JACK SHORE is more motivated than ever ahead of his octagon return.
The Welsh warrior returns to the cage early on Sunday morning on a stacked UFC 301 card in Rio de Janeiro following a near 13-month hiatus.
The longest hiatus of his career, however, couldn’t have been any more heartwarming as he was being a doting dad to his first child with long-time girlfriend Kaydie.
And to say the birth of his son has given Shore a renewed focus and drive to be the best fighter he can be would be a massive understatement.
When recalling the arrival of his son, Shore said SunSport: “It’s definitely given me motivation.
“I’ve always loved to fight and it’s been second nature to me. It’s what I’ve done since I was six years of age.
“But now I’ve got a reason to fight and a reason to look for the big money and the ‘Fight of the Night’ and the ‘Performance of the Night’ [bonues].
“Because ultimately, I’ve got a mouth to fee for the next 18 or 20 years or whatever it ends up being.
“It really does help. You wake up sometimes in the morning and you’re tired and sore from the night before and it’s cold and it’s raining and you look across the room and he’s there sleeping in his Next to Me.
“What more motivation do you need to get out and get after it?
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“And then to come home and see him between the sessions, it brightens your day.
“You might have a bad day in the gym but when you come home everything suddenly becomes better. It’s definitely motivated me very, very much.”
Shore’s time on the sidelines also allowed him to fully grow into his featherweight frame, which has only had one outing so far.
The former Cage Warriors bantamweight champion said: “Training-wise, when I did have the surgery on my hand, I couldn’t really do any martial arts training for the best part of three to six months.
“So I really focused and dove into my S&C, my conditioning, my weights.
“My numbers on my strength have gone through the roof and my body composition is a lot better at the weight.
“I feel I’ve truly grown into the frame.
“I look and feel amazing and I feel 100 times better and stronger than I did against Makwan [Amirkhani] last year.”
Shore’s second outing at featherweight will see him lock horns with dangerous Brazilian Joanderson Brito.
Shore said of the Dana White‘s Contenders Series contract winner: “If you had to write down the strength of a Brazilian fighter, this guy is that.
“He comes forward, is aggressive and swings for the fences. He comes out like a bull in a China shop for the first two rounds.
“He’s very, very good – he’s dangerous everywhere. He’s a dangerous grappler, a dangerous striker.
“But I feel like the game plan I’ve got at the team have put together – we’ve probably done more tape-watching for this one than we have for anything.
“There are holes out there to be exploited and I’m looking forward to going out there and getting cracking.
“I know it’s a tough test, but it’s a tough test for him too. I’m not an easy night’s work for anyone.”
Brito has picked up wins over the likes of long-time featherweight standouts Andre Fili and most recently Jonathan Pearce.
And Shore believes an emphatic showing against ‘Turabao’ will be the perfect way to punch his ticket to a fight with a ranked opponent later this year.
He said: “I believe that the winner of this fight, if they’re not going to get a shot at the rankings, then we’re right on the cusp.
“I completely agree with you. He had a big win last time, he’s had a big four wins in his last four fights.
“And he even looked decent in the fight he lost against Bill Algeo.
“If I come in and beat him now and you talk about that along with a win over Makwan – who has been in there with a lot of guys in the top ten – I feel like it puts me in a very good spot.”
Jack Shore takes on Joanderson Brito at UFC® 301: PANTOJA vs ERCEG on 4th May on TNT Sports. TNT Sports is available through its streaming destination discovery+ and across all major TV platforms. See here for more information.
