Danni McCormack: “Become the First Invicta World Champion for Ireland”
Danni McCormack clashes with Valesca Machado at Invicta FC 52 in a strawweight title bid on March 15th.
McCormack appeared on Bowks Talking Bouts to discuss the machinations of this matchup, competing for a professional MMA world title on her birthday, and a whole lot more. Excerpts from our chat are below.
Danni McCormack
Fighting for a professional MMA world title on her birthday and the feelings that go along with that
“Yeah, so before the fight got announced, my manager said I’m confident you’re going to get the title shot and we can guess it’s going to be roughly the middle of March. So, we were kind of like preempting what was going to happen. Then after that phone call, I just got my calendar out and I was thinking God, Wednesday in the middle of March is actually my birthday.”
“Sure as hell then two weeks later it was confirmed that I was getting the title shot and it was that date that I had seen already. So yeah, a bit of a twist of fate there and it feels really cool to be waking up on your birthday on such a massive event for me. Probably one of the biggest days of my life is going to be the 15th of March this year. So if I win the title, I think it’ll be a celebration of my title anniversary rather than my birthday going forward (laughs).”
Invicta FC 52
Being interwoven into that SBG Ireland lineage and how McCormack’s potential championship successes here could add to the team’s deep legacy of titleholders
“One of the biggest stories I have to say about John (Kavanagh) is that when I walked into SBG, I only had a year of martial arts experience under my belt. Four months into being there and doing beginner classes, John’s now wife had seen me doing classes and asked me did I want to try out for the team? From that first night I tried out for the team in front of John, you know, John really believed in me. Told me, I think we could have some great nights together in the future. There’s some great achievements in fighting.”
“He’s always believed in me. Long before I had any skills. My main skill was that I would just go hard and always try my best. He really did believe in me. So that was eight years ago when that happened. I’m just so grateful now that I have an opportunity to give something back and get my name up on the wall. If you walk into reception, all the accomplishments are up on the wall. I’d love to get my name up there.”
McCormack continued, “To become the first Invicta world champion for Ireland and for SBG obviously. So I’m very grateful for SBG, for initially Conor being a huge motivator for me to even do MMA. Jon and SBG, taking that motivation and that goal and actually making it a reality for me. So yeah, I would love to be able to give back and get that title for SBG.”
Invicta FC
McCormack’s thoughts on Machado’s resume overall and stylistic proclivities as a fighter
“She’s a good counter striker. She likes being on the back foot and luring you on to getting hit with big right hands. So that’s her main attribute is her striking style, her counter-striking style. She’s also good at winning fights on points. So, she’s good at pulling out the rounds. Even though she doesn’t do a huge amount during the rounds, she always manages to score enough to keep herself ahead. So, she’s good at winning and she’s good at counterstriking.”
“Very different to the kind of fighter I am. I like making things happen. I’m aggressive, I hit very hard, and I do a lot of wrestling, a lot of grappling in my fights. I put the pedal down at the start and I don’t pick it up until the fight is over. So, this is really an opposites game here. She’s going to be trying to slow the pace down, keep me at a distance, and win on points. I’m going to be trying to push the pace and push the fight. So, I think it makes for a real exciting fight. She’s a very skilled fighter and so am I. So, let’s just see what happens after twenty-five minutes of opposites.”
