YOKKAO 14: a Talk with Josh Turbill
So with the upcoming YOKKAO event creeping upon us now, we had chance to have a chat with Josh Turbill. He will be Co-Main Event against Reece McAllister this coming October 10th, so it was good to get an idea as to what he was thinking in the run up to the fight! Josh is currently ranked n.2 in the YOKKAO UK Ranking -70kg and has just come away from a loss against his first Thai opponent, Kung Kiatphontip, an ex-Rajadamern stadium champion. A challenge to say the least for a first Thai opponent. He never makes it easy for himself, always likes to push and challenge his abilities! Safe to say his next opponent, Reece, will probably be one of the biggest yet for him, so lets see what Josh had to say!!
Dom: First and foremost what got you in to Muay Thai?
Josh: One of my best mates got me into Muay Thai. I went to watch his first fight when I was around 16 years old and off the back of that, I decided to start training.
Dom: How many fights have you had now? What’s your fight record?
Josh: I’ve had 34 fights, 29 wins 4 losses and 1 draw.
Dom: What keeps you coming back?
Josh: The feeling of winning.
Dom: What did it feel like getting in the ring with a Thai for the first time?
Josh: It was a strange experience and I may have paid him a little bit too much respect. To fight an ex stadium champion in my first time fighting a Thai was a big ask, nevertheless, I have no doubt that I learned a lot from the experience.
Dom: Is there someone or something that motivates you?
Josh: I feel that motivation is something that is very intrinsic and you have to motivate yourself, the main thing that motivates me is success. I am extremely competitive and want to be the best at everything I do, it’s this drive that motivates me.
Dom: What has been your biggest challenge up to now? How did you overcome it?
Josh: My biggest challenge has been juggling a full time job and graduating with a degree in economics, whilst being an A class fighter. I’ve overcome this through being dedicated and sacrificing the vast majority of my spare time to training.
Dom: Are you usually on or around fight weight or do you have a big weight cut?
Josh: I most certainly do not walk around at fight weight! I walk round at around 75kg, so I usually loose 6kg over the course of a 6-8 week training camp, which I feel is fine. Muay Thai is just a hobby, I feel it is important to enjoy yourself and have a life alongside being a fighter. Don’t get me wrong though, I train very hard and I am extremely dedicated once training camp has started.
Dom: To the people who want to be able to get into Muay Thai, do you have any tips or words of wisdom?
Josh: To start with, I feel it is important to decide what it is that you want to get out of Muay Thai. For example, if you just want to train for fun, then this is fine, you can train once/twice per week and just enjoy getting fit. However, if you want to be a fighter, you have to make lots of sacrifices and put the effort in with your training. Once you have decided what it is that you want, you can then determine what you need to do to get achieve your goals. Like most things in life, you get out of it what you put in.
Dom: What would you do if Muay Thai weren’t apart of your life?
Josh: I would definitely do a lot more fishing. Fishing is my main passion in life and if Muay Thai did not take up so much of my efforts, I would spend a hell of a lot more time fishing.
Dom: You fought on YOKKAO before, how much has changed since then? What more do you think you are bringing to the table?
Josh: Well I fought on the last Yokkao in March and I feel it is quite difficult to drastically change too much of your style in just 5 months. I will say this though, I will be even fitter, stronger and will hit harder than I did at the last YOKKAO.
Dom: What is your long-term goal within Muay Thai? If you get the win against Reece, what would that mean for you?
Josh: I would love to win a World Title, I would love to train and fight in Thailand as I have never been. Beating Reece would boost my reputation hugely and would hopefully open the doors to bigger and better opportunities.
Dom: If you lose, you would drop to third in the YOKKAO UK rankings, how does that make you feel?
Josh: Loosing is never nice so it wouldn’t feel great, but it would make me analyze why I lost and how I can improve from it.
Dom: Do you want to thank anyone or add anything before we go?
Josh: I would like to thank YOKKAO for the opportunity, I would also like thank Reece and his Dad for taking the fight.
Dom: Finally, what is your favorite quote from an inspiration of yours?
Josh: I’m not really into inspirational quotes but one thing I have read that has resonated with me is a quote from Bruce Lee. “A great mistake is to anticipate the outcome of the engagement: you ought not to be thinking of whether it ends in victory or defeat. Let nature take its course, and your tools will strike at the right moment” I always try to remove myself from the outcome of a fight, I would much rather concentrate on the things I have control over i.e. training as hard as possible. I then let ‘nature’ decide my fate.
The insightfulness of Josh is amazing, he is guaranteed to put on an amazing show as YOKKAO 14 co-Main Event on 10th October against Reece McAllister! You can get more information about the tickets here: You can also watch Josh in action from the previous YOKKAO event where he fought and won Jack Cooper!
