Part 1 of Bloody Elbow’s interview with 16 time world champion trainer Trevor Wittman about Justin Gaethje, Rose Namajunas, and some talk about Shane Carwin returning to the UFC to face Brock Lesnar.
If you look in the corner of any great fighter, then chances are you will find a pretty great coach. Such great fighters as Georges St-Pierre, Duane Ludwig, Shane Carwin, and Rashad Evans are just a few of the many world champions trained by the legendary Trevor Wittman. Bloody Elbow caught up with Wittman to discuss his current fighters, Rose Namajunas and Justin Gaethje, and touched on the possibility of Shane Carwin returning to face Brock Lesnar.
Part 1 Interview: 16x world champ trainer Trevor Wittman **AUDIO ONLY**
Trevor Wittman on what makes a great coach:
“It’s caring. It’s really treating each athlete uniquely. Again, it goes back to my spirit of being a giver. You know, you have to care about the athlete so much… I cared so much. I was such good friends with them that I knew what ticked them off. I knew what cooled them down. I knew what would get them focused. It’s really knowing the athlete is what has really really helped me.”
Trevor Wittman assessed his #3 ranked UFC women’s strawweight Rose Namajunas:
“This is fun. Rose is another fun person to work with,”Wittman said of the Strawweight top contender. “She’s a student of the game. She listen’s so well. She’s so darn athletic. She catches it so quick. She’s just growing every fight. I’m really looking forward to this fight. It’s another great step up in competition. Another undefeated person so it’d be two in a row we get to go with. I’m really excited about going out there and competing and taking that notch off the record. It’s one of those things. If Rose is right mentally, I think she beats anybody in the UFC at the moment. It’s all about where she’s at mentally. Like the fight with Carla Esparza, I take 100% credit for the loss in that fight. I don’t think Rose lost in that fight. She got submitted and the choke was given to Carla. For me, I felt like we were cheerleaders and hype men going into that fight. I felt like I led her into a war and I made her believe it wasn’t going to be that tough of a fight. When I knew it was going to be a tough fight but sometimes you start falling for how she’s performing and how good of a finisher she is. It’s very easy to let yourself go sometimes and I really slipped on that one. I take 100% fault in that fight and at some point I hope that we get to face Carla again. She could expect to see a different Rose I can guarantee you that.”
Trevor Wittman on the next opponent for his World Series of Fighting lightweight champion Justin Gaethje:
“We don’t know yet. We’re waiting on it,” Wittman said in reference to Gaethje’s next WSOF opponent. “There’s two guys that we’ve been told. Ozzy, i’m not going to try to butcher his last name; he’s a Russian guy from World Series. He’s fought a few times for World Series or Jason High. So either one. For me, it’s all about the experience. As long we’re not getting too many rematches. I’m not really into rematches because it’s all about experience. Especially where he is at in his career. It’s about finding new styles and competing against new techniques so we can be exposed on what we need to polish up. That way when we get to another division and go for another title we can continue to perform. It’s all about seeing new stuff for me and really not staying too long on the shelf.”
Regarding the possibility of former UFC heavyweight champion Shane Carwin returning to face Brock Lesnar, coach Trevor Wittman had this to say:
“The bigger you become, the harder you fall; even if you know how to fall,” Wittman said of heavyweight MMA. “Big guys like Shane, like Pat [Barry] those guys, it’s just different on your body. Again, it goes back to the injury toll. How long can you stay sore? How long can your joints take punishment. Look at the guys in the heavyweight division; how long do they last holding the title? It’s very hard because of what happens to your body through that competition. He played high level football before this also. Again, all of that contact is rough on the body. It’d be cool to see a fight against Brock, but again, coming in to these world class, world level guys. Not to say Shane can’t compete if he’s in 100% shape and consistent with it. It’s hard to bounce back in unless you’re staying consistent with it.”
You can find Trevor Wittman in the corner of Rose Namajunas at UFC 201 on July 30, 2016, and at Grudge Training Center working with Justin Gaethje as he awaits his next opponent. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for Part 2 of this interview with coach Wittman. The full interview video for Part 1 can be seen at the top of the page.