Coming off a heartbreaking loss in Sydney, Australia, Jason Reinhardt, who is scheduled to return to the Octagon this summer, is determined to produce a more favourable outcome in his upcoming match.
Boasting a résumé that consists of 16 wins by way of submission, Reinhardt admits that he is known more for his losses against Joe Lauzon at UFC 78 and Zhang Tiequan at UFC 127 than his other 20 professional victories.
Currently, in what Reinhardt says will be an opportunity for redemption, the Decatur, Illinois native is slated to take on Edwin Figueroa at UFC Live: Hardy vs. Lytle on August 14th in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
I recently had the opportunity to speak with Jason Reinhardt about, among other topics, opening a new training facility, karate-turned-mixed martial arts academies, and his upcoming bout with Edwin Figueroa.
I read that you plan on opening an academy.
Yes. I’m definitely going to be opening my academy after my fight. I was going to do it before my fight and have a few of my coaches run it for me—and I still may—but there’s a lot on my plate, so I’m debating whether I should do that before my fight or wait until things settle down.
Why do you want to open a new academy?
Mixed martial arts is my life and martial arts has always been a part of my life since I was a child and I just want to give back; I want to share the martial arts and help the younger fighters. I want to teach and coach—I definitely want to have my own team someday.
What do you feel you can offer your students?
A lot of experience; this is my life and this is all I do. I feel like I can offer them a different perspective of the martial arts; I have the traditional aspect and I have the mixed martial arts—the non-traditional—aspect.
What first drew you to martial arts?
I was always a small kid and I was too small to play football, so my mom enrolled me in Tae Kwon Do when I was nine years old.
Do you remember your first day?
[Laughs] Yeah, actually I do. Yup, I sure do.
What were your first impressions of Tae Kwon Do?
A lot of discipline and a lot of respect. For my whole childhood, I was taught by Koreans and it was all about discipline and respect. Perseverance was also very important.
Do you feel that that is lacking these days?
I do—definitely. That’s what I can offer my students; I can offer my students a side of martial arts that I believe is lacking—the honour and the respect. I feel, at times, that that is missing in mixed martial arts. I still bow in and off the mat when I go to the gym—I always show respect to the mat—and I’m not saying, you know, “Yes, sir,” and “No, sir,” but there has to be a level of respect inside a martial arts academy.
Have you always had this outlook?
I’ve always had this outlook—100 per cent.
What inspired you to try your hand at mixed martial arts?
I’m like everybody back in the day—my story is no different. I saw Royce Gracie [laughs] at the first UFC and I was running a Tae Kwon Do school at the time. After I watched the first UFC, I realized that I was screwed if somebody took me to the ground; I realized that this Tae Kwon Do isn’t going to work. Right then and there, it ruined me; I couldn’t go on teaching Tae Kwon Do [laughs].
I just couldn’t do it anymore, because I didn’t believe, in my heart, that what I was teaching my students would work on the street. It took a while—it was a process—for me to break away from my old academy and I found a Jiu-Jitsu school and that was it. It was because I wanted to know that what I was teaching would actually work if my students got attacked.
What were your first impressions of mixed martial arts?
I was just blown away by how well the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu works for self-defence. Now you see the sport and you see two athletes in the cage and everyone knows the same thing—pretty much—but in the street, Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is what is the best for self-defense.
Do you think that you’re Tae Kwon Do experience helped your mixed martial arts career?
Absolutely—I do. If it wasn’t for my Tae Kwon Do and my parents’ enrolling me in the classes, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today. The Tae Kwon Do set the foundation; I’m here today because of my Tae Kwon Do and the martial arts that started when I was very young.
Did you ever think that you would be fighting for a living?
No—I didn’t, man. I can’t believe it [laughs]; all I wanted to do was get in that cage one time—just to prove to my students that I was putting my money where my mouth is. I wanted to get in the cage once—and here we are today [laughs].
Did you ever think that the sport would be this big?
Yeah—I always knew that it was going to be huge. I used to tell everybody that it was going to take over boxing. I always said it was the next big thing, but nobody believed me. Now, what’s funny is; you’ve got these karate schools that used to bad-mouth what I do starting to call themselves MMA-gyms. I was the second affiliate gym under the legendary Pat Miletich; he awarded me my black-belt in 2004 and I opened up an MMA gym.
Back then, nobody really knew what the sport was about, so you had these karate schools down the street that would, you know, put videotapes of the UFC’s Greatest Knockouts on and tell the parents, you know, “You don’t want to sign Johnny up at Jason Reinhardt’s gym—this is what he’s going to be teaching.” And it would scare the heck out of them. When I had a Tae Kwon Do school, my kids program had over 100 students and when I tried to open my MMA gym, it was hard to get 10 kids to join.
Now, you have these karate schools that used to bad-mouth our sport—especially in the area that I live—but now, you see them taking down their karate signs and replacing them with MMA signs and these guys are jokes. They’ve never had any credentials; they’re self-promoted people and they’re doing it just for the money. It’s disgusting—it actually disgusts me.
I was going to ask how you really feel, but I think you’ve pretty much summed it up there.
Yeah—I really think it’s terrible…It just shows me how phony and how fake these people are; you go to their websites and you see these fake credentials and all these guys are is a bunch of karate guys—they just know that they can exploit people. They don’t know a damn thing about MMA; it would be like me telling somebody that I’m going to teach them to fly a plane, but I’m going to be on the ground where it’s nice and safe—“You go ahead and fly, but I’m going to stay down here where it’s nice and safe.” That’s about what it’s like.
So it all just comes down to money?
Absolutely—it’s all about money for these frauds; that’s what they’re about. They get their parents to sign a big contract and they charge you for belts and they play it off like it’s MMA—because everyone sees it on TV, now. These are the same people that used to bad-mouth our sport and now they’re trying to capitalize on it because it’s the new thing; it’s the popular thing.
What are your motives as a coach?
My motive as a coach is to share what I’ve learned from some of the best in the world. I’ve been very fortunate to train with some of the best in the world and I’ve done a lot of sacrificing over the years and I just want to give back. Sure, everyone has to make money—it’s nice to make a living—but that’s not my main goal. I also run an insurance agency—I don’t need this to make a living. I’m in a little different situation; I can open up my gym and not need it as an income and be real with people and be honest with people and teach them the right way to do things—as opposed to being fake like most of the guys out here in these karate gyms.
What does fighting in the UFC mean to you?
It’s everything, man. It makes all of that hard-work—all of the years of driving back-and-forth to Iowa—and sacrifice that I’ve put into the sport seem worth it. To get in there and to fight against the best fighters in the world is a huge honour for me and it means everything.
Did you ever think that you would have the opportunity to compete in the UFC?
I knew that if I kept persevering and if I kept training hard, something would happen. I started to lose a little faith after 10 years of trying to get into the UFC. I started to lose hope and then they called, so my point is; don’t ever give up. If you’re smart about your career and you don’t take stupid fights, you’ll make it. Get somebody that’s a good manager and, obviously, a good coach and you’ll make it—for sure.
How do you feel about your last performance?
It was horrible, man. I’m still not over it—it was awful. To train all of those hours and to be away from my family for all of those months and to train so hard only to lose in 48 seconds—it haunts me to this day. It’s one of the first things that I think about when I wake up and it’s the last thing that I think about when I go to bed. This is my life, man; this isn’t just something I do for a hobby. I have my insurance agency, but that’s only a part-time deal—that’s always something that I can fall back on—but this is my life. I just don’t know how that happened; I still don’t know how I got caught like that, you know?
After a tough loss like that, do you ever think, you know, ‘Why am I doing this?’?
I’d be lying to you if I said it doesn’t—absolutely it does. Dana White once said—I cut this out and I keep it in my wallet with me—he said, “There are a lot of fighters out there, that, when things are going great, they’re great. But you never know what a fighter is made of until things start going bad,” whether that’s two losses in a row or whatever it is. I’ve always kept that in my mind and you go in there, man, and it’s a 50/50 shot; you’ve got a 50 per cent chance of winning and a 50 per cent chance of losing.
This next time, I’m going in there and have some fun, man; I’m not going to put so much pressure on myself. It sucks because I didn’t get a chance to show the world what I’m capable of—I know what I’m capable of doing—and nobody remembers the 21 fights that I won; they only remember the two fights that I lost in the UFC—that’s a tough pill to swallow, but I’m going to keep on persevering and not give up—no matter how bad things get. That’s a message for everybody, man; don’t give up on life and keep on persevering.
Do you think the pressure of fighting on the big-stage got to you?
No, I don’t—not at all. I was relaxed and I wasn’t nervous at all; I was happy and I was excited. I could’ve sworn that I was going to win that fight and I’ve never trained harder or been in better shape, but before I knew it, it was over. That’s the hard part; to try to analyze what happened, but I’ve just got to let it go and move forward. I’ve got my next fight and I’ve got to keep focused on that.
Did you think that you would be invited back to the UFC?
No—I did not. I thought it was over, but right after the fight, Sean Shelby came up to me and he said, “We’re having you back.” And I was like, “For what?” I couldn’t believe it. I’m just honoured and very, very grateful. I’m extremely grateful that they’re having me back, because I know what I’m capable of—especially at my normal weight-class; 135. This will be the third weight-class that I’ve fought in in the UFC, so Sean Shelby thanked me for stepping up and fighting whoever they’ve asked me to fight—maybe that has something to do with it.
What inspired the move back to bantamweight?
That’s where I’ve always fought; my entire career has been at 135. I should say, though, I’ve fought when there were no commissions and there were barely weigh-ins, so I’ve always fought bigger guys throughout my career. I don’t even know if I’ve ever fought anybody at 135, but I know that that is my natural body-weight; I’ve got to do everything I can possibly do to even maintain 155 walking around, so 135 is where I belong. I hope that I’m going to have better luck there against the best fighters in the world.
How are you feeling going into your upcoming match?
I’m just pushing forward, you know? I’m keeping positive and making sure I don’t make any injuries worse and I’m just keeping my faith and still training hard.
Is your schedule ever too much?
Yeah, man; sometimes I think it is. I just tell myself that I’m not the only one going through this, though; all of the other fighters go through the same thing. I’m not alone, so you kind of gain comfort from the fact that you’re not alone; that’s why they call us “fighters”—because we fight. I’m no different than anyone else, though; everyone goes through different things in their life and we just keep pushing forward.
Do you envy full-time fighters—guys that devote all of their time to training?
Do I envy it? Well, I don’t know if “envy” is the right word, but I respect it; I respect all fighters that are humble and respectful. I respect other fighters—especially guys in the UFC—because we all know what each of us goes through. When we see other UFC-fighters, we know what they went through, so there’s an automatic respect there.
Is it at all difficult to fight a guy that you respect?
You know what? No, it isn’t—it’s not at all. We’re both in this to make a living and to better our futures, so it’s business. Afterwards, we’re friends and that’s it.
Do you think Edwin has anything to offer that you haven’t seen before?
Shoot—I don’t know. I know he’s a tough guy and I know he’s a really good striker. I’ve got a lot of respect for him, but I don’t think he has anything that I haven’t seen before—but we’re about to find out [laughs].
What do you think his game-plan is going to be?
To knock me out, man [laughs]—to knock me out. He’s going to stand and trade. If you look at his last fight, man; he got Fight of the Night—he’s a young stud and I’m looking forward to it. I think our styles are similar; we’re both aggressive, we both swing hard, and I’m excited about it.
Do you think that this is one of the biggest opportunities of your career?
No—I think my last opportunity was my biggest opportunity and I blew it. I think my last opportunity in the UFC—because he had so much hype around him—and I had an opportunity to win, but I blew it. Every fight is a big opportunity, though, but I think I blew my biggest opportunity. However, I’m moving past that one and moving forward. You’re only as good as your last fight, right? So, really, every fight—every opportunity—is the biggest. I feel, in my heart, that my true opportunity was my last fight in the UFC in Australia.
Do you feel that a win in August would offer you some type of redemption?
Yeah—absolutely it would. It would offer me a form of redemption and that’s what I’m looking forward to.
What else would a win mean to you?
It’s to keep your job; I’m fighting to keep my job and I want to keep this going—you want to keep it going as long as possible. There’s a small window of opportunity for us fighters and Dana White always talks about that—and it’s very true—so, obviously, I have to win this next fight or it’s over.
Have you thought about how much longer you’d like to compete?
Randy competed until he was 47 and I want to compete ‘til I’m 48 [laughs]. I’ve had it in my mind that I want to compete until I’m 48 years old. I know that I’ve got some injuries, but every fighter does. I keep on improving, so that’s the exciting part.
What do you feel you can accomplish in that time?
Now that they have the 135-pound division, I feel that the sky is the limit; I feel that I can accomplish some wins, make some money, open my academy, focus on the team of fighters that I’m going to have and go from there.
How would you like to be remembered when it’s all said and done?
There are 1000s of fighters out there and I’ve never said that I was the best or anything like that—or even close to it—but I would just like to be remembered as a guy that fought with a lot of heart, a lot of desire and had a great work-ethic.
Is there anything that you’d like to say to your fans while you have this opportunity?
I just want to tell them that they keep me going; they get me out of bed in the morning—believe me. It’s all about the fans, honestly. Sure, you do this for yourself and for your family, but at the end of it all, it boils down to the fans. The more fans that I can gain is just great. I want to gain as many fans as possible and, hopefully, I can be a small, tiny influence in their life and help them in a little way—that’s what I would like to do. I love my fans, man—they’re the greatest.
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