Martial arts: Whanganui's Haimona Tamati must wait for biggest night of his life

Whanganui's Haimona Tamati was to compete in the infamous eight-man elimination tournament at this weekend's now-postponed King in the Ring. Photo / Supplied

Whanganui's Haimona Tamati will have to wait a little bit longer to fight under the bright lights of national TV after this weekend's King in the Ring's event was cancelled.

"The Hit Man" was set to compete in the gruelling eight-man tournament in the fifth edition of King in the Ring's "The Cruiserweights" at Fly Palmy Arena this Saturday evening, but that has been delayed for at least a month due to Covid-19 re-emerging in New Zealand.

The tournament is the pinnacle for kickboxers in New Zealand, with some special names competing in it over the years, none more so than UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.

Representing Awa King's Muay Thai, Tamati said this would be without a doubt the biggest opportunity, and test, of his fighting career.

"One hundred per cent. Unless I go international, which I doubt I will, this will be the biggest night of my life."

Tamati recently moved to Hamilton for his job with the police and has been training at Core MMA, a well-respected gym with a long history of producing international-level talent across a variety of martial arts.

"They've got a few guys that have been in the UFC or have just left, so I'm quite fortunate to have them and the trainers here.

"I'm always looking for new areas of knowledge and expertise. It has been real helpful and has certainly helped evolve my game."

Tamati said he was gutted the event has been delayed after the work he has put in over the last few months, but the situation was out of his control and he was using the delay in a positive way.

"It's not exactly ideal but it gives me more motivation and drive, fuels the fire and gives me a lot more time to prepare more. Study the opposition a bit more to level up my game a bit.

"It's been pushed out a month, which is quite a bit of time."

The format for the eight-man tournament is simple: if you win, you carry on, with the last man standing crowned the champion.

With potentially three fights in one night for the elimination tournament, Tamati had been putting extra emphasis on improving his cardio and endurance, as well as how he could optimise his recovery between fights.

"Everything has changed, more or less. I've had to push the cardio a hell of a lot, it sucks. I've just been trying to emulate that tournament style, heaps of high-intensity work, a bit of a break, and then back into it.

"I haven't felt this good in a while. I feel fitter than my title fight at Night of Assassins a few months ago, and I haven't felt that fit for 10 years. It's good, I'm feeling real good. There is nothing to worry about now that I've put in that work."

Tamati said he would be doing a lot of body-weight workouts, road work and shadow boxing to ensure he didn't lose the gains he had made in training camp.

"If anything, this delay has given me more motivation. I am annoyed to put in this hard work and make sacrifices that could have been put off if I had known. It's just given me more drive to better."

It's not all bad though - with Tamati's second child born two weeks ago, spending a bit more time around family had been healthy for the mind.

"That's always good. Puts things into perspective for me, having a family and spending that quality time that I don't really get to when I'm training and whatnot."