Despite the fact that he delivered a great match, Philipp Schranz had to admit he was defeated and shake hands with James Brum. The headliners of the FFC 23 main event in MMA offered a great show to the audience in Multiversum Schwechat and proved why they got to fight in the ‘main event’.

At FFC 23 Vienna Brum scored his 18th win. This fighter coming from Portsmouth had only three losses in his career, the last one in 2011 after which he scored 12 wins.

“Job Done” spent the first couple of days after the match in FFC with his girlfriend, friend and family but he also announced that he is ready to fight in the FFC soon again.

“Where do I start? I can’t say enough good things about FFC as an organisation & the team. The whole of the event & ‘Fight Week’ was professionally run & organised! From a fighter’s perspective there was no stress. All I had to do was worry about my weight cut & focus on my fight! The production was slick! I’m an entertainer & I love grand entrances; the lights, video promos, the whole set up was awesome! I loved fighting in a the FFC ring! I was very impressed and I know everyone watching the live stream was too!”

Only the best words about his opponent…

“I watched footage and could see he is a very aggressive fighter that likes to stand & throw down with some heavy hands and viscous knees. I can tell you now the guy has some serious power in his fists & knees but luckily I have a hard head & a fighter’s heart . He has some very unorthodox striking off his back and he utilised elbows very well which is what marked me up quite a bit. I knew my fitness would be better and his energy levels would drain as the fight wore on! I believed I would finish him and thought I had the finish at the end of the first round with a heel hook, as well as in the second & third round when I took his back. He did very well defending my submission attempts.”

Brum did not expect anything less. They said it was going to be a war and so it was!

“There was never a doubt in my mind we would put on an entertaining fight for the fans! The setting was always there for an exciting fight and I believe that’s why they made us the Main Event above the Title Fights on the card. Schranz the hometown fighter, aggressive in nature going up against myself, a man who always comes to put on a show for the fans, goes out on his shield and who has defeated Europe’s best on away soil time and time again. I knew he would be looking to knock me out with his right hand and I was looking to do the same with my head kicks so I knew the fans would be in for a treat!”

Right ahead of the match it seems Brum and Schranz were having fun posting selfies together.

“We are both mixed martial artists and were able to have a laugh behind the scenes at the weigh ins. The fight world is a small one and we both found out we both know the highly respected and talented fighter Yasubey Enomoto. So we took the opportunity to take a selfie and send it to Yasubey who is out in Phuket at Tiger Muay Thai. I’m looking forward to catching up with him on the 1st of April out in Phuket over some lunch! Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to catch up with Schranz after the event. I headed back to the hotel for a cup of Earl Grey Tea haha!”

15 minute action left some marks on Brum’s body

“I had the usual superficial bumps and bruises of being in a back & forth 3 round battle. My face has a tendency to swell up real bad and I get black eyes quite easily so my face showed the results of being in a fight! However my body recovers real fast and a couple of days after the difference is remarkable! I am healing up real well and already back training preparing for whatever opportunities come next. The worst thing has been the canvas burns! They sting so bad when you jump in the shower!”

After this amazing FFC debut, Brum is very confident and he expressed his wish to fight at FFC in the US

“I had such a great experience and I would love to fight on FFC again in the future. I hear you are debuting in the USA this year and I think it would be fitting to make my long over due debut in the USA headlining another FFC card. In terms of opponents I have been struggling to find opponents and I took this fight on short notice which is why I fought at Featherweight. I am actually a Bantamweight and would love for FFC to bring me back at 135lbs. At 135lbs there is no one that can beat me. FFC could bring in the best fighters from around the world and I would take care of business in exciting fashion and get the job done!”