Fighting served as coaching apprenticeship for Chris Fields

There was an air of anticipation at Team KF a week out from Cage Warriors 153, which takes place tonight at the at 3Arena.

Four of the Swords gym's charges - brothers Adam and Ryan Shelley, Taka Mhandu and Leon Hill - will play starring roles on the pivotal night for Irish mixed-martial-arts.

Three of the them, the Shelley brothers and Hill, were about to be put through one of their final training sessions ahead of the event.

Their chatter bounces off one another, and despite muscle, tendons and sinew showing through their skin amidst their weight cuts, they practically leap into action as soon as the signal is given to begin their day’s work.

The towering figure of head coach Chris Fields stands in the middle of the mat.

Cracking jokes, he’s smiling from ear to ear as the room rocks and rolls in the circular motion of the warm-up. He’s been there, done it and won the championship belt. On the surface, he’s as cool as the other side of the pillow.

Moving away from his team, he confides in the only non-combatant in the room.

"I woke at 5am to watch film on [Tobias] Harila," he reveals, referencing Ryan Shelley’s opponent, a win over whom will see him enter the fray for the title Conor McGregor won 11 years ago.

"Sometimes I’m lying in bed, I’ll think of something and I’ll have to go downstairs and watch a load of fights."

During his competitive pomp, Fields was brutally honest about pre-fight jitters. Yet ahead of what is the biggest showcase for Team KF on Irish soil since it was founded by Fields and Tom King in 2016, it’s understandable for the anxiety to be amplified.

"Never mind it being at 3Arena, I sh*t myself every time the lads are fighting. It comes from a place of love and even though I know that they’ve put the hard