(“[Beerbohm’s] not even close to being able to stop my takedowns. This is going to be a ground battle and I’m hoping to finish it.” / Photo courtesy of Getty Images)
Volkmann was recently cut after a loss to Bobby Green at UFC 156 back in February despite having a 6-2 record in the Octagon as a lightweight, after starting his UFC career with an 0-2 run at welterweight. The walking papers came as a shock to Volkmann who couldn’t understand how he could be sent on his merry way. However, Volkmann’s departure came secondary to the shocking announcement that Jon Fitch had also been released despite having had a crack at Georges St-Pierre’s welterweight title and holding a stellar 14-3-1 record in the UFC. If you ask Volkmann, he’ll tell you that it is because the UFC is looking to condition their fans into watching guys who stand and bang instead of crafty ground competitors.
“That was the biggest reason why I was released,” Volkmann says of his fighting strategy, which often sees him bringing fighters to the canvas rather than trading punches. With only one of his UFC victories coming by way of stoppage, Volkmann has often been labeled “boring” by the type of fans who prefer their MMA fights to look like bar brawls. And though Volkmann’s success should speak for itself, he says that the UFC prefers its fans to see mindless clubbing rather than a ground game of chess. “They are making their fans like the stand up fighters. They could put more ground fighters on the card but they are dictating who watches and what is considered [exciting]. The mainstream isn’t promoting the ground game.”
Whether Volkmann’s declaration is true depends on the viewer. But what most fans don’t understand is the disparity in pay between the UFC’s top-tier fighters and the rest of the bunch. Volkmann has fought on his fair share of main cards but says that the perception that the UFC takes care of its fighters financially is completely false.
“They don’t take care of their fighters all that well,” Volkmann says, while citing that he made $50,000 last year while going 3-0. But the money isn’t the entire issue. “I’m talking about benefits. Their health care is a joke. There is no retirement. If you get injured, you don’t get paid. I’d like to see you get paid something when you are injured.”
You may have heard about Volkmann’s idea of starting a fighters’ union as well to ensure that fighters are protected. “I’d like to see a two-year contract with two fights a year minimum, where the minimum pay is $15,000 for the fight and $15,000 to win,” Volkmann explained. “At least you get paid a minimum of $30,000 a year and I think the UFC can afford to pay their fighters that.”
(“[Beerbohm’s] not even close to being able to stop my takedowns. This is going to be a ground battle and I’m hoping to finish it.” / Photo courtesy of Getty Images)
Volkmann was recently cut after a loss to Bobby Green at UFC 156 back in February despite having a 6-2 record in the Octagon as a lightweight, after starting his UFC career with an 0-2 run at welterweight. The walking papers came as a shock to Volkmann who couldn’t understand how he could be sent on his merry way. However, Volkmann’s departure came secondary to the shocking announcement that Jon Fitch had also been released despite having had a crack at Georges St-Pierre’s welterweight title and holding a stellar 14-3-1 record in the UFC. If you ask Volkmann, he’ll tell you that it is because the UFC is looking to condition their fans into watching guys who stand and bang instead of crafty ground competitors.
“That was the biggest reason why I was released,” Volkmann says of his fighting strategy, which often sees him bringing fighters to the canvas rather than trading punches. With only one of his UFC victories coming by way of stoppage, Volkmann has often been labeled “boring” by the type of fans who prefer their MMA fights to look like bar brawls. And though Volkmann’s success should speak for itself, he says that the UFC prefers its fans to see mindless clubbing rather than a ground game of chess. “They are making their fans like the stand up fighters. They could put more ground fighters on the card but they are dictating who watches and what is considered [exciting]. The mainstream isn’t promoting the ground game.”
Whether Volkmann’s declaration is true depends on the viewer. But what most fans don’t understand is the disparity in pay between the UFC’s top-tier fighters and the rest of the bunch. Volkmann has fought on his fair share of main cards but says that the perception that the UFC takes care of its fighters financially is completely false.
“They don’t take care of their fighters all that well,” Volkmann says, while citing that he made $50,000 last year while going 3-0. But the money isn’t the entire issue. “I’m talking about benefits. Their health care is a joke. There is no retirement. If you get injured, you don’t get paid. I’d like to see you get paid something when you are injured.”
You may have heard about Volkmann’s idea of starting a fighters’ union as well to ensure that fighters are protected. “I’d like to see a two-year contract with two fights a year minimum, where the minimum pay is $15,000 for the fight and $15,000 to win,” Volkmann explained. “At least you get paid a minimum of $30,000 a year and I think the UFC can afford to pay their fighters that.”
For him, the pay is fair considering the amount of money that he has to shell out on everything ranging from training camps to medical expenses.
“They don’t pay our training bills,” Volkmann continued. “Last year alone I spent $16,000 on medical expenses and health care premiums. I pay $1,000 to my gym per fight. Then I pay my boxing coach so that varies. I pay for my own equipment. I pay for gas and travel as well.”
Volkmann says that his new deal with World Series of Fighting doesn’t pay as well as the UFC, but that is mainly because the organization is still new. He chose to fight for WSoF rather than Bellator because WSoF offered him a fight every 4-6 months, and the opportunity to compete for their inaugural lightweight title was appealing. As for the UFC, Volkmann says that he has no plans of returning regardless of whether he puts together enough wins for the leading fight organization to give him a call. He figures that he’s said more than enough to put him in the permanent doghouse but that won’t prevent him from working his ass off to ensure that a fighters, union will exist.
“Other sports leagues have them so it is only a matter of time before there is one in the UFC,” Volkmann says. “I’m hoping it happens within my lifetime. It would be nice to see it in the next ten years. The UFC is trying hard to fight it and anybody that speaks against them or says that they want to form a union, the get rid of like Jon Fitch.”
With all the talk of the UFC and unions, the battle Volkmann has to focus on is inside of the cage against Beerbohm. After all, if he is unable to win, he may have a hard time finding a place to fight in the first place.
“I’ve been working on my standup every day and getting more confident just in case somebody has the power to stop my takedown attempts,” Volkmann says of his approach to Beerbohm. While his strength has always been in his ground game, Volkmann knows that he needs to become more well rounded if he wants to be considered an elite fighter. However, the man who now calls himself “Dr. Feelgood” believes that Beerbohm won’t have much to offer when it comes to stopping Volkmann from what he does best.
“He’s not even close to being able to stop my takedowns,” he said when asked how the fight will end up. “This is going to be a ground battle and I’m hoping to finish it. He seems to give up his back pretty easily and that’s nice for me.”
Considering that Volkmann is one of those fighters who more often than not leaves the fight in the hands of the judges, he’s keenly aware that he needs to become a finisher in order to excel in the World Series of Fighting. And aside from the standup, the other thing Volkmann says that he has worked on is keeping the Obama slander out of his post-fight interviews.
“Unless somebody brings something up about Obama, I have nothing more to say,” Volkmann says. “I have had enough of that. Besides, I stopped saying stuff because he stopped forcing foolish policies. He has been doing pretty well at doing absolutely nothing.”
CagePotato.com reporter Brian J. D’Souza caught up to Cyborg at The Gym @ 99 Sudbury in Toronto, where they discussed her journey from handball player to dominant mixed martial artist, the contract terms that kept her from signing with the UFC, and her upcoming rematch with Coenen. Plus, Cyborg spoke out about her current relationships with her manager Tito Ortiz and her ex-husband Evangelista Santos, and the differences between sparring with men and women.
CagePotato.com reporter Brian J. D’Souza caught up to Cyborg at The Gym @ 99 Sudbury in Toronto, where they discussed her journey from handball player to dominant mixed martial artist, the contract terms that kept her from signing with the UFC, and her upcoming rematch with Coenen. Plus, Cyborg spoke out about her current relationships with her manager Tito Ortiz and her ex-husband Evangelista Santos, and the differences between sparring with men and women.
(Photo courtesy of Kinya Hashimoto via MMAFighting)
[Ed. note: This is the third in a series of interviews with the fighters and promoters behind Metamoris II: Gracie vs. Aoki, which goes down June 9th in Los Angeles. Stay tuned for more, and follow Metamoris on Facebook and Twitter for important event updates. You can purchase tickets right here.]
Ryan Hall burst onto the public submission grappling scene much faster than most. As a young blue and purple belt, Hall was thrust into the public eye by a former coach when he starred in for-sale instructional videos, espousing him as already an expert. In competition, which Hall took part in with feverish frequency, the Jiu Jitsu player often used complicated-looking inverted, upside-down techniques.
To be honest, it was difficult for this writer to warm up to Hall as a spectator due to all this. Sure, he was good, real good. But, what is this kid doing selling instructional videos in a world filled with black belt legends trying to make a living? What was all this spinning, upside-down crap he did? Surely he was a BJJ practitioner of the least compelling variety — the ones who focus on parlor trick positions and techniques that would get you in a whole lot of trouble in a real fight.
Of course, Ryan Hall the person and Jiu Jitsu practitioner deserved a more thoughtful look than my initial and judgmental cursory one. Hall separated himself from that former instructor, opened up his own academy, 50/50 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and began to add major international titles to his resume.
Around the time he medaled at the 2009 ADCC (the Olympics of submission wrestling), it became crystal clear even to the most closed-minded, like myself, that Hall was the real deal. He wasn’t some kid winning regional tournaments with inverted triangle chokes, anymore. The techniques Hall used to win world titles were far from gimmicks and interviews showed him to be thoughtful, bright and humble.
“For better or for worse I was put out there in public when I was younger, a lower belt,” Hall tells CagePotato on a recent Saturday afternoon.
(Photo courtesy of Kinya Hashimoto via MMAFighting)
[Ed. note: This is the third in a series of interviews with the fighters and promoters behind Metamoris II: Gracie vs. Aoki, which goes down June 9th in Los Angeles. Stay tuned for more, and follow Metamoris on Facebook and Twitter for important event updates. You can purchase tickets right here.]
Ryan Hall burst onto the public submission grappling scene much faster than most. As a young blue and purple belt, Hall was thrust into the public eye by a former coach when he starred in for-sale instructional videos, espousing him as already an expert. In competition, which Hall took part in with feverish frequency, the Jiu Jitsu player often used complicated-looking inverted, upside-down techniques.
To be honest, it was difficult for this writer to warm up to Hall from a distance due to all this. Sure, he was good, real good. But, what is this kid doing selling instructional videos in a world filled with black belt legends trying to make a living? What was all this spinning, upside-down crap he did? Surely he was a BJJ practitioner of the least compelling variety — the ones who focus on parlor trick positions and techniques that would get you in a whole lot of trouble in a real fight.
Of course, Ryan Hall the person and Jiu Jitsu practitioner deserved a more thoughtful look than my initial and judgmental cursory one. Hall separated himself from that former instructor, opened up his own academy, 50/50 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and began to add major international titles to his resume.
Around the time he medaled at the 2009 ADCC (the Olympics of submission wrestling), it became crystal clear even to the most closed-minded, like myself, that Hall was the real deal. He wasn’t some kid winning regional tournaments with inverted triangle chokes, anymore. The techniques Hall used to win world titles were far from gimmicks and interviews showed him to be thoughtful, bright and humble.
“For better or for worse I was put out there in public when I was younger, a lower belt,” Hall tells CagePotato on a recent Saturday afternoon.
As for the sometimes esoteric-seeming techniques that Hall became notorious for in his youth, he says it was just about finding something to work for him against more experienced opponents. “Of course the best way to win is to take someone down, mount them and cross choke them,” Hall says.
“But I started competing against black belts, high level black belts, as a blue and purple belt. There was no way I was going to go in there and dominate in every facet against those guys. The only chance I had was to surprise them with an unexpected transition or an angle they didn’t see from others too often.”
Hall’s intelligence, savvy and flexibility allow him to do some cool and creative looking things out on the mats, but to him, the mat is not just a canvas for artistic expression, it is the training grounds for war. “Jiu Jitsu is about fighting, about learning to defend yourself against someone who is trying to hurt you in real life,” Hall says.
Towards that end, Ryan doesn’t rule out any technique, as long as it proves the right tool for the moment. “People in Jiu Jitsu talk about techniques in ways people don’t in other fight styles,” Hall says.
“Someone asks, ‘oh what do you think of x-guard, or this or that guard?’ Imagine if you asked Oscar De La Hoya or Manny Pacquiao a question like, ‘what do you think of the left hook or right cross?’ They’d look at you like you were crazy and say, ‘well, when the situation calls for the left hook, I use the left hook and when the situation calls for a right cross, I use the right cross.’ Techniques are not magic tricks, they are for different situations. If a situation on the ground calls for a certain guard, use that guard.”
Simple as that sounds coming out his mouth, Hall’s lack of dogma and open-mindedness makes him a bit of an iconoclast. Lately, the 50/50 Academy head has focused his own training on Mixed Martial Arts.
Hall has a 2-1 MMA record and has joined Georges St. Pierre in training at Firas Zahabi’s TriStar gym in Montreal. Hall had promised Zahabi that he would focus one hundred percent of his competitive energy on MMA and so had taken a leave from submission grappling competition.
A call from Metamoris head Ralek Gracie temporarily changed Hall’s plans, however. “I got a call and was shocked when they offered me a match against [three-time BJJ world champion] Rafael Mendes,” Hall remembers.
“It was such a great opportunity that I spoke with Firas and he understood why I wanted to take it.”
Ryan was disappointed when that originally-planned match against Mendes fell through, but couldn’t say no to facing the man he is now set to compete against at Metamoris II, June 9th in Los Angeles, CA, Bill “The Grill” Cooper.
“I think Cooper is good enough to beat absolutely anybody in the world on any given day,” Hall says.
“He also sets such a fast pace and goes hard. I think that goes well with my style. The fact that he’s a bigger guy than me also makes it an even tougher challenge. Facing someone like Bill in a match twice as long as we usually get [twenty minutes] where the only way to win is by submission, that’s something I’m very excited about.”
(Photo courtesy of Kinya Hashimoto via MMAFighting)
[Ed. note: This is the third in a series of interviews with the fighters and promoters behind Metamoris II: Gracie vs. Aoki, which goes down June 9th in Los Angeles. Stay tuned for more, and follow Metamoris on Facebook and Twitter for important event updates. You can purchase tickets right here.]
Ryan Hall burst onto the public submission grappling scene much faster than most. As a young blue and purple belt, Hall was thrust into the public eye by a former coach when he starred in for-sale instructional videos, espousing him as already an expert. In competition, which Hall took part in with feverish frequency, the Jiu Jitsu player often used complicated-looking inverted, upside-down techniques.
To be honest, it was difficult for this writer to warm up to Hall as a spectator due to all this. Sure, he was good, real good. But, what is this kid doing selling instructional videos in a world filled with black belt legends trying to make a living? What was all this spinning, upside-down crap he did? Surely he was a BJJ practitioner of the least compelling variety — the ones who focus on parlor trick positions and techniques that would get you in a whole lot of trouble in a real fight.
Of course, Ryan Hall the person and Jiu Jitsu practitioner deserved a more thoughtful look than my initial and judgmental cursory one. Hall separated himself from that former instructor, opened up his own academy, 50/50 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and began to add major international titles to his resume.
Around the time he medaled at the 2009 ADCC (the Olympics of submission wrestling), it became crystal clear even to the most closed-minded, like myself, that Hall was the real deal. He wasn’t some kid winning regional tournaments with inverted triangle chokes, anymore. The techniques Hall used to win world titles were far from gimmicks and interviews showed him to be thoughtful, bright and humble.
“For better or for worse I was put out there in public when I was younger, a lower belt,” Hall tells CagePotato on a recent Saturday afternoon.
(Photo courtesy of Kinya Hashimoto via MMAFighting)
[Ed. note: This is the third in a series of interviews with the fighters and promoters behind Metamoris II: Gracie vs. Aoki, which goes down June 9th in Los Angeles. Stay tuned for more, and follow Metamoris on Facebook and Twitter for important event updates. You can purchase tickets right here.]
Ryan Hall burst onto the public submission grappling scene much faster than most. As a young blue and purple belt, Hall was thrust into the public eye by a former coach when he starred in for-sale instructional videos, espousing him as already an expert. In competition, which Hall took part in with feverish frequency, the Jiu Jitsu player often used complicated-looking inverted, upside-down techniques.
To be honest, it was difficult for this writer to warm up to Hall as a spectator due to all this. Sure, he was good, real good. But, what is this kid doing selling instructional videos in a world filled with black belt legends trying to make a living? What was all this spinning, upside-down crap he did? Surely he was a BJJ practitioner of the least compelling variety — the ones who focus on parlor trick positions and techniques that would get you in a whole lot of trouble in a real fight.
Of course, Ryan Hall the person and Jiu Jitsu practitioner deserved a more thoughtful look than my initial and judgmental cursory one. Hall separated himself from that former instructor, opened up his own academy, 50/50 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and began to add major international titles to his resume.
Around the time he medaled at the 2009 ADCC (the Olympics of submission wrestling), it became crystal clear even to the most closed-minded, like myself, that Hall was the real deal. He wasn’t some kid winning regional tournaments with inverted triangle chokes, anymore. The techniques Hall used to win world titles were far from gimmicks and interviews showed him to be thoughtful, bright and humble.
“For better or for worse I was put out there in public when I was younger, a lower belt,” Hall tells CagePotato on a recent Saturday afternoon.
As for the sometimes esoteric-seeming techniques that Hall became notorious for in his youth, he says it was just about finding something to work for him against more experienced opponents. “Of course the best way to win is to take someone down, mount them and cross choke them,” Hall says.
“But I started competing against black belts, high level black belts, as a blue and purple belt. There was no way I was going to go in there and dominate in every facet against those guys. The only chance I had was to surprise them with an unexpected transition or an angle they didn’t see from others too often.”
Hall’s intelligence, savvy and flexibility allow him to do some cool and creative looking things out on the mats, but to him, the mat is not just a canvas for artistic expression, it is the training grounds for war. “Jiu Jitsu is about fighting, about learning to defend yourself against someone who is trying to hurt you in real life,” Hall says.
Towards that end, Ryan doesn’t rule out any technique, as long as it proves the right tool for the moment. “People in Jiu Jitsu talk about techniques in ways people don’t in other fight styles,” Hall says.
“Someone asks, ‘oh what do you think of x-guard, or this or that guard?’ Imagine if you asked Oscar De La Hoya or Manny Pacquiao a question like, ‘what do you think of the left hook or right cross?’ They’d look at you like you were crazy and say, ‘well, when the situation calls for the left hook, I use the left hook and when the situation calls for a right cross, I use the right cross.’ Techniques are not magic tricks, they are for different situations. If a situation on the ground calls for a certain guard, use that guard.”
Simple as that sounds coming out his mouth, Hall’s lack of dogma and open-mindedness makes him a bit of an iconoclast. Lately, the 50/50 Academy head has focused his own training on Mixed Martial Arts.
Hall has a 2-1 MMA record and has joined Georges St. Pierre in training at Firas Zahabi’s TriStar gym in Montreal. Hall had promised Zahabi that he would focus one hundred percent of his competitive energy on MMA and so had taken a leave from submission grappling competition.
A call from Metamoris head Ralek Gracie temporarily changed Hall’s plans, however. “I got a call and was shocked when they offered me a match against [three-time BJJ world champion] Rafael Mendes,” Hall remembers.
“It was such a great opportunity that I spoke with Firas and he understood why I wanted to take it.”
Ryan was disappointed when that originally-planned match against Mendes fell through, but couldn’t say no to facing the man he is now set to compete against at Metamoris II, June 9th in Los Angeles, CA, Bill “The Grill” Cooper.
“I think Cooper is good enough to beat absolutely anybody in the world on any given day,” Hall says.
“He also sets such a fast pace and goes hard. I think that goes well with my style. The fact that he’s a bigger guy than me also makes it an even tougher challenge. Facing someone like Bill in a match twice as long as we usually get [twenty minutes] where the only way to win is by submission, that’s something I’m very excited about.”
From the very beginning of his career, Urijah Faber understood that he could be so much more than just a guy throwing punches in a cage. The California Kid bought his own gym in 2006, and went on to build one of the most successful fight teams in the sport. He’s partnered up with apparel brands ranging from K-Swiss to Torque. He’s written a book. And he’s been the entrepreneurial driving force behind a number of forward-thinking enterprises, including MMADraft.com — a site he launched with Phil Davis that seeks to find better opportunities and wider attention for amateur fighters — and Optical Panacea, a new company that elevates MMA fighter posters into fine art.
With Faber awaiting his next fight-assignement from the UFC, we spent some time on the phone with him yesterday to discuss all of the projects that will keep him hustling this summer, from the first-ever MMA Combine that will take place at the next UFC Fan Expo on July 6th, to the public launch party for Optical Panacea that will be going down next Friday in Las Vegas. (Be there!) Enjoy, and be sure to follow Urijah on Twitter @UrijahFaber.
CAGEPOTATO.COM: It’s been a month since your submission win over Scott Jorgensen at the TUF 17 Finale. Has the UFC given you any word on when they want you to return, or offered you your next opponent?
URIJAH FABER: I haven’t heard anything. I’ve kind of been on vacation, but I’m looking forward to continuing training and doing big things.
CAGEPOTATO.COM: Duane Ludwig has been getting a lot of attention lately for his work as the head coach at Team Alpha Male. Is there one thing he’s specifically told you or taught you that’s helped to improve your game?
URIJAH FABER: I think one thing in particular is that we’ve been doing a lot of drilling. As wrestlers, we’ve all drilled a lot with our wrestling techniques, and now we’re bringing that into the other avenues as well. Duane’s got some awesome drills, and he has a great system down — the Duane Bang Muay Thai system — that we’re all learning. I was definitely able to incorporate a little bit of that into my standup [in my last fight], and it’s only going to get better.
CAGEPOTATO.COM: Tell me a little about the MMA Combine for amateur fighters that you and Phil Davis are hosting at the next UFC Fan Expo in July. How close will this be to something like the NFL Scouting Combine, and what are some of the testing criteria that will be specific to MMA?
(An excerpt from Urijah Faber’s Optical Panacea poster. Click the image to see the full-size extended version.)
From the very beginning of his career, Urijah Faber understood that he could be so much more than just a guy throwing punches in a cage. The California Kid bought his own gym in 2006, and went on to build one of the most successful fight teams in the sport. He’s partnered up with apparel brands ranging from K-Swiss to Torque. He’s written a book. And he’s been the entrepreneurial driving force behind a number of forward-thinking enterprises, including MMADraft.com — a site he launched with Phil Davis that seeks to find better opportunities and wider attention for amateur fighters — and Optical Panacea, a new company that elevates MMA fighter posters into fine art.
With Faber awaiting his next fight-assignement from the UFC, we spent some time on the phone with him yesterday to discuss all of the projects that will keep him hustling this summer, from the first-ever MMA Combine that will take place at the next UFC Fan Expo on July 6th, to the public launch party for Optical Panacea that will be going down next Friday in Las Vegas. (Be there!) Enjoy, and be sure to follow Urijah on Twitter @UrijahFaber.
CAGEPOTATO.COM: It’s been a month since your submission win over Scott Jorgensen at the TUF 17 Finale. Has the UFC given you any word on when they want you to return, or offered you your next opponent?
URIJAH FABER: I haven’t heard anything. I’ve kind of been on vacation, but I’m looking forward to continuing training and doing big things.
CAGEPOTATO.COM: Duane Ludwig has been getting a lot of attention lately for his work as the head coach at Team Alpha Male. Is there one thing he’s specifically told you or taught you that’s helped to improve your game?
URIJAH FABER: I think one thing in particular is that we’ve been doing a lot of drilling. As wrestlers, we’ve all drilled a lot with our wrestling techniques, and now we’re bringing that into the other avenues as well. Duane’s got some awesome drills, and he has a great system down — the Duane Bang Muay Thai system — that we’re all learning. I was definitely able to incorporate a little bit of that into my standup [in my last fight], and it’s only going to get better.
CAGEPOTATO.COM: Tell me a little about the MMA Combine for amateur fighters that you and Phil Davis are hosting at the next UFC Fan Expo in July. How close will this be to something like the NFL Scouting Combine, and what are some of the testing criteria that will be specific to MMA?
URIJAH FABER: We have our standardized testing, which covers the athleticism, and then we do interviews with the guys as well with a sports psychologist. There’s body-fat testing and all that kind of stuff, but the MMA testing is unique. We’ll be releasing information on how to train for it on our website MMADraft.com, but basically there’s a wrestling assessment — and there will be criteria there that we’ll specify — and there will be jiu-jitsu or submission grappling, and then a striking segment as well, so we’ll be able to measure those things in addition to the athleticism.
CAGEPOTATO.COM: Are you hoping that the UFC will take notice of some of these guys at the Combine? It seems like this could be a way of showcasing new talent other than putting new prospects on The Ultimate Fighter.
URIJAH FABER: Well, the difference with us and The Ultimate Fighter is that The Ultimate Fighter takes professional fighters who have been climbing their way through the ranks, and gives them an opportunity. The MMA Combine will create awareness for the younger, new generation of amateurs that are out there. And we have all sorts of cool things on the site that are aiding these kids and young adults already, and helping them find their own path towards making their name in the sport. This is another way for them to network, to be seen, and to generate some excitement about these amateur events that they’re doing, whether it be jiu-jitsu, or kickboxing, or wrestling, or whatever it may be. So that’s what we’re doing — creating awareness for these guys that haven’t even stepped in the pro avenue yet.
CAGEPOTATO.COM: And why do you think something like that needs to exist, both the MMA Combine and MMADraft.com in general?
URIJAH FABER: This needs to exist because there needs to be opportunity. In the MMA world, you could be a national champion in wrestling or a jiu-jitsu world champion, or 20-0 in amateur fighting with all knockouts, and there’s still no monetary opportunities, or any awareness about who you are in the sport, and that needs to change for us. As a athlete who was a high-level college athlete — and my partner Phil Davis who was also a high-level college athlete — we would have liked to see some more opportunity, and this is what MMADraft.com is going to create.
CAGEPOTATO.COM: How long have you know Phil Davis, and why did you decide to partner up with him specifically?
URIJAH FABER:I’ve only known Phil for a couple years. The first time we sat down and actually talked, he was telling me how he liked what I had done in terms of creating my own opportunities and doing my own business things. We started talking about our wrestling background, and how eventually there’s going to be a draft [in MMA], and how prevalent the wrestlers would be in that, and I said, you know, we should start our own draft. So I looked up the domain name “MMADraft” on GoDaddy, and I said, “Dude, it’s available.” So he said “50/50,” and we shook hands right there and we went upstairs and bought the domain name. That was two years ago. So we’ve been working on this for two years now, and we’ve been putting in a lot of thought and hiring the right people and doing the right things to make it happen.
CAGEPOTATO.COM: One of the features that I noticed on MMADraft.com was the option to request a scout. Who are these scouts and how exactly does that process work?
URIJAH FABER:We’ve been building a strong network of scouts across the globe, and basically they’re insiders into some of the top gyms, the top teams, the top tournaments, and things like that in the sport, as well as some older, retired, and more accomplished MMA fighters themselves. They’re guys who have a passion and an eye for the sport, and want to see the future generation of talent get their opportunities.
CAGEPOTATO.COM: Let’s talk about Optical Panacea. I’ve heard about these posters for a while, and we even gave one away on CagePotato once. I think the next batch looks awesome, especially the Chael Sonnen one. Who came up with the idea of fighters battling themselves in the posters?
URIJAH FABER:The idea came about from my partner Sam Hon, who’s a really talented artist and photographer, and he had an idea that he wanted to do with me, so he was bugging me for a long time, just friend-to-friend. It took about three months for us to meet up, because I was always busy like, “Yeah, photoshoot, whatever, blah blah.” But once I saw the finished product and I started showing some of the other fighters, everyone was like “Oh man, I want to do one of those!” And I told Sam, hey man, I think this would be cool to start a business where we do some fine art, and do different things with different fighters. Like, mine is myself on the beach, fighting myself in kind of a night-time setting, and I’m in jeans, and it’s really cool visually; it’s a cool concept.
We’ve done pictures with BJ Penn, Anderson Silva, Wanderlei Silva, Randy Couture, Chael Sonnen, Mark Munoz, Phil Davis — all these guys that I know and have access to, I showed them the picture and they’re all on board for doing it. There will be some limited edition prints, and we’re gonna have all sorts of cool things that will come off of this as well.
CAGEPOTATO.COM: You’ll be unveiling some of the new posters at a public release party next Friday. Where is it and what’s going to be happening there?
URIJAH FABER: The release party is at Heraea, which is probably the coolest sports bar I’ve ever been in. It’s in the Palms, it’s brand new, and it’s like a man’s paradise — they have amazing food in there, they have big-screen TVs, and the UFC fights are shown there quite a bit. We have all of our art up there displayed; we’re kind of in charge of decorating that place, so it’ll be like a gallery there for us. So that’s May 24th, right before UFC 160 the next day. You guys should come in if you’re in Las Vegas, eat some good food and check out the art and photography. Make sure you get there early and get a seat, but it’s open to the public and it’s a really, really cool spot.
URIJAH FABER: I definitely want that fight. That’s a fight that’s important to my career. I want to get the win over him, I want to get the belt, I want to do all those things. So, people want to see that fight, I want to see it, let’s do it.
CAGEPOTATO.COM: If Cruz comes back this year, he’ll probably have to fight Renan Barao first. Since you have first-hand knowledge of both fighters, who do you think would win that match?
URIJAH FABER: I think it’s just going to come down to that day and who’s able to execute. Dominick is very elusive, and he throws a lot of punches and is really active. Barao actually doesn’t move that much, but he’s extremely hard to hit as well. It’s funny: One moves a ton and is hard to hit, and the other one doesn’t move that much and is hard to hit. Dominick’s known for scoring points with his takedowns, and things like that, but I think he’s going to have trouble doing that with Barao. But Barao may have trouble actually connecting with Cruz as well. So it’s really going to come down to the day; I don’t know who’s gonna win.
(“I think putting ourselves in dangerous situations makes our lives exciting.” / Photo courtesy of Denise Truscello @ WireImage via Getty)
By Ben Goldstein
With her fight against Kathina Catron leading off the Invicta FC 5 prelims this Friday, we called up CP’s favorite (and only!) sponsored fighterRose Namajunas to get to know the woman a little better. So what did she have to say about pre-fight nerves, Pat Barry, and mean-mugging strangers at the grocery store? Read on and find out. And be sure to follow Rose on twitter @RoseNamajunas for more updates from her life.
CAGEPOTATO.COM: First of all, who gave you the nickname “Thug”?
Rose Namajunas: My neighborhood friends. When I was little, I was the only white girl, I was smaller than everyone else, and for some reason I just acted harder than everybody else — just fearless, you know? So they kind of dubbed me that because of the intimidating scowl I always had on my face. That’s what gave me that name.
I’ve noticed that scowl before your fights, and even in your weigh-ins. Do you have to get yourself into that Thug-mode — is it a separate persona — or are you that intense all the time?
That’s just one aspect of my personality. I have a playful, fun-loving side, and I also have a very sensitive and emotional side to my personality. But it’s definitely one of the main things that most strangers will pick off of me from a first impression, that I really come off as this intimidating type of person. Like I said, it’s just one aspect of my personality, but I’m always practicing a staredown with strangers. Even going to the grocery store, I might mean-mug somebody just to see if I get a weird feeling from them. It’s practice. And I think that’s one thing that fighters don’t really practice that much, is their intimidation and their mind games, and the intimidating looks that you can give to people. It really can win or lose you the fight if you have that down. Mike Tyson was phenomenal at that game, of intimidating his opponents — he won the fight before it even started.
Has a stranger ever tried to fight you because you were looking at them funny in the grocery store?
(“I think putting ourselves in dangerous situations makes our lives exciting.” / Photo courtesy of Denise Truscello @ WireImage via Getty)
By Ben Goldstein
With her fight against Kathina Catron leading off the Invicta FC 5 prelims this Friday, we called up CP’s favorite (and only!) sponsored fighterRose Namajunas to get to know the woman a little better. So what did she have to say about pre-fight nerves, Pat Barry, and mean-mugging strangers at the grocery store? Read on and find out. And be sure to follow Rose on twitter @RoseNamajunas for more updates from her life.
CAGEPOTATO.COM: First of all, who gave you the nickname “Thug”?
Rose Namajunas: My neighborhood friends. When I was little, I was the only white girl, I was smaller than everyone else, and for some reason I just acted harder than everybody else — just fearless, you know? So they kind of dubbed me that because of the intimidating scowl I always had on my face. That’s what gave me that name.
I’ve noticed that scowl before your fights, and even in your weigh-ins. Do you have to get yourself into that Thug-mode — is it a separate persona — or are you that intense all the time?
That’s just one aspect of my personality. I have a playful, fun-loving side, and I also have a very sensitive and emotional side to my personality. But it’s definitely one of the main things that most strangers will pick off of me from a first impression, that I really come off as this intimidating type of person. Like I said, it’s just one aspect of my personality, but I’m always practicing a staredown with strangers. Even going to the grocery store, I might mean-mug somebody just to see if I get a weird feeling from them. It’s practice. And I think that’s one thing that fighters don’t really practice that much, is their intimidation and their mind games, and the intimidating looks that you can give to people. It really can win or lose you the fight if you have that down. Mike Tyson was phenomenal at that game, of intimidating his opponents — he won the fight before it even started.
Has a stranger ever tried to fight you because you were looking at them funny in the grocery store?
Well, that’s the one risk you have you have to constantly take. Playing the staring game with strangers, you never know who you’re going to run into. I mean, you might run into me, you never know! It’s definitely a risk doing that with strangers, but you know, we take a risk going into the cage. So if you win that staredown with a stranger, then you know you’ve won. And if they flip on you and go crazy, then, you know…that sucks. [laughs]
Your second professional fight is just two days away. Between weight-cutting and travel, how difficult is fight week for you?
I don’t know if I would say the difficulty level is higher or lower. You know that it’s crunch time, and you know that there are a lot of things to do in one week. The physical stress is a lot less, but the mental stress is way more. You’re not banging up your body, you’re not breaking your body down to zero energy level, but all the interviews and media that you have to do takes a toll on you mentally, and so does the anticipation. You know that it’s coming, it’s coming, it’s coming, and it just increases towards the day of the fight.
In an interview last year with BabesofMMA, you mentioned that you’ve struggled with nerves before a fight. How badly does that still affect you, and what do you do to calm yourself down?
Well, here’s the thing — I think any fighter who says they don’t get nervous is either lying because they want to look tough, or they don’t really care about it and probably shouldn’t be doing it. If you’re not nervous before something, then you don’t care. I put everything into fighting, and for me to invest everything emotionally, physically, and spiritually into this increases my nerves because I want to do well. And also, you never know what’s going to happen. You know how good you are, and you want to focus on yourself, but no matter who you’re fighting — no matter what size they are, no matter what their record is — they’re always the scariest person at that time, and then afterwards it’s like, “Oh well, nevermind.”
I think another myth is that the more you do it, the more comfortable you get with it. But in each fight I’ve had, I get more and more nervous because the pressure keeps building and building, and it’s a new challenge every time. It never gets easier, and I think that’s just something you have to accept over time. But that’s why we do it. If there’s no build up to it, then it doesn’t make it exciting, and I think putting ourselves in dangerous situations makes our lives exciting.
I know you’ve been an athlete and martial artist most of your life. Was there a specific moment that inspired you to get into MMA?
One thing just led to another. My family has always been involved in sports. My grandfather was a professional wrestler and a champion in Lithuania for many years. I have a second cousin or aunt, or whatever you want to call it, she’s a professional basketball player, and all my family is involved with different things like art and music. Sports always played a major role in my life, but martial arts were always there since day one. I started going to Duke Roufus’s gym and I met Pat Barry, and Anthony Pettis was coming up at the time, Eric Schafer was in the UFC, and the UFC was growing and growing, and I realized that I could do something great with this and it didn’t just have to be a hobby for me.
I’ve been splitting up my training camp between Minnesota at the Academy, and Trevor Wittman’s gym at Grudge Training Center in Colorado. I train with Kaitlin Young a lot of the time. We have Mike Richman, who’s gonna have his Bellator fight against Frodo [Khasbulaev] this Thursday, and then we’ve got Jacob Volkmann who’s a phenomenal wrestler. We’ve got all these names coming out of the Academy that I train with, and obviously all the legends that came from there, like Sean Sherk and Dave Menne. Back in Colorado I train with Cat Zingano, and she’s a frickin’ beast. She’s taken me down a thousand million times, she’s a super stud wrestler, and that’s not even her number one strength. I mean, her striking is great too, she just comes forward fearlessly. And there’s a ton of other girls that I train with in Colorado; I normally don’t get that many females to train with. But on top of that, you know, Trevor Wittman is a great coach, and Greg Nelson and obviously Pat are my main coaches who really push me to the next level.
You had your pro debut in January at the last Invicta event. Tell me a little about the experience of being on an all-female card. Was it more comfortable for you, or did you prefer being one of the few female fighters at those King of the Cage events you used to compete on?
Invicta doesn’t ignore the fact that we’re females and we’re different. I mean, we need to actually do our hair and get it braided, and we need to take pregnancy tests, just the little things like that, they acknowledge it and pay attention. But they also treat us like queens. And it’s just a level of professionalism that they have. I’m really appreciative of everything they’ve given me.
Your opponent on Friday, Kathina Catron, is also relatively new in her career. How much do you know about her, and what are your thoughts on her?
I think she has more experience than I do, so she has that edge on me, but I’ve always been the less-experienced fighter in all of my fights. I’ve also been the smaller fighter in all of my fights — I’ve fought up a weight class in all my amatuer fights even though I was way smaller, and I still came out on top, so I think I have that advantage of being able to overcome the obstacles. [Catron] does have more finishes than I do, so I think she’s going to come out in the fight really gutsy and wild, and I think she won’t be afraid to take any risks.
Now, I believe that I’m better all around, standing and on the ground. I think that she’s a well-rounded fighter, and that can be good in some instances, but sometimes when you’re a well-rounded fighter you get too comfortable in just letting the fight go wherever it goes, and for me, that’s not what I want to do. I want to take the fight to where I want it to go. I want to make a game plan and take it to where she’s uncomfortable and finish it.
There hasn’t been any trash talk between you and Katrina leading up to this fight. Do you think you’d ever trash-talk another fighter to create buzz around yourself, or call a fighter out to get her attention? It seems to work for some people.
If it happens, it happens — it’s not going to be forced or planned. I’m not opposed to it. But if it turns into one of those things where, “Okay, I’m going to do this for attention or to get the media to bite into it,” then I’m not going to do it because I never want to do anything forced; I want to just go with the wind. I feel really comfortable for this fight. There are obstacles that I’ve had to overcome, but all and all, everything’s falling into place, and I’m not gonna create any type of bad blood that’s not there. I don’t really know [Catron], I don’t even think about her that much. I just know that she’s an opponent and I have to take care of business and do what I gotta do, and if we happen to talk afterwards that would be cool. We’ll probably run into each other before the weigh-ins or something, and it might be fun, we’ll see.
By the way, how did Pat Barry charm you into being his girlfriend?
Well, he’s kind of irresistible! I was going to the gym every day and keeping to myself, not really talking to anybody. But he has a knack for charisma, and he’s a very charming man. His smile…I don’t know what it was, but when he walked past me, I felt some type of surreal feeling that I can’t really explain in words. But I still kept to myself regardless of that feeling, and over time, he began to gain my trust and vice versa. He always tells the story about how we first met, and that’s when I punched him in the face, and he fell in love at first punch, I guess you could say. And it was the same with me; when I first saw him, I knew something was special about him.
(Dating sites are such a scam. You make plans to meet up with the chick in the photo, and when you show up, it’s Pig Blood City. / Photo via Rose’s Facebook page)
