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Jack
Cartwright wants to build on his momentum in the
Professional Fighters League.
The former
Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder will do battle
with Allan
Begosso at a 140-pound catchweight in the featured
PFL Pittsburgh prelim on Saturday at the UPMC Events Center.
Cartwright has prepared himself for long-term success, and seeing
fellow countrymen like Brendan
Loughnane excel inside the PFL only spurs his motivation. He
liked what he saw from the company in his promotional debut, as he
bested Caolan
Loughran by unanimous decision at PFL Champions Series 3 on
Oct. 3 in the United Arab Emirates.
“It was really good, and I really enjoyed it,” Cartwright told
Sherdog.com. “It was really nice, as you can imagine. Everything
was professionally run. Everyone treated me really nice. I hit the
ground running, the event was fight after fight and then,
obviously, the fight went my way, so I was happy with that. Dubai
was also very nice, as well. I couldn’t have asked for anything
better, except I wish I got the stoppage.”
Cartwright has taken the road less traveled, with stops in several
different organizations along the way. He believes he has found a
home in the PFL.
“It’s typical of my life in sport, if I’m being honest,” Cartwright
said. “I’ve always been involved in combat sports, always been
grinding through. I’ve had my ups and downs in my MMA career, but
now, I’m really looking forward to getting on a roll and spending
the next half of my career over here putting in a big stint, taking
out big names [and] putting on exciting fights and big performances
while making a run for the title in this division. I think I’m more
than capable of doing that. They’ve got these rankings out, and I
think that I’m just as good or better than every single one of
them. I’m looking forward to going out there and proving it every
single time.”
Sleepless nights
Cartwright did not have an opportunity to compete in a
million-dollar PFL tournament, so the company’s decision to move
away from the format was somewhat bittersweet for the 31-year-old
Englishman.
“It’s a double-edged sword, if I’m being completely honest—exciting
in the fact that there’s a landscape with a clear path of who I can
face and beat to climb up towards getting a title shot,” he said.
“Downside is not having an opportunity to win the tournament money.
A little bittersweet considering I love that tournament format. It
would’ve been nice. Like I said, I wouldn’t be fighting if I didn’t
think that I could beat these guys. There’s no part of me that
doesn’t think that if you chuck me in there with Taylor
Lapilus, I won’t beat him. That’s why we turn up on fight night
[and] put on a pair of gloves. We think that we are the best guys
in the world.”
While his career has not been perfect, Cartwright sports an
outstanding 13-2 record. He has never been finished in 15
professional appearances. MMA has taught him to overcome
adversity.
“It’s a refusal to give in and to accept the failures that you
have,” he said. “Everyone’s going to fail in life—your favorite
sports team, [for instance], but that doesn’t mean it makes them a
crap team. You’ve got to shake off the losses and come back, play
or fight again and play your skin off the next time, and that’s the
type of person I am. I’ve been in there, I’ve lost before and I
still have sleepless nights about those losses. All that does is
fuel you. You’ve just got to channel it and push it into the next
performance. That’s what I’m going to continue to do. I’ll just
take all the lessons with the losses and all the wins with the
positivity, and that’s why I get up in the morning.”