what I’m told in the gym. I’m

bottom of the rung and that’s what

I want. This is selfish for me.

“This is a personal test. I want

to see what I’m about. I think life

is about testing yourself. If I die

tomorrow I want to say I gave it

[my] all. I want adventure.

I’m excited about it. It’s a hell

of an adventure.”

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loved that show. But my

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something else. They

suggested transitioning g

into MMA. I laughed

nervously, at first.

ThenIlooked atthe

situation and I got

quite excited about it.

Excitement and fear. I

was done with

rugby and this

properly. His wife, Chloe Madeley,

asked whether he was ready to

take it easy after one particularly

strenuous wrestling session, but

Haskell is not for turning, no

matter the risks. “I see a lot of

people saying I’m going to get

f------ killed,” he admits. “Nobody’s

applying normal logic to this. You

don’t remember Conor McGregor’s

or Mike Tyson’s first fight.

“It’s a progressive process. I’m

going to get in the cage when I’m

rerady and I feel comfortable. I go

Hardest game:

James Haskell in

training and

(right) playing for

England

he is right now. I m a 34 year old

ex-rugby player. I walk in and I do

what I’m told in the gym. I’m

bottom of the rung and that’s wha

I want. This is selfish for me.

“This is apersonal test. I want

to see what I’m about. I think life

is about testing yourself. If I die

tomorrow I want to say I gave it

[my] all. I want adventure.

I’m excited about it. It’s a hell

ofan adventure.”

RUGBY UNION

By Ben Coles

Jack Nowell has been labelled as

“touch and go” to be fit in time for

the World Cup by Exeter director of

rugby Rob Baxter.

Nowell was named in England’s

31-man squad earlier this month,

but did not feature in the warm-up

matches against Wales and Ireland.

“I think he’s going to be touch

and go for involvement in the

World Cup,” Baxter told BBC Radio

Devon yesterday. “But let’s cross

our fingers and hope that he can

come through.”

The 26-year-old returned home

from England’s first training camp in

Italy last month for what was

described by the Rugby Football

Union as a “routine surgical review

of his ankle”. The versatile England

back suffered the injury during the

Gallagher Premiership final against

Saracens. Nowell had been in

impressive form for Exeter through

the final few weeks of the season at

full-back, before Exeter narrowly

lost out in the final to Saracens.

Ruaridh McConnochie, the

uncapped Bath wing, has also yet to

feature for England after suffering

hip and muscle strain injuries.

Setback: Mako

Vunipola will miss

England’s final

World Cup

warm-up game

Nowell facing race against

time to make tournament

The Daily Telegraph Thursday 29 August 2019 *** 13

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