What do you do outside of training? I work as a Project Manager, implementing mostly Government environmental policies and supporting business processes and capability. In my down time, I enjoy extra training at home, relaxing, watching documentaries and sports, coast trips and fishing.
Do you have a saying or motto that you live your life by? I’d rather be hated for who I am than loved for what I’m not.
What has been the greatest adventure of your life? I’d have to say that this was travelling to Europe with my beautiful fiancé, exploring Rome on foot, then exploring all corners of Croatia in a rental car – Croatian being our heritage. Zadar, Split (including islands) and Dubrovnik were by far our favorite tourist destinations, the once war torn Vukovar was by far the most eye opening, time with family the most memorable, the culture and food unrivaled and the soccer riot we accidentally found ourselves in the middle of, surrounded by a hundred or so riot police, would have to be the most daunting, yet exciting.
What can’t you stand and why? I usually can’t stand annoying people in general but the worst types are messy, unorganised people, slow drivers, arm chair experts, complainers, show offs etc. Some days I would love to Muay Thai all of them!
What is rewarding to you about training? And how does this affect your life and work? The most rewarding part of training is the sense of fulfillment after a hard session and knowing that I am improving and taking steps to achieving my goals. The comradeship that comes with training with such a good group of people is equally rewarding. These positive feelings and influences help me to stay grounded, focused and generally happier in life and work. I sincerely thank the team at Chopper Muay Thai for making a recent tough period in my life that much easier to overcome.
Do you want to fight? Why or why not? Yes, because I feel I have the height, the reach, the build and the potential to be a good fighter, so long as I keep focused on my goals, put in the consistent attendance and effort at training and continue to learn. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do but only recently become hungry for and committed to achieving, in spite of the voices in my head that would prefer me to be taking the easy route on the couch at home. I feel I owe it to not only myself, but also to Gaz for investing the time and effort to train and develop me into a fighter.
Favourite fighter and why? Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic. Filipovic is the 2006 Pride Open-Weight Grand Prix Champion and the 2012 K-1 World Grand Prix Champion becoming the second fighter in the world to win mixed martial arts and kickboxing championships and tournaments. He is my favourite because he is Croatian and because of his devastating signature left head-kick, once famously described as "right leg, hospital; left leg, cemetery."