Ky Hollenbeck defeated Pat Minihan at CCFC-10 last night at the Grace Pavilion in Santa Rosa, CA. The victory put Hollenbeck in line for a shot at Cage Combat’s 170 pound title, currently held by Team Voodoo welterweight; Jeremiah Metcalfe.
PRO MMA (promma.info) caught up with the undefeated Hollenbeck following his submission victory over the American Kickboxing Academy welterweight to get his thoughts on the night’s event.
PRO MMA: Ky you just defeated Pat Minihan, a veteran who has been through a lot of wars, what are you feeling right now?
Hollenbeck: Pat is a great dude. A bunch of times in (the cage) there was some confusion with the ref and we kind of broke off and then we came back together and went back to the position that we were instead of starting over. That just shows the respect between the both of us. He is a great guy and strong as a bull. He’s got that old man strength, you know what I mean, and he’s a monster. My training helped and the guys that I was training with helped and I was able to pull off the victory.
PRO MMA: Was your game plan going into the fight to stand and bang with Pat?
Hollenbeck: Yeah that was the game plan, originally, to circle, move and keep my distance. Keep moving in and out. When we had our first exchange I noticed that my strikes were coming and I could see his strikes coming so I was able to maneuver out of the way. I felt that I could stand with him toe to toe and not worry about getting taken down because I felt faster. I decided instead of circling to move in and out and push against the cage. Once I pushed him against the cage I noticed that I felt strong against the cage. In certain situations you feel comfortable and I felt comfortable (against the cage) and comfortable in the exchanges.
PRO MMA: Was there any point in the first round, before you secured the choke, where you felt that you were close to finishing the fight or did you see it heading to the second?
Hollenbeck: I never predict anything. I feel if you are forcing something it is never going to happen. If I am trying to knock him out and punch as hard as I can then my punches will be slow and I wont be able to do it. I never expected anything really. When you are in there you don’t really think, it just kinda happens. All of a sudden your like, “Oh, I got the choke!” I thought the ref was going to break us because his cut over his head was bleeding pretty good. I figured either way I could try to sub him now or let the ref stop it.
PRO MMA: Was it the standing elbow that opened up the cut?
Hollenbeck: There was one that got him over the forehead that was from a standing elbow. There was another one the ground when I was on top of him and I caught him. That one opened up right over the eye.
PRO MMA: You said in the video leading up to the bout that you would like to fight for the title if you won tonight. Do you see yourself taking on Jeremiah Metclafe in your next fight?
Hollenbeck: Yeah! After the fight the promoter (Todd Middendorp) came up and said, “Next fight, title shot.” Even after the fight Jeremiah came into the back, congratulated me on the fight and told me that he looks forward to seeing me.
PRO MMA: Is there any time frame for that fight?
Hollenbeck: That’s really whenever (Cage Combat) decides. I’m ready to go. I’m not to banged up so whenever they want me to go, I’m ready to go.
PRO MMA: Ky thanks for joining us
Hollenbeck: Thank you
By: Matt De La Rosa