1. First off, congratulations to your teammate, Jon Fitch on his recent nuptials. You’re two years into your marriage, what advice did you give Fitch before he walked down the aisle? Is it similar advice you’d give him before making his walk toward the cage?
2. You recently spoke with Ben Fowlkes of MMAFighting.com and explained years of being plagued by a misdiagnosis for dyspepsia and now your illnesses have been correctly identified as a “combination of esophageal spasms and acid reflux”. The article goes on to discuss your plans for treatment, which may or may not include surgery. Can you tell us where you are with that?
MS: Still waiting to schedule the injections. Planning these things is more time consuming than I thought. Hopefully soon!
3. Within the article for MMAfighting.com, we learn that you’ve had the misfortune of having to cut delicious spicy foods including garlic from your diet for about four years, due to the misdiagnosis. You have also had to sacrifice proper nutrition leading up to bouts. You’ve managed to enjoy a majority of success in these last four years of your career. How important is diet to a fighter’s performance and what about your illness affected your last two performances? Also, how sucky is it that you haven’t been able to eat garlic?
MS: Diet is very important. So is sleep. Both of these have been affected by my condition and its been really hard on me. I am glad there are options and I can’t wait to try them and get on with my career and life. Sucks not eating Garlic, I use to could eat it and love it.
4. In your fight against Paulo Thiago, you refused to tap to the d’arce choke. What is it about a fighter who prefers to go to sleep rather than tap? Does it speak to your character as a fighter or is it simply that it happens so fast you don’t even think about it?
MS: Most likely I won’t ever tap from a choke. I am just stubborn and want to fight until the fight is over. If its an armbar or something than can brake and cause excessive time off from fighting, I would probably tap.
5. Do you have an idea of when we will see you back in the cage?
MS: Not sure now but I am training as much as I can and will hopefully get this problem solved real soon. Maybe beginning of next year.
6. Have you been playing a lot of online poker? How’s that going for you? Are you a gambler at heart, like do you bet on fighters or even yourself before bouts, or is it strictly that you are a poker player?
MS: I do play a lot of Poker. I have been with Full Tilt for years. I play in a lot of cash games, online tournaments and at the WSOP. I don’t gamble on much else.
7. Let’s talk about your teammate, Josh Koscheck. Did you watch the premiere episode of TUF 12? I have a few insiders telling me Kos was really a dream to work with on the show, but of course he’s been in the press calling GSP boring, etc…How much do we really not know about Kos? Does he secretly work in soup kitchens and play with kittens at the shelter on his days off? What is the nicest memory you’ve shared with him in recent weeks?
MS: Yes I saw the episode of TUF. Kos is just Kos. He is a good training partner and friend and he just has a different side when he’s out there. Sometimes in the gym too! haha
8. Do you think when people ask if you and your teammates would ever fight one another, that they overlook the obstacle that you all train at the same facility [American Kickboxing Academy] and that it would make things extremely difficult to decide on which of you would have to train elsewhere?
MS: I don’t think they care. I think they ask just because they want to see the fights. It’s [a] viable question.
9. Can you give us your opinion on who you think should be next in line for a Welterweight title-shot passed the Kos/GSP fight and why? And if that’s just too close to home to answer, could you tell us what you think of the new line up of “American Idol” judges?
MS: Not sure on next contender. It depends on how these next few fights go. I don’t watch American Idol…
10. Finally, I think we all know what question you are tired of being asked, [“Would you fight a teammate?] so I’m not going to ask what question you’re most tired of being asked. I am however going to assume you and your teammates have all at one point tried out the GSP French Canadian accent, so amongst the team, who does the best GSP impression?
MS: I don’t think we have ever mocked him… But if we did, Kos would win! 