As the excitement builds for the first Clan Wars promotion of 2013 in the Ramada Hotel, Belfast on March 3, fan favourite Geoff “The Hummer” Hall takes time out of his hectic training schedule to talk to us about his preparations for the first defence of his I.S.K.A Northern Ireland title.

The excitement is palpable every time The Hummer takes to the cage for a number of reasons; most notably in recently fights are his now infamous entrances to the cage.

“The last walk in was for a bit of craic, I try not to take it that serious like I’m a big hard ‘cage fighter’ and I’m there to trash talk  and bounce all over the place in my opponents face, instead, I prepare my walk ins for the fans for a bit of entertainment and still being as respectful as I can to my opponent. I’ve nothing planned at the minute I’m just focusing hard on my training.”

Clan Wars has recently been voted as Irish MMA Promotion of the year for the second year in a row, something the experienced Hall puts down to the good work behind the scenes.

“Clan Wars is different just by simple things by looking after the fighter before during and after , also how the show is run everything backstage and out front runs very smooth, everyone is in their place to make sure everything is covered, it’s that well run you could run it live on TV there and then.

“The production of the show and the level of fighters is fantastic plus the camaraderie of all the fighters I really enjoy, its great catching up and everyone from all the clubs are sound, I have made a lot of good friends through Clan Wars.

“Last but not least I have to say about the Clan Wars crowd they blow the roof off for the fighter the atmosphere is unreal.”

Geoff takes on Gary Larkin from EFR gym Magherafelt and had nothing but positive things to say about his opponent, despite seeming quietly confident about his chances of defending his belt.

“Gary is a very gifted fighter and has excellent skills in MMA, he has been on the scene for a good while, he’s very well rounded comes from a great club and his family is all involved in MMA with a wealth of knowledge.

“I saw one of his fights against one of my team mates in a Clan Wars show which he won in the first round by arm bar which was a great win as Colin is an excellent fighter himself. I myself don’t believe in game plans as I’ve seen so many go wrong and panic sets in so I’ll just have to see how it goes.

“Without giving too much away I’m training harder than ever in all aspects of my game I’m learning something new every day, I love preparing mentally which I’m a big fan of so I’m also working away at that.

“At the end of the day that’s my belt and defending it is probably more important to me than actually fighting for it in the first place, they say you’re not a true champion until you defend so that’s what I intend to do , but I love pressure, pressure wins fights.

“I would like to thank of course all my team mates and coaches at IFS, N K Performance, Elite security, Quick Copy Printers, Antrim Sports Massage. And everyone who buys a ticket to support me it really means a lot! Also to Paul McLaughlin for everything he does with IFS and Clan Wars.”