Heavy MMA: What do you find more satisfying- training your students or competing yourself?
Jesse Finney: Everything I did up until I was 24 was for me. Then from the age of 24-30 I was doing for everyone else. I worked as hard as I could so that when I was 35-40 years old I wouldn’t be sitting somewhere with nothing to show for my work. At the end of the day, my favorite thing in the world is training my guys and my girls. All I ask is that they work their asses off for me. If they do that, I will do anything for them.
Heavy MMA: What is it like competing in front of your hometown fans?
Jesse Finney: It is just awesome. Everyone talks about the pressure of competing at home, but I love it. I have probably fought half of my bouts in St. Louis. It’s nice to be appreciated by the fans. I have a great relationship with everyone here whether I am competing or running a show here.
Heavy MMA: Who are some of the trainers at your gym?
Jesse Finney: I have to say I am lucky to have such a great group of instructors. Ezra Lenon is a brown belt under Kiko France. He came to us from American Top Team. Harold Petty is one of our boxing coaches. We got a young guy by the name of Tom Aaron who has been training in MMA for just over 2 ½ years. He teaches the ground game along with Pat Benson who is a jiu-jitsu instructor. Kevin Engel is a boxing coach who has been with us for over 8 years. There are so many more great people at our facility.
Heavy MMA: Which two fighters who train out of your gym are also competing on the card with you Saturday night?
Jesse Finney: We have Booker DeRousse who is a light heavyweight fighting and then there is Tom Aaron who competes as a lightweight. Both of these guys are tough and can do a lot of good things inside that cage.
Heavy MMA: How will this fight with DeMoney turn out?
Jesse Finney: I am prepared for whatever comes my way. If he wants to the ground then let’s go to the ground. If he wants to stand and trade then go for it. It doesn’t matter to me. I train all areas and I feel as though I am getting better every day.
Heavy MMA: How far do you see yourself taking your fighting career?
Jesse Finney: I’ll take this one fight and evaluate things after it’s over. Like I said before, I am fighting for myself not for anyone else. Right now I am 35-years-old and I am in great shape. I am lucky enough to have done it all in this business. I have been in management, training and fighting. There aren’t too many people who can juggle all three jobs at once. When it’s all said and done I hope people can look back and say that I did it all. I also learned a long time ago to surround myself with good people. My partner Rob is definitely my right hand man and the best thing about him is he cares just as much as I do. Without all of these good people working alongside me, I wouldn’t be where I am at today.
To visit Finney MMA go to www.finneyskickboxing.com