Roan Crocker: The Swansea boy taking amateur Mixed Martial Arts by storm

Crocker’s triumph at Senior Light-Heavyweight is a remarkable achievement for the Shore Acadamy MMA athlete considering the hurdle’s he has had to overcome, narrowly missing out this time on gold to Ukranian Roman Kiziuk.

Not only did Crocker travel solo to Serbia without a coaching team, but the fighter has shown the mental strength to moved up a class in weight, overcome struggles to gain sponsorship and funding, whilst overcoming a potentially career threatening injury.

These setbacks have just outlined the determination and drive of the youngster also crowned champion in last summer’s MMA amateur Four Nations at Liverpool’s Exhibition Centre. 

From a combat background, Crocker grew up with influences from Boxing and martial arts. Both his ex-professional father Neil and brother played a huge part in his decision to move to into the Sport.

“My dad was a pro boxer, and my brother was involved in Karate and Kickboxing. They were my influences, my uncle has done a bit of Boxing as well, but it wasn’t the Boxing side of things that pushed me into the combat area”, explained Crocker.

“I didn’t start training until I was 16. I didn’t start with striking; it was Jui-jitsu and grappling. Whilst I’m from a family of combat it’s strange that in a roundabout way its taken me into fighting.

Destined for future success Crocker’s journey will sooner rather than later follow in the footsteps of role model and good friend Brett Johns, the torchbearer and icon of professional MMA in Wales that has gone on to become a global success. 

Johns’ success has paved the way for Crocker to believe that the sky now is the limit on what he can achieve in the sport.

“The biggest inspiration for me is one of my best friends Brett Johns. When I first started, he wasn’t even signed for the UFC [Ultimate Fighting Championship] yet and then got signed maybe a year after I started training”, Crocker continued.

“In terms of inspiration, it’s always hard to see you doing well if someone around you hasn’t done what you’ve done before. For example, it would be really hard for me to see a way into the UFC if Brett had never achieved what he had achieved. 

“It just gave me that belief that he’s just a boy from Pontarddulais in Swansea, just like me, has fought on the World stage and won world titles. I thought, well if he can do it, why can’t I. 

“He’s probably the pivotal figure in terms of looking up to for anybody in the sport. He was always there for me and given me advice. 

“We moved to the same gym at a similar time, he truly is World class and in terms of looking up to somebody, it has to be Brett”.

Also, a gold medalist at junior level where he beat German Wladislav Keilbach in 2018’s IMAs in Romania, Crocker’s latest triumph takes the Welsh athlete into a position where not many will want to face the fighter with an extensive amateur record now of 15-3.

This latest win, however, will see Crocker look to move into professional fighting in 2024 with a target of the European Championships in Poland on the horizon. For now, though the fighter is happy to have achieved such a great feat in Serbia.

“I didn’t really know going out there that I am Wales’s most decorated amateur till after the fact, it was an added bonus. In terms of the circumstances and the scenario surrounding the tournament I’m really happy going forwards”, Crocker said.

“I won four fights and took a loss in the final, but the odds were really against me with the weight advantage I was giving away moving up a class. 

“There were multiple other factors too. Not having a team, coaching staff and flying out on my own. All these other things and I still managed to get to the final. 

“I’m really happy with the achievement for myself, my country, team and my family. Everyone is really proud of me and that really makes it even sweeter really.

“This will be my last competitive year as an amateur. I’ll be looking forward to competing at the 2023 European Championships in about the middle of the year. I’ve had whispers that I’ll be in Poland.”

It could have been so different for Crocker come the back end of 2022 when disaster struck in a fight in August leaving the fighter fearing for not only his place in the World Championships, but also his budding future career.

“I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to fight ever again if I’m honest. I injured my neck in a fight in August, landing on it quite nasty”, Crocker explained. 

“I returned to training and was getting electric shock sensations. I went to see a physio and they said don’t do any contact until you get a scan. That took about five or six weeks to get. 

“When I did get the scan, they looked at my spinal cord and nothing was pressing on it. I think that in the time I had off from training, it had healed.

“Luckily, I returned to training with minimal issues. The only sort of lasting effect was that it clicks a little bit. Given the noise it made when I landed on the mat when I hurt myself, I’m pretty happy. 

“Right at the start I was a bit hesitant. Once I got back into it, I started realising that I was using my neck the same was that I was pre-injury. 

“You should see the videos on Instagram now I have no problems with my neck now, I don’t really feel it at all. It’s as if it never happened, which is great.

“I have no problems with it now, but at the time I genuinely didn’t think I’d fight again. It was a big relief to return.”

For Crocker this just shows another part of the mental strength he has gained in his short career that will no doubt take him to the top of his Sport. Something the fighter believes he is gaining by the day.

“When I was a bit younger, I’ll be honest I wouldn’t have said I was the most mental strong competitor or fighter. I maybe lacked a bit of confidence if anything”, Crocker continued. 

“As time has moved on, and I moved gyms to Shore Mixed Martial Arts, the coaches there have instilled an attitude and belief in me that I think has really shone through in the past week.

“Now I’m not afraid to go and fly to a foreign country on my own. I have had five fights against the best in the world, it’s just something I’ll do and continue to do, it’s nothing out of the ordinary. 

“Mental strength now I think I have definitely got in abundance. Sometimes I think I don’t, but clearly, I do.

“For me no one can take this away from me what I’ve achieved. I’ll take second best in the World. I only started at number 16, so in six years I’ve not quite conquered MMA, but done something special for such a short period of time. For that I’m really happy and grateful.”