Undefeated 22 Year Old Austin Bashi Talks Contender Series Fight With Tommy McMillen

okay very happy today to be joined by one of the best prospects in MMA period 22 years old 12 and0 and finally to be honest getting that shot at the UFC in just a few weeks time Dana West Contender series week four that's September 3D Austin bashy how you doing man doing real good man how about yourself I'm good man good um three weeks out just under now how are these next couple weeks going to look for you as we get to Vegas and then get towards the fight uh so I'm pretty much still have like uh two more hard weeks of our training camp and then when fight week starts that's when we kind of focus on the weight cut and cut out the training cool and how soon are you going down to Vegas so the fight September 3rd I'll be there on August 31st cool not too bad I mean it's not a super long journey for you is it so no couple hours yeah um I mean I talked to some guys from here in the UK that are on the contender series he's fighting I think the week before you but he's going down this week so it's obviously a bigger process to kind of get acclimated um first thing that does stand out with you is that 12-0 record you don't see that much these days outside of a major organization I'm sure with the talent you have how you've been able to show it the opportunities have been there for you in the past to kind of make that step step up why is now the right time to make that jump do you think now I have enough experience and uh you know if you kind of go look at my record everyone who I fought is uh was a real tough fight the only time I had fights with people that were little questionable where if my original opponent backed down then they took it on like two three day notice but all the other guys I beat all the other guys I've had fought they're real tough guys and uh it showed me where I where I was at yeah it looked like obviously you took that development very seriously rather than you see a lot of guys just rushing themselves to get to that point how important was that do you feel that was pretty much the most important thing to me you kind of see it often now that uh people try to make that jump up so quick after being five and0 six and 0 and they really haven't fought anyone but for me it was about um making sure I had enough fights and uh had a lot of tough fights so now when I am in the UFC I've seen it all already and I guess you know being 12-0 on the regional scene that kind of stands out to a lot of people so by the time you obviously get that opportunity there's a bit of stock behind your name do you feel that as well uh yeah you know uh 12-0 is uh a lot of fights and uh getting these wins over these big name opponents is pretty big yeah obviously 12 and0 but all of those fights have been in the last four years um how important has it been for you all the benefits do you feel of being able to stay so active in that time how beneficial has that been because obviously obviously Regional Fighters are always looking to stay active but like you said you get a lot of sort of late pull outs at that level um you've been able to not let that affect you too much just to say Super Active how beneficial has that been yeah right uh has been very beneficial you know having about I remember my first year I had four fights and then after that it's it been about three fights a year and uh that's kind of how I like it three to four fights a year I like staying active uh and I never really take time off after a fight I'll take like one week off and I'm right back to the gym training so activity for me is very big Tommy McMillan is the opponent he's got half the experience you as as you he is six and 0 um how much did you know about him and then since getting the match up what have you been able to find out coming into this one and what are your thoughts yeah you know he trains at a good camp obviously he comes out of Shan gym but um I don't think I match up well for this guy you know I think I'm a terrible match up for him I'm going to take him to those to that second and third round and he's not going to be comfortable in those rounds and that's where I'm going to finish him you mentioned taking it to the second and third round and getting that finish obviously the contender series it does kind of reward finishes um that's is that something that plays in your mind in this camp or is it just the case of when it comes it comes so going to each fight you know uh I'm ready 15 minute or 25 minute War but uh if the Finish does come come then it just uh it's nice but I mean in the sense of like the contender Series where it's so pushed that like you must get a finish it's crucial to get a finish in this environment is that something that's played on you at all coming into this yeah for sure that's what I'm looking for I'm looking to finish this guy either knock him out or submit him and I want talk about your development you obviously talk about how crucial that's been for you um you are so young you would be one of the youngest fighters in the UFC if you get past the cond series process and just from the outside like he said you have taken your time and it feels like you've managed the development perfectly like you said you haven't necessarily rushed things you've really crafted your record to get to that 12 and0 Stage and I mean I look at the win of Asar Asar who is a guy who's touted as a real Prospect in his own right and just last time and we we saw what you did to him rather um last time we saw you fight was in June not that long ago but I mean it just looks like those improvements in you are coming like day by day by day so what's going to be the difference between the Austin bashy we saw back in June and the guy who steps into the cage at the Apex in September so every time I fight uh I always get something out of it I always learn and day by day I'm learning I still got so much to learn and that's why I feel like I keep on improving you know I don't really set limits I just every day I come to the gym and I try to learn something new and from June till now I even and uh feel like me in a couple weeks I'm going to show you guys the big difference yeah perfect um and obviously the contender series is a platform primarily built for introducing new fighters to the fan base um so you'll have lot of fans tuning into this fight that I've never seen you before how would you describe yourself to them what's the image of Austin bashy that you want to put in the head coming into this one yeah uh thing that about about me I feel like that's different is uh my Pace I bring to the fight from that opening bell to that last bell I'm at 100 it's like I'm pretty much sprinting the whole 15 minutes or even when I had a 25 minute I that whole 25 minutes I was coming forward it's nonstop action yeah obviously this fight is going to be at featherweight a lot of your fights have been at bantamweight you were the bantamweight um champion of Lights Out Championship give me the pros and cons of each weight class for you and why you're taking the UFC opportunity at featherweight rather than Banton weight where most of your fights have been yeah you know I just grew I put on size I'm only 22 and I'm still growing actually right now still honestly my last like five or six fights at uh ban and weight were the Wake uput was real tough it wasn't easy and um even a featherweight you know it's got to cut some weight for it it's not going to be easy to make featherweight but definitely uh just put on a lot of Sid since uh like a year ago is Bantam weight did firmly in the past you now do you feel yeah yep yep um we have a bit of a quick fire segment here I'm going to ask some quick fire questions some of them are MMA related some of them aren't okay all right favorite food favorite food steak Yeah favorite drink drink coffee what's your go to breakfast ah I like some pancakes orup fruits um that's all the food ones gone so you can I don't like asking the food ones when people are in Camp but right yeah we get I get them out of the way quick and favorite movie favorite movie Rush Hour favorite TV show um I like Prison Break favorite musician Eminem someone I interviewed yesterday said Eminem as well actually um favorite sport other than MMA uh football American football yeah who's your team lions from Michigan Detroit um favorite fight favorite fight I like Dan Henderson versus Shogun favorite fight of yours the one against Oscar ascar yeah any reason uh just a super big fight he was uh pretty much was in the UFC and then I don't know what happened why he didn't get into the UFC exactly but I knew that was the biggest fight of my career um favorite fighter have to go with Anderson Silva favorite submission to practice rear naked choke you got a couple on your record too so it's working um funniest person you've met in MMA uh let me think about this one you're talking about famous guy or people I know what however you want to take it uh his name is Brenan from my gym yeah um if you're gonna give a famous guy who would it be famous guy probably Craig Jones Jiu-Jitsu Guy best piece of advice you've been given uh just no matter what happens keep moving forward perfect that's all I want to thank you for taking the time today Austin finally give us the hard cell when yourself Tommy McMillan step into the cage September 3rd Daya white Contender series what can the people expect people could expect a finish and uh me breaking this guy yeah and a contract at the end of it of course of course cool I want to thank you for taking the time today Austin been a pleasure having you on the channel um best of luck thank you man I appreciate you thanks