An exciting new concept to the New Zealand fight circuit will take centre stage in Auckland this weekend.

Turf Wars will be presenting the Apex Muay Thai Warrior Series, an event being described as the first of its kind in NZ.

Saturday night will see a range of fighters step into the ring and scale their way to the top.

Rob Horrocks from Fight Science in Queenstown will be one of those fighters.

He will be taking on Nate Chizzy from SMAC in quarter final #3.

Fight News got the chance to catch up with Horrocks ahead of the event this weekend.

Check out what he had to say below:​​​​​​​

How are you feeling just days before the fight? 

I'm really looking forward to the fight, my training has gone great and I love the Turf Wars shows, so I'm excited to be having a good fight on there!  

Will this be your first fight for this year? 

No. I’ve been pretty busy since lockdown; this will be my 4th fight since August. 

What and when was your last fight? 

My last fight was part of a 4-man tournament on the King of Kings 9 show in Christchurch at the end of October. I won two unanimous victories on the night against Charlie Baker and John Pyers to gain entry to the 68kg King In The Ring 8-man next year. 

Where do you fight/train out of? 

Fight Science Queenstown based at Industrial Fitness Gym. 

How long have you been involved in combat sports? 

Almost 20 years now, I started training Muay Thai and fighting as a junior first when I was around 12/13. 

What got you involved in Muay Thai? 

I went for the first time with a mate from school, the thought of not getting in trouble for fighting people excited me a lot at the time. My two older brothers were doing Muay Thai at a different gym before me so I knew a little bit about it already, they have always been my heroes so when I got into it, I wanted to do well at it. They have helped and encouraged me a lot over the years. 

What do you like to do when you are not training or preparing for a fight? 

At the moment, I'm really focused on progressing as a fighter so between fights I have been trying to set goals that will keep me accountable to staying fit and in shape. 

A couple of weeks after my last fights, I ran the Queenstown half marathon as Turf Wars fight wasn’t locked in yet. I’m looking forward to some surfing and mountaineering over the summertime though! 

And if there is anything else you would like to add, please feel free. 

Thank you to Greg Nesbit for giving me and my team mate, Mark Solan, the opportunity to fight on Turf Wars. 

I'm really excited about the Apex Muay Thai Warrior series and I think it will be great for New Zealand Muay Thai. 

I’d also like to thank my team, Fight Science Queenstown, for all of the help preparing me for fights so far. I have been working with Mark Barnes and Diego Beneduzzi a lot since the start of the year, they keep me accountable and push me hard day in day out.