If there’s been one thing about welterweight prospect Tom Regal’s career so far that hasn’t gone well, it is the fact that he’s had difficulty fighting on a consistent basis.
After turning pro in mid-2016, Regal has only managed to get in two fights. Still, Regal has worked through his difficulties and has managed to win both bouts to start off his career.
“After my first fight, I didn’t fight for like a year,” Regal told MMAWeekly.com. “I was out in California and I had a lot of fights fall through, so I moved back to New York and took a pro fight (for Bellator).
“In the first minute (of the Bellator fight versus Kastriot Xhema) I break my left hand. Coming out of amateurs I had never experienced anything like that, so I really had to dig deep in that fight.”
While he hasn’t had a lot of cage time over the first couple years of his career, Regal feels like he’s made good progress in his development, especially when it comes to his mentality.
“I keep upping the bar and shock myself,” said Regal. “Every time I fight, I don’t know who that person was. I do a lot of unique things in there.
“When I was ready to make that jump to the professional level – even without having a fight for so long – mentally I was sound. I work a lot on my mental game and it’s allowed me to open up a lot more at the pro level and perform.”
This Friday in Westbury, New York, Regal (2-0) will look to keep his undefeated streak going when he takes on Reginaldo Felix (3-2) in a main card 185-pound bout at CES: NY 1.
This article first appeared at News – MMAWeekly.com
