Reece McEwan reflects on decade of brutal brawls, difficult defeats and stunning wins
A DECADE of brutal brawls, devastating defeats and hard-won victories has changed Greenock fighter Reece McEwan – but the 29-year-old's passion for chasing his dream burns just as brightly as it did when he first started out ten years ago.
The Cage Warriors fighter has reflected on the ups and downs of his career so far as he prepares to mark ten years as a mixed martial artist this Halloween.
Reece is currently gearing up for his next fight at Cage Warriors, Europe’s premier MMA promotion, having first signed a deal with them three years ago.
Now in his fifth year as a professional, the bantamweight brawler admits that making a career out of the sport seemed beyond his wildest dreams when he first began fighting.
(Image: George Munro) He said: “It's crazy. To be honest, from where I started I'd have bitten your hand off if you said this is where I’d be in 10 years.
“It’s been a decade of chasing a dream, a passion. It’s been full of many ups, full of many downs, and full of a lot of growth and resilience and adversity.
“I think the highlight is making this a living and a full-time job.
“I’ve become professional, won amateur titles, signed to Cage Warriors and got those wins in Cage Warriors – it’s incredible.
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“I’ve done things like fighting for the world title, selling out arenas, fighting in Braehead Arena, arenas in Newcastle, all over the UK. There have been so many moments - moments now that I wouldn't say I take for granted, but it just becomes part of my job.
“Like, right now, I've got a fight in the Braehead Arena, but that’s just become natural.
“This will be another fight at Cage Warriors. That’s just a natural part of my career now, whereas before it was a dream to fight on Europe’s premier promotion.”
After starting out as a fighter in 2015, Reece moved through the amateur ranks to become the number one amateur bantamweight in the UK and Ireland.
He then turned professional in 2020 and signed his Cage Warriors deal two years later.
READ MORE: Reece McEwan chasing UFC glory as he prepares for Cage Warriors title fight
His career at the European promotion got off to a strong start, with four wins in a row, but he was hit with a setback when his bantamweight world title bout against Liam ‘Nightmare’ Gittins resulted in a bloody loss.
Another defeat followed and left Reece going through one of the most difficult periods of his career – but the resilient fighter bounced back with a win in front of a crowd of thousands at the Braehead arena last year.
Reece is now hoping he can make his mark on Cage Warriors once again in 2025.
(Image: Dolly Clew) He added: “The eye-catching statement would be 'I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that', but I've learned through experience that I need to focus on the present now.
“Since I started fighting, I've definitely grown as an adult. I've matured.
“The thing with this job is you have to almost grow up in front of people.
“If you fight in front of a couple of thousand people, and then you have to do interviews, you've grown up in front of the public.
“But I think what it's taught me a lot is to be comfortable in who I am as a person.
“It's almost led to me flourishing as a character, because I've realised that I can be who I am, and I just need to focus on being the best person I can be.”
Reece’s success has come after a rocky start to his career, which saw him have to make sacrifices in his personal life to balanced being an amateur fighter with earning a living.
He said: “In the first five years, that's the time where it would have been easy to turn around and just say 'this isn't going to make it'.
“There's lots of financial hurdles, you've not established a brand as a fighter, you've not got support, you're questioning yourself all the time. There's a lot more harder days than good in that sense.
“You're not really getting much return for the investment that you're putting in. You're in the gym 12-16 hours a day for five years, and you're doing it for no money.
“You're an amateur and you have to just almost prove yourself to the world.”
Despite the difficulties, Reece says his friends and family have stuck by him and helped him to succeed.
He said: “I've got a very good solid friend group, but the period of 2015, even to now, I don't go on holidays with them.
“They talk about memories and the first five or six years of my career and I'm not involved in any of them.
“I've got a better work-life balance now, but luckily I've got a lot of people that support and understand where I'm coming from.”
While it hasn’t always been plain sailing, Reece says he wouldn’t change a thing and, with his next fight on the horizon, he is determined as ever to become one of the world’s top mixed martial artists.
He said: “You look back and think ‘I could have done that better’ based on your experience now but the experience has taught you to think that way.
“The universe has its plan and you just need to make sure that you're focusing yourself.
“I’ve just got to let everything fuel me. Strip it all back down and focus on what my job is, and that's to go and win my next fight.”
