UFC 286: Wales' Jack Shore feeling 'brand new' before first featherweight bout

Jack Shore's defeat against Ricky Simon was his first professional loss in 17 fights

Welsh mixed martial artist Jack Shore says he is "brand new" as he prepares for his first UFC featherweight bout.

The Abertillery fighter switched weight classes on medical advice after six fights at bantamweight with the UFC.

The 28-year-old takes on Finland's Makwan Amirkhani, 17-8-0, in the final preliminary card fight of UFC 286 in London on Saturday, 18 March.

The Welshman says the move up in weight class has enabled him to "train for the fight, not for a weight cut".

"I always feel fit and strong but this has gone to the next level," Shore told BBC Sport Wales.

"I've got boys like Brett [Johns] telling me how strong I feel and if he's telling me 'you feel strong' then you know you're solid.

"I feel like I could do 10 rounds if I had to, I'm full of energy.

"I think people will be surprised even though I'm going up a weight, I don't think I'll be giving away much size especially in this fight.

"I've had better preparation and I'm not having to deplete myself completely for weeks before fight night."

Shore returns to the cage following his first professional defeat in 17 fights against Ricky Simon in July 2022.

Despite the loss, Shore says he has no regrets.

"It was a good learning curve," said Shore.

"If I didn't lose that fight I'd probably still be fighting at bantamweight now.

"It's easy to forget how tough the weight cut is when you're winning all the time but no, no regrets.

"I think I'll look back on it in years to come as a blessing in disguise."

Jack Shore beat Timur Valiev in March 2022 by unanimous decision

Shore beat Timur Valiev in March 2022, the last time UFC was in London and he is expecting a warm reception when he returns to the O2 Arena.

"I think I'll have a good ovation on the night," Shore said.

"I think Makwan may be subjected to a couple of boos and a couple of heckles on the night but I'm expecting big support.

"There's no crowd like a British crowd, Dana White [UFC president] says it all the time."

When asked about his opponent, Shore said: "He's a really good fighter.

"Predominantly he's a really strong grappler, he's got a good anaconda choke, likes to wrestle but I think I'm a lot stronger in most areas.

"I think I've got a better fight IQ and I think as good as he is I'll be able to have the measure of him.

"I'm hoping that being in a better weight class suited to me, having had a better training camp where I've just been sharpening my skills for 11 weeks will just project onto the performance as well.

"I like to think I'm the new breed of the kid that grew up in MMA, not a specialist who tried to jump ship at the end of his specialist career so you'll see a complete mixed martial artist.

"You'll see big strong Tank [Shore's nickname] in this one, not skinny marathon runner Tank."

UFC 286 marks the first numbered UFC card in the UK since 2016 in Manchester, when Britain's first UFC champion Michael Bisping defended his middleweight title against Dan Henderson.

The card is headlined by the welterweight title fight between England's Leon Edwards and 'The Nigerian Nightmare' Kamaru Usman.

"Arguably it's the biggest card the UK has ever seen," said Shore.

"You've got the former pound-for-pound number one Kamaru Usman obviously trying to win his belt back against the British superstar, the best British fighter on the planet in the minute in Leon Edwards.

"It's a numbered card, it's a big card and the exposure is going to be massive.

"All eyes are going to be on the UFC that weekend, I don't think many will be watching the rugby or the football - London is going to be full of MMA fans."