In what will be Matt Grice’s first appearance in the Octagon since parting ways with the UFC in July 2009, the man they call “The Real One” will be looking to prove to fight-fans everywhere that he belongs in the sport’s top promotion.
I recently had the opportunity to speak with Grice about everything from his early days in wrestling to his first stint in the UFC to his upcoming match on June 26 against UFC-newcomer Ricardo Lamas at UFC Live: Marquardt vs. Story in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Do you remember your first day of wrestling?
Oh, man. No, I sure don’t. I was five or six years old. I don’t really remember—but my mom said that I brought home a flyer for wrestling. They used to have some of their older wrestlers go to the elementary school and put on a demonstration and speak to the kids. She said that, in kindergarten, I brought home a flyer and said that I wanted to wrestle. She took me there and the rest is history [laughs].
What were your first impressions of the sport?
I loved it from the get-go. I’ve wrestled since I was five or six; I quit for a few years to play basketball, but realized that I was far too short to do that [laughs]. I still went to wrestling practise—I just didn’t compete—and then came back and took it from there.
When did you realize that wrestling was something that you could excel in?
I think, probably, in the fifth and sixth grades. When I was growing up, I wouldn’t win any tournaments—I would place here and there—but I got beat a lot. In fifth grade, I think, is when I turned that corner; I started beating all the kids that beat me in the past and I started winning a lot.
How do you feel about what you were able to accomplish as a wrestler?
Obviously, I wish that I would’ve been able to wrestle more in college—since I was hurt. My record in high-school was 143-3 and right after I graduated high-school, I got in a car accident before I was going into college. It caused a lot of injuries; I had eight surgeries in my first couple years of college and it really interfered with my wrestling. If I could change anything, I would wrestle more in college, but, if I didn’t wrestle in college, I may not be sitting here talking to you today. I think everything happens for a reason and I’m pretty happy with it.
Could you please tell me about your car accident?
Me and a couple buddies had went to a swap meet on a Sunday morning and we had some lunch and we were driving back to my friend’s house. We were going down a gravel road and he was driving a little too fast. I had unbuckled to pick something up, so it didn’t spill all over his car and I guess he was paying attention to what I was doing, lost control on the gravel road, and hit a utility pole head-on. I hit the windshield and all that good stuff; I ended up having four or five surgeries on my head, Tommy John surgery on my elbow, and ended up having two shoulder surgeries—it messed me up a little bit. It could’ve been a lot worse, though [laughs].
Did you ever think that you would make it back to competition?
I was young—I was 17, 18—so I didn’t really think about it too much at the time. I thought that I would still compete. I was pretty much sidelined for a year, though—I couldn’t do much of anything—because of the type of injuries that I had sustained. It was really frustrating, but I think I kept on getting hurt because I was young and I thought I was healthy, but I would always come back too soon and I just end up hurting myself even more. I was too anxious and didn’t listen to my body and let it heal. I think that’s the key; listening to your body and doing what it tells you to do.
How did you get involved with mixed martial arts?
I took what is called a medical forfeit from wrestling, where you still get to keep your scholarship, but it doesn’t go against the program. I was doing what I was supposed to be doing; I wasn’t getting into trouble and I was getting good grades. We sat down and discussed it and I took a medical forfeit. I had always wanted to compete in MMA, since I saw the first UFC in sixth or seventh grade, and I just loved it. It was kind of frustrating because I still wanted to compete. I met my trainer, Jason Merrill, that year, because I was helping out my old high-school’s wrestling program and he’s a wrestling coach at a place just around the way. I met him and he invited me to come train and we’ve been together ever since. I’ve been with Jason since the beginning. He’s a great guy and he’s done a lot for me.
What were your goals when you started training?
To be the best, man. From the get-go, I wanted to fight in the UFC, but not only that: I wanted to be the best. I think that if you’re fighting in this sport, then your goal should be to be the best. My goal, obviously, is to be the UFC’s featherweight champion. I’m going to put in the work and try to achieve what I want to do.
Has that goal—to be the best—ever wavered in your mind?
I’ve always had a lot of self-confidence. The move to 145 from 155 reassured that I’m doing everything that I can do. At 155, I didn’t cut a lot of weight and I also worked full-time, so if I was tired and I didn’t want to get up and work out, I didn’t really have to. But to make 145, it takes everything I’ve got. It makes me do that extra stuff, which, in turn, helps my confidence; to know that I’m 100 percent ready.
How did you come into contact with the UFC to begin with?
I really don’t recall the specifics. I guess it was in 2007, I think, and I had been fighting for a year or two. I just stayed active, stayed busy and a couple promoters that I knew sent in videos of some of my fights and said, “Hey, look out for this kid.”
They e-mailed me and asked if I would like to fight at UFC 70 in England. When I got the e-mail, I was still in a cast from a previous fight and I was like, “Well, shoot, yeah!” Who’s going to say no to fighting in the UFC, right [laughs]?
That’s your ticket in and you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. I got my cast taken off just a few weeks before my UFC fight, but I wasn’t going to turn it down for anything [laughs].
Looking back, do you feel that you were ready for that level of competition at the time?
Yeah—oh, yeah. I feel that I was.
I was winning my fight with Terry Etim and I just didn’t get the right training camp that I needed and I had never been to another country before—no excuses—but I wore myself out and I think I should’ve paced myself more.
In my next fight, I fought Jason Black, who’s one of the best guys that I’ve fought to this day, and I beat him and then took a year and a half off due to the police academy. What I should’ve done was taken a few warm-up fights—Joe Silva offered me that—but I was too stubborn and thought that I would just jump back in there.
With that fight, I was winning it pretty handily, but I hadn’t fought in a while and got clipped, knocked down, and the fight got stopped. The next fight was against Shannon Gugerty and it was just his night; I went out there, made a mistake, got caught, and that was it. I didn’t put the right amount of work that I needed to for that fight; I had a couple things going on and I had wrist surgery because I broke my wrist a month before the fight.
Now, I’m 100 percent healthy and I’m ready to get back in there and prove to everybody—including myself—that I belong in there.
Police academy?
I have two little girls. In 2007, I had already had my application in to the police academy and they called and said that I got the job. It was just something that I felt I had to do for my family. That way, no matter what, I can support them. With fighting, you never know. I was in the academy for seven months, so I really couldn’t train too much then and then I trained for another four months. I didn’t train too much for about a year-and-a-half. My schedule is eight days on and six days off, so I’ve got a lot of time to train now, though.
Do you enjoy what you do?
Oh, yeah. If I didn’t enjoy it, I definitely wouldn’t do it, because if you don’t love it, you’re not going to want to do it. When I’m training for a fight, on a workday, I get off work at 7:30 in the morning and I’m at the gym by 8:30 and then I work out until 10:30 and then I’m home by 11:00. I go to sleep for a few hours and I’m back to the gym at 6:00, then back at work at 9:30 that night. There’s not a lot of free time in there for me—or for my family.
Is that ever too much?
Sometimes. Like I said earlier; I’ve got to listen to my body and if it gets to the point where I’m feeling run down or tired or anything like that, then I tone it down. But, I’m in great shape and I couldn’t be happier about how my camp has gone.
How does it feel to be back in the UFC?
It’s amazing, man. Obviously, I feel that I belong there—and I feel every fighter should want to be there—and it’s amazing. I’m excited and thankful that I get another opportunity and I just can’t wait to go out there and get it done.
How much do you feel you’ve improved since we last saw you in the UFC?
I think I’ve improved a ton. I think my last fight was pretty much two years ago and I’ve pretty much been in the gym nonstop since then. I think I’m a lot stronger from a mental-standpoint. I feel like I’m a completely different fighter; I feel like I’m a lot better.
How are you feeling going to your upcoming fight?
I feel great about it. I think style-wise, Ricardo and I are a lot alike; we both come from a wrestling-background, we’re both strong guys, we both like to strike, we both hit hard—I’m really anxious to see how it goes. Obviously, I feel that I’m a better fighter, but I’ve got respect for Ricardo and his skills and I really think that we’re a lot alike. I think it’s going to make for an exciting fight.
Come Fight Night, what do you think Ricardo’s game-plan is going to be?
I don’t know. From the fights that I’ve watched, he’s just a well-rounded fighter; he likes to stand and kick-box, but he likes to go to the ground, too. Like I said: Everyone has a game-plan until you go out there and get hit; sometimes things change and sometimes things don’t. I think it’s a good match and I’m just ready to go out, get it started, and see what happens.
Do you make predictions going into your fights?
No. I predict that I’m going to win [laughs], but I don’t predict how it’s going to end. I honestly don’t care how it ends—as long as I’m the winner. I couldn’t care less if it took us 15 minutes or five seconds; as long as I win, I’m happy.
What would a win mean to you?
Man, it would mean everything. It would validate that I belong there and that I’m back. Numbers-wise, 135 and 145 are probably the smallest divisions in the UFC, so I think that a win puts us one step closer to being where we want to be: in the mix. I think it’s a great fight for both of us.
Assuming you win, what do you feel is the next step in your career?
You know what? I don’t know. That’s up to the UFC. I don’t pick fights; they tell me when and who to fight and I just show up to do what I need to do. That’s the way I look at it.
Have you thought about how much longer you’d like to compete?
Just as long as my body allows and as long as I’m still enjoying it. I don’t want to set a timeframe on it, but I would like to continue fighting for as long as I can. Then, as my kids get a little older, I can spend time with them instead of having to work other jobs. If I can make enough money fighting to help us do a few things and not have to work so much, that would be amazing.
Have you thought about how you would like to be remembered—when it’s all said and done?
Not really. In the real world, I would obviously like to be remembered as a good father and a good husband and a good police officer, but if you’re talking about the fight-game, then I would like to be remembered as someone that goes out there—someone that the fans enjoyed watching—and just someone that goes out there and puts it all on the line when he fights. I was little more reckless in my previous UFC stint; I think I’ve matured as a fighter—obviously I still want to be exciting, but the main goal is to win. That’s my main goal and that’s what we’re going to go do.
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