Warren 'The Destroyer' Thompson is headed to Los Angeles on a mission.
Thompson faces Mike Lemaire, born in France but for many years a resident of San Diego, California, on this Friday's SUPERFIGHT SERIES card, which airs live worldwide via UFC FIGHT PASS.
“My mindset is focused, clarity on what he hell I am going to do and that's win and finish him. I'm tired of losing to GLORY-level competition and it wont happen again. I worked to ensure this and he will feel that and know the deal when it is done,” he says.
“I am gonna finish him. If I don't then I am pissed at myself. I am going to break his will. That's all I have to say about it. It's either me or him and I'm not leaving as the loser.”
The Atlanta, Georgia native will be making his middleweight debut on Friday night. It will be his fifth appearance in the GLORY ring but he is still in search of his first win, a product he says of fighting outside his natural weight class until now.
“I always wanted to fight at middleweight but I never said no to a match at other weights. Now these middleweights will feel the real 'Destroyer'. This is the weight class I belong to and where I can consistently compete with the best,” he says.
Thompson's fights in GLORY have all been at light-heavyweight and he has previously competed as high as heavyweight. Thompson has made a habit of accepting fights against anyone at all on short notice and there have been occasions where that has cost him, for example in his quick KO loss to Zinedine Hameur-Lain at GLORY 33 NEW JERSEY.
“I beat the Dutch heavyweight Brian Douwes in Thailand, GLORY signed me at light-heavyweight originally, but I busted my balls to get down to middleweight and I am in shape and ready. I'm the strongest middleweight ever to step in the GLORY ring, in my opinion.”
Thompson's training camp has been split between his usual coach, the multi-time Muay Thai champion Manu N'toh, and Johan Deleeuw of Meijiro Atlanta, an American offshoot of the venerable Meirjiro Gym in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
“Johan is a Meijiro Amsterdam product under Andre Mannaart. He is the head coach at Meijiro Atlanta and its a fighter-only facility where we have been joined by Glory veteran Wayne Barrett and pro boxer LJ Jones among others,” he says of the newly-formed outfit.
“It's the beginning of a great thing to carry on the great history and lineage of Dutch-style kickboxing here in the states.”
GLORY 37 LOS ANGELES takes place this Friday at 'The Novo by Microsoft', part of the LA LIVE! entertainment complex in downtown Los Angeles, California. It airs live worldwide via UFC FIGHT PASS at 10:30pm ET / 7:30pm PT.
