Perth fighters turn on the style in Italy Hard work allows talented trio to take on the best
Martial arts specialists are flying the flag for Perth at the Unified World Championships.
Shay Barnett, Nathan Bartlett and young James McGregor jetted off to Tuscany with Style Combat Fitness coach Ryan Lyall earlier this week.
The hard-working trio have been putting in the hours at the club’s Claymore Crossfit base and were in peak condition ahead of the Italian trip.
Returning with kickboxing silverware was on the mind when the group boarded their flight to the competition on Wednesday.
More than 28 world federations, 5000 athletes and over 107 countries will come together to participate.
Former St John’s Academy student Shay (17) is no stranger to picking up prestigious titles and was confident heading out to central Italy.
“Hopefully there will be some more golds,” he said. “It’s going to be tough and there is a greater range of fighters, including Russians and Ukrainians.
“But I’m pretty confident. Ryan at Style Combat Fitness has improved me a lot. I wasn’t very confident before but he has boosted that right up.
“I wasn’t really wanting to fight, just come along for training. But they’ve taken me to a point where I’m confident enough to do whatever I want.
“I never expected to get this far. I was playing football for Raith Rovers and Alloa, but got bored of it. I seemed to be quite good at this and enjoyed it.
“It has turned out to be fighting at international level. Training has stepped up and I’ve been in six or seven times a week, plus running on top of that.”
Shay, whose form this year has been strong, added: “I had a recent fight night in Perth and stopped my opponent with a TKO in the first round.
“The other fight was down in England where I became the two-time world champion. Fighting down there was good and it was nice to keep the crowd quiet!
“After Italy, on November 23, I will be fighting for another Scottish title in Perth. That’s at the Letham Centre.
“In February, Ryan is looking to take me to Thailand. That will be a big one because there are a lot of promoters.”
The journey to compete on the main stage has been a special one for Nathan (26) and he is determined to make the most of the opportunity.
“Hopefully I’ll be coming back with a bit of medal,” he explained. “It’s the first big competition I’ve been to.
“To even come away with a bronze would be beyond my expectations.
“I’m in good physical shape and have taken a week off work for the strength and conditioning. I’ve been training away the past seven days.
“I’ve become addicted to it now. Any opportunity to get the gloves on, I’ll be doing a few pads or bags.
“I was at the Railway Boxing Club for a bit, but then couldn’t manage with new times at work. I found Style Combat Fitness and that was perfect.
“In the past year I’ve been really focusing on kickboxing and think I have vastly improved.
“Anybody who says they don’t get nervous is a liar. It is nerve-wracking but when you get going it’s like a fish to water.”