Armageddon is Coming: The K2 Interview Series with AFC President Darren Owen

Darren Owen's long-time dream became a reality this past August, as Armageddon Fighting Championships (AFC) held their first event in Victoria.

After years of legal wrestling and venues pulling out at the 11th hour like they were Karo Parisyan, Owen and business partner Jason Heit were able to return professional Mixed Martial Arts to the capital of British Columbia and they're ready for more.

We sat down with the AFC President last week to discuss everything from the trials and tribulations of getting an organization and event off the ground to the future plans of the AFC.

This is the K2 Interview Series ... with AFC President Darren Owen.

First things first - when did you fall in love with MMA?

I think it was about my 12th birthday party.

I went to the video store and saw the VHS tape on the shelf and thought, "This is real fighting. You've got to be kidding me!" So I had to get my mom to rent it because I was 12.

Rented it, put it in and I was in love with MMA from UFC 1.

I have the exact same memory of the VHS tapes at Jumbo Video and I think there are a lot of people out there with the same recollection.

From that starting point, how did things evolve? How did you go from kid who fell in love with MMA to President of AFC?

I played football for a long time; I was always competitive, always wrestled my older brother, and liked the physical side of sports.

I wanted to get into MMA, but there was nothing here really. A friend of mine was training at Island MMA and as soon as he said, "Hey man, come check it out" I was in there.

The first day I went in, I was completely hooked 100%; started going five days a week, three hours a day.

There wasn't what I felt was a good promotion locally and I wanted to put on good fights, so over time, I became friends with the guy who owned the gym - Jason Heit, the co-owner - I asked him, "Have you ever thought of putting on MMA shows here?"

He said he had and so we said, "Let's do it."

I know you had your first event back in August, but it was a long struggle to get there. What were some of the roadblocks and legal situations that you had to overcome to make this happen?

Sanctioning was the biggest thing; who can sanction it? Where can they sanction it? Who has authority to do it? Where do they have authority to do it?

We kind of figured it out after we booked Pearkes Arena.

The arena was on board with it, than we got a letter from the Mayor of Saanich saying, "This is prize fighting and you'll be arrested if you proceed with this," even though we had the Victoria Athletic Commission that said they'd back us.

So then we had to look in Victoria and found the Victoria Conference Centre.

We wanted to do a classy, high-end kind of event and it's a really nice venue. We were 100% up-front and honest with them.

We said, "we're bringing in a cage, two dudes get in, it's a Mixed Martial Arts event. It's a combination of kicking and punching and grappling. These are the gloves they wear. This is what's going on. These are the rules."

They knew 100% what was going on. Everything went forward for months and months; emails, organizing and then the day I was supposed to sign the contract, turns out that was the day it went to their boss to sign it as well, and their boss was the one who said, "We're not doing this. Forget it."

I was called that morning and told to not bother coming in because they weren't doing it.

That's brutal. It's the Karo Parisyan treatment.

After all that, however, the event did eventually take place August 22. How would you rate the event? What were your pros and cons of your first show?

Ecstatic that it went off and it pretty much went off without a hitch as well, other than a couple outside sources trying to prevent it from happening, but that didn't stop us and I was very happy with how the event went.

Afterward, I'm a perfectionist, so I was asking everyone I could - managers, fighters, people that were involved - "What can you see that we need to improve? How can we get better?"

I asked Kalib Starnes, "You know, you've been to the big show. What can you see?" and universally, everyone said we did a great job and that it was a great show.

Every fighter wants to come back. Every fighter wants to fight for us again. We treated the fighters right.

Jason is a fighter himself; he knows what fighters want and we gave the fighters what they wanted and that's important to us.

I want to get better though.

We're buying a new Octagon; the one we used was a little small, but it was the best we could get in Western Canada. I just want to keep making the show better and go from there.

Your second show has been teased; I know I got an update through Facebook that an announcement is coming soon. Can you give us something a little more concrete for AFC 2?

It looks like UFC 111 is going to be March 13, so obviously we don't want to have our show on the same day as a UFC event, so we're just waiting on a contract from the arena, but it looks like we'll be March 6 at Bear Mountain Arena.

Anyone you can confirm as of now that will be appearing? Fighters that have expressed interest in coming on board?

A lot of people are interested; we got a lot of ideas being thrown around.

Anyone who is not signed could potentially come and fight. There are some big names in the States that are interested, some talented Canadians. I don't want to jinx stuff.

You mentioned Kalib Starnes earlier. He fought recently in Australia. Is he a possibility?

He would like to fight for us and I would very much like to support local fighters, so I would love to have Kalib come fight.

As a whole, we're seeing more regional promotions popping up in Canada, as well as rumors that the UFC is going to perhaps be coming to Vancouver this summer. How do you see the state of the sport in Canada right now?

I would love Vancouver to open up for MMA in Canada. Like a lot of people, I'd like to get my foot in the door in that market.

MMA in Canada is huge and it's only getting bigger. You can't ignore it.

Sanction it and sanction it properly. Don't force it underground, that's when mistakes get made.

This is the fastest growing sport in the world and it could even end up in the Olympics some day, so how could you ignore that?

That's one thing that has always struck me: you have the negative views of the sport and the negative slants put on the sport, yet it's comprised of a number of Olympic events...

It's uneducated people that aren't familiar with the inner workings of the sport and the training that goes into it.

These athletes train and train hard, as hard or harder than NBA players, NFL players. People just don't know.

What is the market like here in Victoria? How is the media? The public response?

Everyone has been great.

People have been really supportive; a lot of organizations and business sponsoring the event, a lot of people want to be a part of the events.

The media has been surprisingly good, very receptive.

I had one media blitz where I don't think the network was talking to each other because they came in (to Island MMA), showed the kids class, showed the instruction, safe environment, did a really great job with the story.

But then the same people interviewed me afterward, cut it, edited it and tried to make me look like not the nicest guy out there, but that's the way it goes.

We touched on UFC Vancouver a little bit. There is talk of an MMA Expo to go along with it like they've done with UFC 100, there was one in New York and Toronto has always had a great turn out for their show.

Is that something you'd be interested in and we would see you at if it happens?

Oh man - that would be cool. I would definitely be interested in something like that.

I don't want to take baby steps, but I don't want to put ourselves out there too far to where it doesn't make smart business sense.

We were looking at having Herb Dean come up and referee our first event, but he's not too cheap. We ended up going with (Canadian fighter and UFC veteran) John Alessio, who has refereed Randy Couture's Xtreme Couture events, is a sanctioned referee and did a very good job.

(UFC VP of Regulatory Affairs) Marc Ratner got wind of our event when they were trying to get into Vancouver and let us know how happy he was to hear that we're doing things the right way, having a sanctioned referee.

Last couple questions are always the same in every interview I do. They're quick hitters, just say what comes to mind first.

If you could fight anyone - past, present, fighter or not - who would you fight and why? Kenny Florian said Osama bin Laden, Tim Hague said Fedor...

I probably wouldn't say Fedor or anyone like that. I would probably be able to beat down Hitler pretty good or that guy who ratted out Jesus.

Judas?

Yeah, Judas. I would go to town on Judas. Ground and pound him.

You already do some matchmaking...

It's such a brutal process. People think it's easy; just put two guys together, but it's the hardest job.

If you could put together any three fights, free of organizational ties...

GSP - Anderson Silva...

Everyone says that.

Fedor and a healthy Brock Lesnar...

Also makes most people's lists.

A couple months ago I would have said Anderson Silva and (Lyoto) Machida, but I don't know now. Not after the Shogun fight.

GSP - Anderson Silva would be my #1 though. GSP and anybody, really. GSP and Jason Heit.

All-time favorite fighter? GSP?

GSP.

Best fight you've seen - live or otherwise?

I saw the GSP - Penn II fight live. I don't know if that was the best fight, but it was fun to watch. It was great watching BJ's pumpkin head take a beating.

It would probably be the David Heath - Mike Nickels fight at MFC 22 - I saw that one live. Jason's fight too, against Paapa Inkumusah.

That's about it. Thanks for doing this.

Thank you.


photo courtesy of AFC / Arnold Lim - MMA Ring Report


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Firing on All Cylinders: The K2 Interview Series with Scott "Young Guns" Jorgensen

In a division loaded with talent, Scott “Young Guns” Jorgensen is a name to remember.

The WEC bantamweight has made a nomadic journey to the Zuffa-owned company; growing up in Alaska, wrestling collegiately at Boise State and cutting his teeth as a professional back home in the Alaska Fighting Championships before getting the call to join the top bantamweight class in the world.

Currently preparing for his WEC 43 fight with Noah Thomas, Jorgensen took time out of his training schedule to talk about The Smurf Turf at Boise State, the possibilities of a WEC / UFC merger and answer the always entertaining Keyboard Kimura Questionnaire.

This is the K2 Interview Series ... with Scott Jorgensen.

First things first – are you superstitious at all? I ask because every fighter who has ever done an interview with me or even said yes and then backed out has lost.

No, I’m not superstitious at all.

Now that that is out of the way, what’s the deal with the Smurf Turf at Boise State?

It’s a marketing scheme and it’s smart. They actually got grandfathered in; now all the turf has to be green like normal, what you see was actually grandfathered in, so it looks like they’ll be keeping it.

Was the football team tired of getting no attention, so they had to go out and get blue turf?

They’ve had it here for a while, I guess, long before I got here. It’s something; they’ve slowly worked their way up the ranks. When I was in college, we weren’t nearly as good as they are now.

I think it was purely to get some attention and pretty soon they started getting some tough guys and built a good team.

Well everyone knows who they are thanks to the blue turf.

Yeah, I either get one of two questions: it’s either the blue turf or “Do you guys eat a lot of French fries and potato skins?”

So how do you get from growing up in Alaska to wrestling in college in Idaho?

I actually grew up St. George, Utah. Born in Utah, raised there until I was fourteen; I lived in Utah longer than I lived anywhere else. And then because of my dad’s job we moved to Alaska in ’96.

I lived there for four years. I wrestled there in high school and I had my wrestling coach up there Lennie Zalesky, he’s the head coach now at UC-Davis, who coached me for two years up there. My senior year I had a chance to move down here to Boise to get recruited because Alaska doesn’t have huge exposure for wrestling, so my parents moved me down here to get into college.

I knew the Boise State program; I got accepted to the U.S. Naval Academy and into Nebraska on scholarships and decided to stay here in Boise. I’ve been here since 2000; I love this place. It’s a nice town to live in.

You were a three-time PAC 10 champ in college. Are there any guys you faced on the mats who have made the transition to MMA?

Nobody in my weight class that I’ve heard of outside of a guy named Matt Sanchez who wrestled at Cal State-Bakersfield. He’s the manager for Ultimate Fitness up at Urijah’s and he’s on the U.S. World Grappling Team.

He’s a really good grappler and really good submission-wise. He’s had a couple of fights; I think he’s 1-1, but Sanchez and I went back-and-forth. I think I wrestled him more than I wrestled anybody in college.

He was a three-time All-American or two-time All-American and we were 5-5 all through college. His senior year, we had to wrestle to be an All-American and he beat me by something like two points, the lowest scoring match we ever had.

He’s the only guy that I’ve seen jump in from my weight, but I’m sure there will be some more down the road.

In an interview with Fight! Magazine a while back you credited former WEC featherweight champ Urijah Faber with pushing you to get into MMA.

Tell us about that relationship.

When I was wrestling in college, Urijah was like three years ahead of me. He was helping out at UC-Davis as an assistant coach. I knew him and he used to wrestle my main training partner Jesse Brock; they used to always compete against each other when Urijah was still in college.

I knew him, we had been talking and as I got closer to graduating, Urijah had started fighting and he started telling me, “You gotta fight, man. You’d be good at it and there’s money to be made.” I thought about it and by the time I was done with college I didn’t All-American like I wanted to; all three years I went to NCAA’s I was one round out. I think I missed out on being a three-time All-American by a total of like six points.

It was the worst feeling of my life, so I took Urijah’s word and I literally flew back from NCAA’s my senior year on a Sunday and went and started training MMA on the Monday. He told me to try it, so I tried it and I loved it.

I was always a fan of the sport; my dad and my little brother and I used to watch the early UFC and I always thought it would be fun to do. Now I love the sport and there is nothing right now that is going to take me away from it.

You lost your WEC debut to Greg Jackson product and Top 10 ranked Damacio Page, though many observers felt you did enough to win that fight.

What are your feelings about that bout and is a second chance to fight Page something you’d like down the road?

I’ll fight anybody that I’ve lost to. I’ll fight anybody period, but especially those guys I’ve lost to. I want those fights back.

That particular fight, I remember everything about it. My opponent got switched like four or five days out, so I’ll I heard was he had heavy hands. I had never stood and traded with anyone, so I relied on my wrestling a lot in that fight and I spent a lot of time on top of him, ground and pounding. I landed some good punches on my feet.

I do remember never being hurt. I know from watching the fight and hearing the announcers, they thought he was getting through, but he was never getting through with anything clean. I remember feeling like I was in total control of that fight, even when I got taken down. I either reversed him or stood back up with no damage until the third round.

At the end of the second round I felt like I had the fight won granted I didn’t do anything stupid, which is my own mistake and something I never would have done in wrestling, just sit back and expect the win.

My corner all came in and we’re talking it up that we had it won and be smart, so I took him back down, ground and pounded him for a minute, took his back and he rolled and I lost my position. He ended up in my guard and I thought I had it won; I remember watching that clock tick down from three and a half minutes. I watched it tick down, thinking I had it won and that was the biggest mistake of my career right now.

That’s the only fight I regret. That’s the only time I would say I would change anything in a fight and I can’t believe I did it. I’m almost embarrassed to admit it, that I thought I had something won. You haven’t won until you have your hand raised and I kind of kick myself in the ass every time I think about it.

I want that rematch. I know I beat Damacio. Everyone’s so scared of his power, but you got to hit me first and on top of that, if he doesn’t, he’s got to be able to defend a takedown. The way I fought him last time, I fought him very smart, I just didn’t finish the fight, so that’s how I feel.

Before getting around to some more insightful and investigative journalism-type questions, let’s run through the Keyboard Kimura Questionnaire:

Favourite fighter?

All-time? Favorite fighter? That’s hard to say. I look at a lot of guys. I’m very particular. People ask me my favorite football team and I say, “I don’t have a favorite team, I have favorite players.”

My favorite fighter has gotta be... this is tough... Wanderlei Silva. That guy is just fearless, I love it. He’ll take that fight wherever it needs to go and it doesn’t matter how tired he is, he keeps fighting.

Wanderlei, [Clay] Guida, those fighters that carry those characteristics that are in your face, non-stop, I don’t care what you do I’m still coming type attitude; that’s how I train and that’s what I believe in.

Wanderlei is by far by my favorite fighter ever.

Best fight you’ve ever seen – live or otherwise?

My fight with Banuelos. (Laughs)

Nice – d’you know what’s funny is that you’re the first person I’ve interviewed who has said their own fight. I interviewed Sam Stout a couple weeks back and I full expected him to say one of his two wars with Spencer Fisher. Why wouldn’t it be your favorite fight?

Yeah, that was my favorite fight man. I had more fun in that fight than I had in all of my others.

Honestly, just after I signed with the WEC I was supposed to replace Marcos Galvao to fight Brian Bowles in case he had problems with his Visa, and they flew me out and everything. I ended up not fighting, but we got into The Ultimate Fighter finale that weekend.

I can’t remember what season it was, but it was the [Clay] Guida – Roger Huerta fight. I was sitting pretty much ringside, like two rows back, and that was probably the most memorable fight. I was just like, “Wow.” It was pretty sweet.

Most Underrated Fighter and Most Overrated Fighter?

Most overrated? It’s tough for me to say because everyone who steps in there I have respect for. Most overrated? That’s hard to say.

Most underrated? There’s a lot of guys that I think are underrated, at every division, guys like Martin Kampmann, who, short of his lost to Daley, I think should have been in line for a title shot.

Guida’s underrated. That guy is tough. He’s lost to top guys and keeps coming back.

I look at the sport and try to stay away from who is ranked and who is not ranked. I think there are a lot of guys that are underrated and a lot of guys who get inflated more than they’re really worth.

Obviously Kimbo is overrated. I’m not talking smack or anything; the guy has got a skill set, but he needs to improve before he’s getting the pay days he’s getting. It’s tough for a guy like myself or guys on their way up who have had ten, twelve, twenty fights that are ranked and finally getting a chance to make something and be on TV, and there you have this guy who is a street fighter that goes out there and gets paid an ass-load of money and we’re sitting here wondering, “Where’s our share?”

We’ll talk about something a little later that will work in with the “where’s our share?” so I’m glad you mentioned it. And the underrated / overrated thing often gets that response.

Everyone has respect for anyone who steps in the ring, myself included. I look at overrated as the guys that are getting too much hype. Like a guy like Dan Hardy; while he’s had some success, is he really one win away from a title shot?

That’s who is getting publicity too. These guys that are getting talked up, you know, I thought Brock [Lesnar] was overrated until he went out and toasted Frank Mir.

My belief is that you’re always overrated and underrated until you fight your test and win. Every fight, that’s where you’re at. That’s how you get better and how you make your mark in this sport.

You don’t make your mark by how many magazine covers you’re on or how many interviews you do or how much you get paid. You make your mark by your quality wins. For the people that really love this sport and the people that compete in it, that’s how ... those are luxuries to me.

When it comes down to it, I do this sport because I love to compete; I wrestled for seventeen, eighteen years never making a dime and now I get paid. It’s a luxury. I just do this because I love it.

I love that. That is easily the most honest and most complete answer I’ve gotten from anyone to this point, so I really appreciate that.

Not a problem.

Best Prospect?

I’ve got a training partner that I think could be one of the top guys in the WEC, right up there, right alongside me or over in DREAM. His name is Jesse Brock.

He fought in EliteXC one time and then was scheduled to fight again right before they went bankrupt. Since then he’s just been training and picking up fights where he can. His record, he’s got some losses but he’ll fight anybody at any weight.

He’s a 135 pounder and he fought Donald Cerrone at 155 and lost. He lost to Doug Evans his very, very first fight ever; I mean he’d been training for a month and took a fight against a UFC veteran like Doug Evans and lost a decision, which a lot of people thought Jesse won.

He’s lost to some tough guys along the road, but he’s my main training partner for a reason and that’s because he’s right up there alongside the guys I’m fighting, so obviously him and another good friend of mine, Joe Warren.

He’s not as unknown, but he’s still not on the mainstream but come [Tuesday] everyone is going to know his name.

I was just going to say he’s done a pretty good job putting himself on the map already, beating Chase Beebe in his debut and then beating Kid Yamamoto...

You know him and the people that know him right now are the people that follow the sport pretty closely, but if he wins that title and brings that belt back, he’s going to blow up and be as mainstream as anyone.

That’s a pretty big fight or potentially fights [tomorrow] for him.

Yeah, I’m stoked for that.

Non-fight related, what’s your favorite movie?

Dude, I got so many. Probably Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Favorite Food?

Every single food you put in front of me, I enjoy. I love the buffet.

Best Place You’ve Ever Been?

Spring Break in college, Lake Havasu. There weren’t that many place I’ve ever wrestled, so my choices are limited, but I loved going to Lake Havasu. It was a good time.

We’re just about a week away from your fight at WEC 43 in San Antonio. How has training camp been going, where have you been training and how do you feel heading into this fight?

I feel great for this fight. I’ve been in an eleven week training camp and thank God I wrestled for seventeen years and wrestled nine months out of the year, otherwise I probably wouldn’t feel the way I do right now.

I trained some with Rani Yahya, he was nice enough to let me in even though we’re the same division. Then I came right back to Boise and finished up with all the guys in my gym, my boys here in Boise.

It was a good training camp, I feel ready. I’m anxious but I’m trying to be patient, so things are good.

You were originally slated to face American Top Team’s Rafael Rebello, but now you’re taking on former Ultimate Fighter cast member Noah Thomas.

Does the late replacement change anything in your training or do you still approach this fight the same way?

You know, I say this and I don’t know if people really believe me or not, but I train for everything. I’ve literally been training since my college coaches engrained into me to be ready for everything.

We’d go to a wrestling practice until 4:00 and be told to go eat, shower and come back in an hour and half and wrestle for another hour and a half, so that’s how I train. I’m always ready for anything.

As far as for this fight, I know Noah is better on the ground that he is standing, which is what we expected from Rebello. So I didn’t have to change too much, just change for the body types. Noah is quite a bit taller than myself or Rafael, so we’ve just carried on as planned.

We’ve made some adjustments as far as body size and body type, but other than that we trained our asses off for this and we’re ready to rock.

You’ve both fought Frank Gomez. While you came away with a win, he was submitted in the second round. Are you able to draw confidence from a situation like that, knowing you’ve beaten a guy he’s lost to in the past?

I don’t get overconfident. I’m confident, but I never get to a point where I’m like I know I have everything. I gotta be ready to fight.

Noah is in the WEC for a reason; we’re not just pulling bums off the street to fight for us, so the only thing it does is, on one hand, I fought Gomez and dominated him. I imposed my will on him and won very quickly.

On the other hand, Noah couldn’t get anything going against Frank. Frank dominated him, imposed his will there, so it makes me look at it from two different ways. Either Noah’s not willing to fight as hard as Frank and as hard as I do, or Frank is actually that much better than him and I put it to Frank in a minute nine.

They’re both tough guys; I don’t look at it any other way than he got beat up and I didn’t. When I go into this fight, it’s just going to be my gameplan: face paced, in his face, on the feet, I’m sure it will hit the ground, I’m sure we’ll be back up and I’m going to finish him before the third round.

That’s my plan from now on, to finish guys. No more decisions; I can go the distance, but I want to finish.

Last time out you lost a split decision to Antonio Banuelos. Looking back on the fight, what are some things you could have done differently to maybe sway the decision in your favor or do judges sometimes just not see things the same way as you do inside the cage?

I think it’s partly that, but like I said, I wouldn’t change anything. The only thing that I think kind of changed that fight was the first round.

He looked really good that first round and I didn’t and unfortunately it was because I couldn’t see. The first punch he landed landed on my eyeball; it wasn’t an illegal blow or anything like that, it’s just those small gloves fit right in my eye socket.

Rather than call a timeout, have the doctors come in and look at it because I didn’t think they’d let me fight. So I faked as much as I could and tried to keep moving and use my advantage. That’s why I kept clinching. I was just trying to hang out, let my vision come back. I knew I was safe and I’d probably lose that first round, but I couldn’t see.

That’s the only thing that sucked, dude. I think that first round made him look good enough that the first part of the second round, when I really couldn’t see perfect yet, he looked good and that’s what kind of won the fight.

I would have fought the same way, just been able to see.

Yeah, being able to see usually helps.

I just wish they would let us go one ten minute, one five minute like they do in Japan, because you put me in a ten minute fight, a ten minute first round and I’m going to hurt some people. I’m going to make them quit, so that’s the only thing.

It slowed me down in terms of how fast I started, but if I can fight a full fifteen minute fight at my pace, people can’t really hang with me and that’s when I’ll beat people.

It is what it is and all I keep saying is that I’ll fight whoever you want and I’ll fight him again as soon as you give me that chance.

Well I’ll give you that chance now in a way. Without looking past Thomas next Saturday, if you could book your next fight yourself, who is someone you’d like to get into the cage with?

If I could have any fight, I wanna fight for the title. My next fight, I either wanna fight for that #1 contender or the title and I don’t care who it is.

I literally don’t. A lot of people say that, but I literally don’t. When the WEC calls and says, “We’ve got so-and-so,” I don’t ask to find someone else, I say, “Okay.”

When they called and told us my opponent had been changed and they had to find me one, I didn’t say who or what or where, I just said, “Okay.” Then they called and told my manager that it was Noah Thomas and that was the end of it.

I’ll fight whoever, man. I just wanna get to the top and I don’t care who I have to go through to get there. Hopefully it doesn’t have to be a friend.

Funny you mention that because that’s a topic that comes up a lot. What are your thoughts on that?

I don’t want to fight my friends unless it means something. If I’m going to fight a friend, I want it to be for big money and for it to mean something. I don’t want it to be an undercard fight.

I want it to be main card, title, #1 contender, let’s do this type fight. I don’t want to fight a friend for an undercard fight. They can find someone else for me to fight on the undercard.

There has been a lot of talk around the online MMA community about a potential merger between the WEC and the UFC, as both are owned by Zuffa LLC.

What do you think about such a move? Would it be beneficial for the WEC and their roster or do you risk getting lost in the shuffle by joining forces with a larger organization?

That’s my big concern, losing the number of fights I can get in a year, but at the same time, if I’m winning and I’m exciting, they’re going to put me on no matter what as much as they can and I have a tendency to put on very exciting fights.

I think it’s a good thing. For smaller guys like myself and lighter weights, my paycheck’s not shabby looking at the other guys in my weight class and guys in the WEC’s contracts, I don’t have too bad a contract.

It’s middle of the road; it’s not a headliner contract and that UFC tag brings a lot more. It brings a lot more sponsorship and a lot more opportunities and what not.

I think it would be a great thing and I trust in Zuffa and myself that as long as I’m putting on great fights, the number of cards they’d have to put on and they keep hinting at network deals, that opens the opportunity for more shows. And if they add more shows, they gotta fill those shows and I think it’s a good thing. I think it means more money for us lighter weights, which makes Japan less and less appealing.

But right now, I love the WEC; they’ve given me a home, they’re the greatest organization to fight for and they’ve been great to me. They treat me well, they’ve been keeping me as active as possible and like I said, as long as I keep putting on exciting fights and the fans keep following me, I’ll get more and more fights and that helps the pump up the WEC.

Another topic that has come up sporadically is a Fighters Union. In fact, Urijah has been one of the only WEC fighters to voice an opinion on the issue, basically saying he feels the idea makes sense.

Do you think there is merit to the idea of a Fighters Union or would it do more harm than good?

I think it has merit, but I don’t know where to even start with it. I haven’t been involved in the sport long enough to know what it would take to set something like that up. I think it would help with our fighter contracts, but I don’t know, man.

I’ll just sit back and wait. I can’t complain right now. I’m not at Urijah’s level where he deserves to be getting paid so much, I’m just happy to be fighting.

Alright, last two...

If you could fight anyone - past or present - who would it be and why?

Let’s see... past or present... I would honestly like to fight... man, that’s a good one... I’m trying to think...

Present, I want to fight the champion at my weight class. I want to fight Brian Bowles. But past, I would like to throwdown with Achilles, somebody like that.

If you could play matchmaker for one day, regardless of organizational ties or anything like that, what three fights would you make and why?

Brock – Fedor; I want to see that and that’s probably the most common one.

Everyone has said that one.

I want to see Machida – Silva, and I loved to see a GSP – Anderson.

I want to see all the big fights they talk of, but I’d have to sit down and think. I try to keep everything else out of my mind when I’m training, so…

No worries; it’s easy for me to sit here behind a keyboard and play matchmaker, so I understand.

Any shoutouts you need to give? We do reach a guaranteed audience of 47 people…

Good luck to Joe Warren out there in DREAM; I know he’s going to win and bring those belts back and then we’re going to do it up and have a good time after my win.

Thanks everybody that helped me train, Combat Fitness, my sponsors Clinch Gear, Arrogant Apparel and thanks to my family for being there.

I appreciate it. Check out www.combatfitness.net to see what we do here in Boise.

Thanks for doing this.

Sweet man – thank you.



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A Throwdown with Showdown: The K2 Interview Series with "Showdown" Joe Ferraro

If you’re talking Mixed Martial Arts news and information in Canada, one name comes to mind: “Showdown” Joe Ferraro.

What? You thought I was going to say me?

From hosting his own radio show and delivering analysis on Rogers Sportsnet, to the creation and immediate success of his show MMA Connected, the man simply known as Showdown Joe has quickly become the country’s most recognizable and respected expert on the rapidly growing sport.

Earlier this week, we sat down to discuss everything from the UFC’s expansion into Canada and his path to MMA Connected, to the idea of teammates fighting and the always entertaining Keyboard Kimura Questionnaire.

This is The K2 Interview Series ... with “Showdown” Joe Ferraro.

So everyone who has done an interview with me has lost their next fight, including guys who just thought about doing an interview with me. Any concerns that Sportsnet is going to axe MMA Connected on Monday now that you’re doing this?

Really? Every time someone does an interview with you, they end up losing their fights?

There have been a couple people who haven’t fought yet since we did the interview – Cody Donovan and Sarah Kaufman – but everybody else is 0’fer. Kenny Florian lost to BJ, Sam Stout’s fight got canceled, Tim Hague got stopped in seven seconds. So people are kind of on my now that I’m a curse...

If I lose my job at MMA Connected, I’m coming knocking on your door. But I wouldn’t believe that for a second. Each one of those fighters, they’ve got their destiny in their own hands and they can do what they can to win their fights and it’s just mere coincidence.

It’s like the [the EA Sports Cover Curses]; they’re in charge of their own careers when they step through the cage door and it has nothing to do with your interviews and it’s not a curse.

I hope not.

With that out of the way, how did you get involved in MMA?

The first time I watched Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock, we’re talking ‘93-‘94 and I was just “I’m in love with this sport. This is crazy stuff going on here.”

I kept following MMA in general and the UFC and after a while, I started realizing that sitting in the bar, I was the only guy amongst all my friends that realized you could win a fight without knocking a guy out. Without punching or kicking, you can actually take a guy down, control him and submit him and all my friends were all, “No, no, you can’t do that. That’s not how you win a fight” but in the ring, that’s what guys were doing and I realized I gotta take this jiu jitsu stuff.

I have a boxing and a bit of wrestling background and I started taking jiu jitsu and amalgamating everything and got injured all the time. I spent more time off the mat than on the mat and realized that I gotta make a different decision here.

If I wanna be involved with the sport, because I know one day this sport is going to blow up – people are going to want to see this stuff, they’re gonna fall in love with it. People that are watching boxing and karate are going to realize that you can mix everything together and put everything together to create a style, so I was just trying to figure out what I could do and ended up meeting a couple friends and we opened up a clothing line, Showdown Fightwear and Showdown Boxing, which is an equipment line.

From there, we started sponsoring fighters at various events and then I met up with some promoters. They fell in love with the knowledge that I had and how I could break down fights into what this guy needs to do to win and what that guy needs to do to win, and then during the fight I would explain what guys needed to do to get out of a position and they said, “Did you ever think about doing commentary?”

I said, “Not really, but I’ll give it a shot.” They hired me on the spot after I did one fight with them and then it just expanded from there. I started managing, consulting, promoting, and just doing a whole bunch of things and before you knew it, I ended up getting my own radio show and TV show.

What led you to Sportsnet and the creation of MMA Connected?

MMA Connected was an idea of mine from probably 2003. I pitched it to pretty much every network in Canada sports-wise and got shown the door saying we don’t want this stuff, it’s barbaric, but my theory was simple: you’re either in or you’re in the way.

You can choose to get on board first and then follow this or someone else is going to do it. [The response was always],”Yeah, yeah, Joe, whatever. Talk to us later on.” So I kept the idea going and eventually I ended up getting a gig with [sports talk radio station] The Fan 590 in Toronto which is syndicated across the country.

About three or four month in, the guys from Sportsnet started getting into MMA, they started covering the UFC and they decided, “We need an analyst; someone who is involved in the sport and can pick up the phone and call Chuck Liddell or Randy Couture.” So they started looking around and realized that The Fan 590 is owned by the same company as Sportsnet – Rogers Communications – and said, “Who’s this Showdown Joe guy? Let’s bring him in.”

I went in for the audition and basically got hired on the spot and took it from there. As I got my foot through the door, I eventually got really close with one of the producers Bob Torrens and I showed him the idea for the show and his eyes just lit up.

He thought it was a great idea and that we really needed to do it, so we started pitching each executive, each VP separately until they all realized, “You know what? Sponsors want this. We want this. The public wants this. Every time Joe goes online to post an article, every time we post one of his hits online gets all these crazy numbers that are mimicking hockey and baseball, we got something there.”

Next thing you know, they said, “Okay, let’s do the show.” The show took off on April 20th and we haven’t looked back since.

Obviously you’re with Rogers Sportsnet, a network that has fast become the home of MMA in Canada, which I’d like to thank you for by the way.

Conversely, “Canada’s Sports Leader” doesn’t offer up and ounce of coverage on the sport; not a report from major events, not profiles on Canadian fighters, zip. What the hell is TSN’s problem with MMA?

They’re eventually going to wake up and realize that MMA is big, it brings in numbers and you’ll see something coming out of TSN. I’d hate to say it’s not going to happen because sports networks in general, radio networks in general, it’s all about money and MMA brings in money and ratings.

Mind you, TSN have got really good deals with the NHL and other types of sports, so they might think, you know, right now we don’t need it, but eventually it’s going to come.

They’ve got the WEC right now. I’ve always said it, “One day, TSN is going to wake up,” it just depends how far behind the curve they are. They’re smart, they’re a good network, they know exactly what’s going on and I think it’s eventually going to happen at TSN. It’s just figuring out how far behind they are from Sportsnet because Sportsnet is taking off with it.

They’ve got The Ultimate Fighter, they’ve got MMA Connected, they’ve got Ultimate Fight Night, they’ve got regular features; we always talk about MMA or UFC in the Connected shows which is like TSN’s SportsCentre. I’m always sending in updates, there is coverage of Canadian fighters, or Chuck Liddell on Dancing with the Stars or something that’s newsworthy and people want to know without having to wait for it on MMA Connected, so talk about it right now.

I agree that they’ll get their eventually. I just continue to find it amazing that they haven’t done anything with MMA already when they’re “Canada’s Sports Leader.”

The one theory that I have when it comes to these radio stations and these networks, and we’re talking globally, what eventually happens is there is a shift in power where the older guys eventually retire and you start getting guys that are my age or your age into positions to make decisions where its, “You know what? I grew up watching MMA. I grew up watching Royce Gracie, Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell and Georges St-Pierre. Why don’t we have it on the network?”

As time goes on and as the sport continues to evolve, you’ll see a change and a shift in power where the decision makers are going to be guys are age who will say, “Hey, we’re going to put MMA on no ifs, ands or buts.”

I said that exact same thing in an article like two weeks ago, so it’s refreshing to hear someone in the industry echoing those thoughts.

What advice would you give to aspiring MMA journalists out there who want to break into the business? How can they get their foot in the door?

Never take no for an answer. More no’s will eventually lead to a yes; it’s a stubborn industry and very difficult to break into. The bottom line is that for anyone that wants to get into any industry, you need connections; you need to be connected with the fighters, you need to be able to pick up the phone and contact a celebrity or a fighter or somebody.

When they start seeing that you start writing articles or doing interviews and people are taking notice of that, it’s all about numbers. If you’re websites or articles start getting the hits, it’s a lot of work, but eventually it pays off.

Nothing great doesn’t come without sacrifice; you’ve gotta bust your butt and believe that you’re going to succeed one day.

D’you know what I think would help? Getting a shout out on an upcoming episode of MMA Connected on Rogers Sportsnet. I’m not greedy; it’s not like I’m asking to guest host or anything, although I would do a better job than Tito and not wear shirts calling you my bitch either.

(Laughs) You never know what can happen. Keep plugging away.

Before getting around to some more insightful and investigative journalism-type questions, let’s run through the Keyboard Kimura Questionnaire:

Favourite fighter?

To me that’s a loaded question. Coming where I’ve come from, seeing my friends get into the business and never having been able to fight a pro fight in my life, anyone who steps through the ropes or steps in the cage gets my love. I respect them all, man.

Most Underrated Fighter and Most Overrated?

In terms of overrated, it was obviously Kimbo Slice because he was pumped up so much and doesn’t really have the skills, but that’s not to say the guy isn’t working his butt off to be the best MMA fighter he can be.

He’s one of those guys that’s going to try his best, but unfortunately due to age and the condition he’s in right now, he might never be a championship fighter, but again, give the guy credit.

In terms of underrated, I think people better really start paying attention to Jon “Bones” Jones, because this guy is going to one day be the UFC Light Heavyweight champion, provided he’s got the right people around him.

This kid is phenomenal; he’s the next evolution of MMA fighters, it’s unbelievable. He pulls off these jab-cross-fake the takedown – spinning elbow combinations. Who does that? That’s just something you see in movies. He’s unbelievable.

Best Prospect – somebody who is slept on or a lot of people might not know?

You gotta think guys that are outside of the UFC. Guys like Joachim Hansen or [Tatsuya] Kawajiri or guys like Jake Shields. People are starting to realize who Jake Shields is but he doesn’t have the mainstream appeal that a UFC fighter would have. Guys of that nature.

I’m really liking Marius Zaromskis, the guy that won the DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix; that kid is ridiculous. The other guy, and if he can keep his head in check, is Joe Warren. In two fights, he beat Chase Beebe and Kid Yamamoto – that’s no joke. I won’t be surprised if this guys pulls off the Featherweight Grand Prix. The guy is unbelievable.

Scotty Jorgensen [whom I also interviewed today] is actually good friends and occasional training partners with Joe and said the same thing.

I completely agreed with him and I completely agree with you; if you can have your first two wins be over Chase Beebe and Kid Yamamoto, you have all my respect.

Best fight you’ve ever seen – live or otherwise?

Wow... great questions. I’ve seen like thousands of fights. If people can see these fights:

Steve Vignault against David Loiseau because they were best friends going into the fight – and are still good friends – but just said one of us has got to win this title in the UCC.

There was Joe Doerksen versus Denis Kang in the UCC. One of the most amazing fights I got to see live was when Jens Pulver got knocked out by Duane Ludwig because all of us were like, “Oh my god, we just signed Jens Pulver” and Duane Ludwig comes in and just totally messes him up.

As far as the UFC, two fights stick out to mind the most:

Randy Couture versus Brock Lesnar because of the atmosphere, but the one that sticks out the most was Georges St-Pierre – BJ Penn 2 because I’ll never forget pretty much 90% of media row that is supposed to be unbiased and sitting down, we were all standing up when BJ Penn walked into that Octagon. You can tell your grandkids you were at this fight.

The very first UFC I got to see live, UFC 79: Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva, I remember just sitting down and going into a shell and realized that I made it. Here I am, Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva, two guys I’ve been watching for years and when they started going at it, I literally had to fight back tears. I’ll never forget that.

Dana White said they’ll be coming to Vancouver this coming summer, but there have been no official announcements or legislative decisions out here to solidify his remarks one way or the other.

Do you think you and I will be enjoying a frosty beverage, watching the UFC at GM Place next summer?

Generally, I would say wait until the announcement comes out, but when Lorenzo Fertitta comes out publicly and says something about Vancouver like he did at UFC 100 at the Q&A with the fans, you tend to believe that something is going on here.

Once it gets solidified with the Attorney General out there, I think it’s going to happen. Vancouver is going to go through a really hot period with the Olympics and then people are going to realize the Olympics brought a lot of money and awareness around Vancouver and I think the UFC will do the same thing in June of 2010.

We both know that it’s not certain until it’s announced, but I’d love to shake hands with you and put down a few wobbly pops and enjoy an amazing UFC event.

We’ve had two successful shows in Montreal, but Ontario still has yet to pass legislation regulating MMA in the province.

What is the current status of that process and when do you think we’ll finally see MMA come to Ontario?

As it stands right now, the UFC has hired a couple different firms to take care of a couple different things: (A) getting it sanctioned in Ontario and (B) taking a look at Section 83 of the Criminal Code of Canada.

I met up with one of the firms a couple weeks ago and they broke everything down for me. It’s going to be a step-by-step process; it’s not going to happen overnight. Is it going to happen? I think we’re fall closer now than we’ve ever been to date.

When you get the UFC hiring the legal firms to get this stuff done, it’s going to happen. Whether it’s 2010 or 2011, the way I feel now is that it makes no difference to me because it’s going to happen, and once it does, the floodgates will open.

You really don’t know how big MMA is going to be until you see it legalized in Ontario. We’re really going to see a different evolution of the fighters coming out of Canada once is legislated in the big cities like Vancouver and Toronto.

We see MFC becoming a choice destination for the best young talent in the country, as well as veterans looking to rebound, and guys just looking to gain more exposure like Bobby Lashley.

What do you think the future holds for the Edmonton-based organization?

They’re doing the right things; they’re building their guys, they’ve got good events, they’ve got their local market pretty much cornered. They understand the importance of putting on good events, selling out they venue and building up fighters which is exactly what you want to do.

So the next thing, the next big step that’s going to happen from the city of Edmonton is a UFC event. They can pull from Calgary and the surrounding area. I would not be surprised if you see a Fight Night there soon, or an Ultimate Fighter Finale or even a full pay-per-view UFC event because the numbers are there and if the UFC knows there are major pay-per-view buys coming out of the Alberta region, so they’re going to hold an event either in Calgary or Edmonton.

Jason MacDonald is a regular contributor to Connected. Do you look at other guys on the UFC roster and wonder how they’re still employed while a guy like J-Mac faces some serious competition and gets dropped?

Obviously it’s part of the business. Do I think Jason MacDonald should be in the UFC far more than some other guys? Of course; there are guys in there who I think don’t belong there, but it’s all about the depth of the division and where you stand in the rankings.

Can you get close enough to be a contender or challenger to whoever is holding that title? They obviously believe that with Jason MacDonald losing the fights that he did, he wasn’t getting passed that certain level, so do we need to hold onto him or do we need to bring in some new blood and see if they can get passed that certain level and become a challenger to an Anderson Silva?

It’s happening right now with Georges St-Pierre’s division, the welterweight division. What’s going to happen with Lyoto Machida and Shogun? What if Lyoto Machida absolutely annihilates Shogun? They got a bunch of fights that he can still have, but...

Look at Brock Lesnar. Who’s next for Brock Lesnar if he takes out Shane Carwin? It’s one of those situations where each division is eventually going to need some new blood if the guys don’t start cleaning each other out and new contenders emerging.

So with Jason, he had a terrible fight with Nate Quarry and he’s the first one to admit it and what happened happened. If he keep beating names that are on the UFC’s radar, he’ll be back.

Time to tackle some of the highly debated topics in the MMA community...

There has been a lot of talk about a potential merger between the WEC and the UFC, as both are owned by Zuffa LLC.

What do you think about such a move? Would it be beneficial for the WEC and their roster or does there become a risk of getting lost in the shuffle by joining forces with a larger organization?

That’s exactly what’s going to happen: if the UFC and the WEC merge, the guys that are in the lower echelon are going to have to find work somewhere else. But do I think it’s a good idea? Yes, because if the UFC is the Super Bowl of Mixed Martial Arts then all the champions that are under their banner, whether it’s the UFC or not, they should be able to fight for the UFC.

A guy like [Mike] Brown and [Miguel] Torres and [Urijah] Faber are stars and they should be champions in that division and they should be the ones fighting under the UFC banner because those guys need pay days.

You know, Miguel Torres and Urijah Faber are always talking about not getting the pay days they deserve and it’s because they’re in the WEC. They’re on free TV, not pay-per-view; they can’t get pay-per-view buys.

Ideally what I’d like to see is championship fights on every UFC pay-per-view. Take nothing away from UFC 103 with Vitor and Rich Franklin – great fight – but a main event to me has a title and if you bring in the WEC champions, then you can guarantee yourself a title fight pretty much on every pay-per-view because you go from five champions to seven champions. If they start bringing in the smaller guys – the featherweights, bantamweights, strawweights – it doesn’t matter what it is, you’ll now have champions from every single division that can fight on every single UFC and that to me is real Mixed Martial Arts.

People love to see championship fights. They want to associate a champion with their division.

One of the things you mentioned in there is guys like Faber and Miguel Torres both talking about that lack of pay and one of the things Urijah Faber has talked about as an avenue to better pay days is a Fighters Union.

Do you think there is merit to the idea or would it do more harm than good?

I think it would be a complete logistical nightmare to actually pull it off because we’re at a stage right now where “Who is going to mess with the UFC?” No fighter is going to step out from under the UFC and say that, unless a guy like Randy Couture retires.

All these guys really want from the UFC in terms of a Fighters Union is to be able to say, “I fought and I can retire, I’ve got benefits and my body is going to get taken care of.” I’m sure the argument was the same before the NHLPA and NFLPA because who is going to step up and who is going to do it when you have nowhere else to go?

Eventually it happened, but will we ever really see a Fighters Union? It’s tough to say because it never really happened in boxing other than the introduction of the Muhammed Ali act. Who is going to be courageous enough to take that step and step away [from the UFC]?

You would need a big name like a Georges St-Pierre to take a stand and do that. It will be very difficult. People are finally starting to get the pay days that they want and you don’t want to bite the hand that feeds you, but eventually you’ve got to take a stand.

It’s going to be a guy like Randy Couture once he retires, if he gets into another scrap with Dana White, that comes out and does something like this. Same thing with Tito Ortiz; these are the guys who would do something like that, but right now, both guys are back with the UFC and I don’t think things are going to be changing any time soon.

Teammates fighting: Dana has always maintained he doesn’t think it should matter, while the fighters themselves have always said they’re not interested.

What are your thoughts? Do these guys need to set aside friendships and get in there to see who is best or do you understand the hesitation?

Understanding the hesitation is 100 percent; does anyone want to get in there and fight their friend that they’ve been training with for the past year or two? Not necessarily, but you’re talking about a pay day here. You’re talking about some big money.

If you put Anderson Silva against Lyoto Machida, it’s going to take a lot of money to get that done. Would I fight my best friend or any one of my friends? Yeah, of course and I’m sure they’d say the exact same thing. If you’re going to put a couple hundred thousand dollars on the line for both of us to show up and an extra couple hundred thousand dollars for whoever wins, let’s do it because we’re going to put some money away for our kids, we’re going to pay off our mortgages, we’re going to get our stuff done.

I’ve never had a problem with friends fighting each other. I don’t have any issues with it at all, but it’s always the fighters. They’ve got to get passed the friends and the mental block to separate from your training partner for at least eight weeks.

I can understand what Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida are saying, but it’s all about fights. People want to see the best fights. Like the American Kickboxing guys, do they want to fight? Maybe not, but then you’ve got Tyson Griffin and Gray Maynard who say they’ll fight any time. It’s money. We’re only getting paid so many times here and we’re one shin kick away from retiring so, let’s get this done.

Alright, last two...

If you could fight anyone - past or present - who would it be and why?

We’ve had some pretty crazy answers, from Osama bin Laden to Achilles. Who would you pick?

That’s a good question. I’d rather fight someone who is far better than me like Georges St-Pierre or Anderson Silva so I can say, “I almost had him, I could have beaten this guy.” I’d love to have that moment like Travis Lutter, mounted on Anderson Silva thinking, “Oh my god, I’m going to win this fight.”

I look at it more as a challenge, facing the best person, whether it’s Fedor or Anderson or St-Pierre. Figuring out Machida’s footwork; being the guy that can say, “I figured out Lyoto Machida’s footwork. I’m the guy that figured out when to get into Lyoto Machida. I’m the guy that faked going to my left because he knew I was going to go to my left, but I went to my right and hit him with a right cross or a right hook.”

That’s the type of fight I would like to be a part of, something like that. It’d be like playing hockey with Wayne Gretzky in his prime or trying to score a goal on Patrick Roy in his prime.

If you could play matchmaker for one day, regardless of organizational ties or anything like that, what three fights would you make and why?

Dana White is always yelling at me for playing matchmaker, so…

Well I think you’re safe for now. I don’t think Dana is going to read this…

He’s literally always telling me to stop playing matchmaker, so if I could put together a whole whack of fights it would have to be Gegard Mousasi at 185 against Anderson Silva, Fedor and Brock Lesnar only to silence most of the critics because you’re never going to silence all of the critics.

I originally wanted to see Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva until I saw what Anderson Silva did to Forrest Griffin, so now I have no interest in seeing that fight at all, so the other would be Kawajiri against BJ Penn. I like that fight.

I’d like to see BJ take on the best lightweights in the world, not just the UFC. I’d like to see Joachim Hansen if he can get down to 145 take on Mike Brown or Urijah Faber to see what he can do. In my opinion, Joachim Hansen should be at 155; the guy cuts like four pounds to make ’55? If he could get to 145 that’d be amazing.

Any shout-outs you need to give? We do reach a guaranteed audience of 47 people…

(Laughs) I have to thank the guys over at Sportsnet, The Fan 590, UltimateBet.net who is the main sponsor on the show. We’ve got Trojan condoms that just signed on, we’ve had NAPA Auto Parts, Dr. Pepper, so yeah, I wanna thank all of them because if it were not for them, I wouldn’t be where I’m at.

And of course all the support I get from guys like you and the fans out there that watch the show and listen to the radio show, because without the ratings, I’m nobody.

Above all, you’ve gotta thank the godfathers of the sport, man. In every interview I do I try to thank the Rorion Gracies, the Royce Gracies, the Dana Whites, the Fertitta, they guys that if they didn’t do what they did, you and I would not be talking right now.

Thanks for doing this.

No problem. Thanks for giving me a shout. I appreciate it.




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The Force is Strong in This One

My evil powers of hampering fighters futures is apparently growing. Talking to me is becoming a dangerous thing.

First, Kenny Florian fought hard before succumbing to B.J. Penn at UFC 101 and I thought nothing of it.

Then, Tim Hague spent more time on the phone with me than he did upright in the cage at UFC 102 in Portland. My destructive powers were getting stronger.

Now, Sam Stout will not even be fighting tonight at UFN 19 in Oklahoma, as Phillipe Nover suffered a seizure in the locker room.

Talking to me is keeping money out of these guys' pockets...

(Note: all jokes aside, we're happy to report that Nover is fine and has no injuries at this time. According to Dana White, Sam was the class act I know him to be through this whole thing.)

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Talking TUF 10 with Cast Member Matt Mitrione

Injuries halted Matt Mitrione's NFL career earlier than he would have liked, but that didn't stop the competitive fires from burning inside him.

An invitation to fight from a good friend led Mitrione to the gym and though the fight never materialize, an interest in MMA was born.

Now, the former New York Giant is one of 16 heavyweights set to enter our households every Wednesday night on Season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter.

Last week, the always entertaining Mitrione took the time to answer questions about everything from how he got into MMA and what it was like living in The Ultimate Fighter house, to the heat between this season's coaches and Kimbo's cooking skills.

This is the K2 Interview Series ... with Matt Mitrione.

As a former NFL guy, what drew you to Mixed Martial Arts?

A good friend of mine plays baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies, Jayson Werth. We’re from the same hometown. He called me up and asked me if I wanted to fight in some fights he was putting on in our hometown of Springfield, Illinois.

Jason loves our product – I own a sports nutrition company called EDEN, E for engineered, D for designed, N for Nutrition – and so Werth’s tried us out and he loved it, so he wrote a testimonial.

As a result of him writing the testimonial, I told him I would do a favor for him if he ever needed one. Well, he called in that solid and asked me to go ahead and fight in this show that he was going to put on in October of last year.

Well, I had never trained officially for MMA, but that ended up being the fateful call that got me into MMA.

Jayson Werth, former Toronto Blue Jay, so that’s two Canadian ties for you as we were talking about earlier.
That’s right, that’s right. I’m referencing Canada as much as I can here, brother.

We’re seeing a big influx of former football players right now. What is it about MMA that translates to yourself and fellow football players as an avenue post-football?
That’s a very good question.

MMA allow us, and by us I mean ex-athletes, to have an outlet for our aggression and football is a perfect outlet for that. But once that’s gone, once that’s taken away from you, the feeling of satisfaction that comes from dominating another human being in a physical fashion is gone and completely taken away from you and there is no middle ground.

There is nothing you can do unless you go get in a bar fight, but then you’re going to jail. So there is nothing there and I think that’s why MMA is an attractive draw for ex-ballplayers and people with a physical background. It applies to wrestlers too, man. Wrestlers are on a direct pipeline to MMA now.

You’re sort of the freshest and newest to the sport of the TUF cast members this season, having not yet had your first professional fight. Do you think being so new to the sport gives you any kind of advantage, as you haven’t gotten set in your ways and are more willing to learn and listen?
I agree 100% with that actually. I think it really works to my benefit to be so green because I really don’t have any preconceived notions about what the best way to sprawl is, what the best way to counter a jab is, how to parry, you know?

Growing up and fighting I thought I knew that stuff, but I don’t know what is “the best way to get it done.” I’m still really fresh to that and I learn.

For example, I’m training at Overtime MMA right now, which is like a wrestling and MMA factory right now. I walk in there right now and it’s “okay, what you’re doing right now is completely wrong” and they’re going to modify my wrestling, my shots, my takedown defense, my everything and my answer is “Okay, cool, let’s get it done” because I’m not engrained on all that stuff.

Like you said, I’m still wet behind the ears and if you say change it, I respect your authority than great, change it up, make me better.

There were times on the show where we had to start on our knees. We had a guy on my team who is pretty good in [jiu jitsu] and this guy was like, “No, I’m not going to do that. That doesn’t make any sense.”

That was the first time I had ever seen someone be like, “No, I’m not going to do that.” I’ll never have a moment like that because I don’t know any better. If you tell me to get on my knees, I say okay. You tell me to start upside down, I say okay.

One moment people have talked about a little in regards to you is a time when you’re sitting next to Roy Nelson and asking him who he is. That really shows just how new you are to this sport as most fans know who Roy is from his time in the IFL and fighting Andrei Arlovski, yet here you are with no real idea who “Big Country” is.
(Laughs) I don’t know how any of these guys fight. I don’t even know how Kimbo fights. I’ve only seen him fight on YouTube once, maybe twice. I have no idea what people are doing.

It’s funny because Roy was so cool, because he didn’t act like “this kid knows who I am” and kind of later on I was like “Its Roy, right? Nice to meet you” and he was totally cool with it.

Later on in the show I asked him, “Hey man. Did you think I was bullshittin’ you a little bit when I didn’t know who you were?” and he was like, “A little bit, especially with a fighter because they usually know who I am, know my pedigree” and I thought it was funny because he thought I was bullshitting him, but to be totally honest I wasn’t.

Now that the show is done and your time in the house has passed, give us your thoughts on some of the guys in the house. We’ll start with “Big Country.”
Like I said, I had no preconceived notions going into this and I thought Roy, I still think Roy is cool as a fan, dude.

He’s a really good dude, he understands the business of MMA extremely well. It’s funny, he’s built like a panda. On the show, you’re hear us call him “The Jiu Jitsu Panda,” everyone calls him Panda and he doesn’t get upset.

He was just like, “You guys can call me what you want, but my name is Big Country.” But he was just cool.

And Kimbo? Kimbo is cool as a fan too, brah. Just from hearing things about him, it sounds bad, but I kind of thought he was gonna be a bum, you know? He wasn’t going to be that cool. But dude, Kimbo is cool as a fan. He’s just a real cool cat and he’s approachable and he’s a damn good cook.

He can make a barbecue sauce, and whether it’s barbecue base or mustard base or whatever base, the guy is an animal in there. Yeah, he is really cool.

I think there are a couple people who I wouldn’t have gotten along with outside the show and being on the show kind of magnified that a little bit, but for the most part, everybody was really cool.

Honestly man, I’m a really aggressive personality, so there is probably going to be a lot more people saying, “I might have gotten along with him on the show, but outside of the show, I wouldn’t have gotten along with him” and they’re referring to me. I would probably agree with that. I couldn’t stand myself on the show much longer anyways.

It’s funny, from your interview with MMA Junkie, Chris Lytle, a guy you trained with, jokes about that side of you, your attitude and personality, saying people are either going to like you right away or not at all. Is that something that has an impact on you moving into this business or is it just about business and putting in the work to help you move forward in your career?
Everybody wants to be liked, and if you’re saying otherwise, you’re lying.

Honestly, I’d rather be loved or hated than forgotten about, so I don’t mind my own personality coming out and having completely passionate, adoring fans and people that would rather punch me in the face. As long as I’m not forgotten and I was being myself, then I don’t really mind.

But the most important thing is that if you can feel some way about me, I’m still fighting. Otherwise, I won’t be fighting and you won’t care one way about me. As long as I’m fighting and as long as I’m winning, I don’t really care how you feel about me.

One last thing from the MMA Junkie interview that is getting a little attention online is your quote about not being interested in moving back into the house for anything less than half a million dollars.
Some people are upset about it, thinking it’s an egotistical statement. I read it as you trying to make a point about how difficult living in that house and that situation of leaving everything you know behind is. Just how crazy is it?
That’s a great question. I guess I can understand how some people viewed it as egotistical or arrogant, but I didn’t mean it that way. I meant it as “Wow, that house sucked, bro,” so you’re right; the way you took it was the way it was meant to be taken.

It was hard, man and honestly, anybody who is saying it’s not...

For example, I would think that is was hard for everybody, but if you’re a parent it was more difficult and if you had your coaching staff there, like Brendan Schaub and James McSweeney had Coach Rashad and Greg Jackson and guys they are used to being around so it’s almost like being in your own training camp, just in a different location, so I think that might make it easier.

But if you’re there on your own like the majority of us were, that sucks man. Everybody says “I would do it in a heartbeat” and you’re damn right, I did it in a heartbeat and would have done it in any way, shape or form. But after I’ve done it? That sucks, bro.

I don’t even think jail would be that difficult. At least jail there is some kind of distraction, you’ve got TV or radio

You can watch TV in jail but you can’t watch TV in the Ultimate Fighter House.
You can’t watch TV, can’t listen to the radio, can’t read books, can’t read a Bible; I mean there is nothing. There is zero forms of media. There was so little allowed in that house that we actually made playing cards out of paper plates, bro.

We made playing cards out of paper plates because they wouldn’t let stuff into the house. What the hell are we gonna do? Panda (Roy Nelson) actually made a chess board out of tape and glasses so people could play chess because there was nothing to do in that house. He made the chess board on the table.

You mentioned the coaches there real quick. Is the heat between Rashad and Rampage legitimate? Do they really just want to get at each other that bad?
Who Rampage and Rashad? Yeah, dude, they don’t like each other. That’s a legit beef. They don’t like each other one bit.

It’s funny because they got at each other so much that it would actually get kind of irritating, but whenever they were around each other, they were in each other’s face bickering, talking shit. They’re just bumpin’ their gums incessantly.

If they’re around each other, they need to be broken up. I mean, they can’t even be around each other without trying to fight each other. There was actually a point where I was like, “Dude, just strap on a pair of 18’s and go bang it out.”

So is the extra time off now that Rampage is filming A-Team just going to add fuel to the fire. Is Rashad just going to get more time to stew over this?
That’s an interesting question. I don’t know man because this show is going to pour all the gasoline all over this thing again. They’re gonna play ever situation that was ever on there, so by the end of the show, people are going to be amping those two up and they were ready to throw shots quick.

As we talked about earlier (when we set this interview up), you ‘re a former teammate of Canadian Jesse Palmer when you were with the Giants, and you told me how much you loved your time up here in Canada. We’ve got the Jason Werth tie in, so since we don’t have any Canadians on the show, this is a chance to become Canada’s contestant on Season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter.
Why should Canada back Matt Mitrione? Give us the sales pitch.
I would take more pride in being Canada’s adopted son for this show than I could even express. I’ll tell you why Canadians should root for me on this show:

When I was up there, I’ve never been shown hospitality like was shown to us when I was up there. Canadians are awesome. We were up there for Jesse Palmer’s golf event; it was a great experience for me. I’m a nobody in the NFL, another guy that went with me is a nobody in the NFL and Jesse was the only name and they treated us like royalty.

We got hammered, rowdy drunk for like three or four days, everybody was as drunk as we were, we ate some kind of French fries with cheese and gravy on it (note: it’s called poutine, people and it’s awesome!) which is probably how I got to 315 pounds, and it was just phenomenal.

I’ll tell you this: I’ve been to two UFC fights that GSP has fought in and I’ve never seen anyplace follow a fighter like Canada follows GSP. No matter where it is, how many Canadians are there? Canadians love their fighters and I would love to be their adoptive son.

I’ll even work on my Canadian accent/. I’ll start saying aboot and I’ll start playing hockey if that’s what it takes.

Well I appreciate you doing this. Any shoutouts and thanks before we wrap it up?

My nutrition company is EDEN and the website is www.whatsyoureden.com and every athlete can take us. If anybody is interested in sports nutrition, he’s what I’m going to do. You can call me. My cell phone number is 414.243.6640.

Parents, athletes, if you have a question about nutrition, if I can’t answer it, we’ve got somebody who can.

A huge thanks to the guys at Overtime MMA; they’ve really helped me out a lot in getting me ready for the show and since I’ve been home. Check out their website.

I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me too. Thanks for this.

No problem.


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London Calling: An Interview with "Hands of Stone" Sam Stout

I know what you’re thinking: man, all this guy does is interview Canadian fighters.

Well, not entirely, but we have this weird idea up here in the Great White North where we do our best to help our fellow Canadians succeed wherever we can. Crazy, right?

Sam Stout is no different; the minute I contacted the London, Ontario native, he accepted this invitation, opening the door to a cadre of questions about his upcoming fight with Phillipe Nover, a potential trilogy fight with Spencer Fisher and whether Tyson Griffin does in fact have a gigantic ass.

This is the K2 Interview Series... with Sam Stout.

Thanks for doing this.

How did London turn into a hotbed for MMA talent?

Shawn Tompkins was the one who kind of brought MMA into the city of London.

When I first started training with him, we were mostly doing just kickboxing, but then TKO out of Montreal started to take off and he saw it as an opportunity for us to get more fights and explore new venues.

He got myself and Mark Hominick and a couple of our other guys some mixed martial arts fights up there and the rest is history.

Who wins a fight between all the London boys?

Almost all of us are different weight classes, but we all have our good days and we all have our bad days where some days I come out on top, some days Mark comes out on top and some days Chris (Horodecki) comes out on top. Really though, we’re all just trying to make each other better.

Dana White recently announced that the UFC would be making a stop in Vancouver in 2010, while a trip to Toronto has yet to materialize. What do you think is holding up the legislation for bringing MMA to the biggest city in the country?

I think there are just a couple people who are not seeing the potential or have some kind of bias against mixed martial arts. I don’t think that will last much longer.

I think they’ll start seeing how much money these shows bring in, how much revenue they bring to the cities that hold these events and they won’t be able to keep it illegal much longer.

Overall, what do you think of the state of MMA in Canada right now and where do you see it going in the future?

It’s just going to keep growing. As time goes on, more and more people are getting into it.

I’m getting recognized more and more often by people; little old ladies know who I am sometimes and it’s pretty interesting to see how mainstream it’s become and I think it’s just going to keep growing the way it has been.

So you’ve got your eighth fight with the UFC coming up next week against TUF 8 alum Phillipe Nover.

First off, how has training camp been going and tell everybody where you spend your days getting ready to fight.

Camp has been going great. I started off at the Adrenaline Training Centre, my old gym, in London, Ontario. I was able to work with Nick Johnson who is a wrestling coach of mine at Xtreme Couture in Toronto and about six weeks ago I flew out to Las Vegas and am training at Xtreme Couture with Shawn Tompkins.

The guys out here are unbelievable; there’s myself, Gray Maynard, Tyson Griffin, Martin Kampmann, Mike Pyle, Frank Trigg and Vitor Belfort that are all getting ready for fights within three days of each other.

Everyone in the gym is in shape; everyone in the gym is really working hard and pushing each other. Training camp has been unbelievable.

I’ve also been working on my jiu jitsu with my jiu jitsu coach out here Keebo Robinson, so I’m really covering every aspect of the game and I’m really looking forward to this fight.

Did you watch the show at all and if so, what is your assessment of his skills in the cage?

Yeah, I watched the show and I watched all his fights on the show. I tracked down the DVD of it and watched them all again actually.

He’s tough competitor, you know, he comes to fight and I think I’m going to have an advantage when it comes to the experience factor; I’ve been in there quite a few more time than him and I’ve been under the bright lights more times and I think that’s going to help me out and I don’t really see any way he going to be able to stop me.

I think it’s a really good fight for me.

From his time on the show and his first fight at UFC 98, Nover appears to be a guy who likes to stand and trade. Is this going to be another Sam Stout stand-up war?

(Laughs) Yeah, don’t be surprised if you see that.

Going into the finale, many people were picking him to win it all and skyrocket to stardom, but so far the exact opposite has happened.

Has The Ultimate Fighter turned into a hype-machine more than a proving ground and opportunity for young fighters or are we just seeing how deep the talent pool is in MMA right now?

I think it’s a little of both, but I think the show is still a really good way of scouting new guys and getting guys some exposure. But I don’t think you can expect people to come out of that show and just start tearing through divisions.

I think Phillipe went on the show he only had six pro fights or something like that, so it’s really an experience thing too. You’re not going to come in and tear through the division with only six fights on your record because you need to still come into the UFC and start at the bottom, building your way up.

It’s still an important thing and a really big reason for why the sport is what it is today, so I don’t think the show is useless or anything like that, but you can’t expect too much of guys right off the bat.

You’ve gone the distance in each of your last four fights. Do you see this fight going the full 15 minutes or are we going to see a stoppage?

I would like to finish it early, but I would like to finish it early every time I fight.

The thing about me is, like I said, I’m pretty experienced; I know you can’t force a knockout, you can’t force a submission. You just have to go out there, fight your fight, stick to your gameplan and whatever happens happens.

You can’t look for the knockout if it just doesn’t happen, you know? I’d like to knockout every person that I fight, but that doesn’t always happen. There are some really tough tests in the UFC. If it happens, I’ll be ecstatic, but if it doesn’t, as long as I come out with the win, I’m happy.

You’ve never been knocked out in your career.

Knock on wood.

How do you pass medical exams with those iron plates fused to your jaw? Doesn’t that give you a distinct advantage over your opponents?

(Laughs) Yeah, I don’t know what that is, but my chin has definitely been a help in my career for sure. It’s just, I don’t know. I was born with an iron jaw I guess. I can’t explain it.

Before getting around to some more insightful and investigative journalism-type questions, let’s run through the Keyboard Kimura Questionnaire:

Favourite fighter?

It’s tough because there are so many good guys. It’s tough to argue with Anderson Silva, but I’m also a big Georges St-Pierre fan.

Best fight you’ve ever seen – live or otherwise?

One of the most exciting ones I’ve seen was, I really liked watching the Chuck Liddell – Wanderlei Silva fight a couple years ago. Great fight to watch, really exciting.

Most Underrated Fighter?

That’s tough to say. I don’t underestimate anybody, so I can’t really say.

Does the same apply to Most Overrated?

I think most of the guys who come in with just a lot of hype get exposed pretty quickly, so there isn’t a lot of underrated or overrated guys out there right now.

I do think somebody to watch out for is Vitor Belfort making his comeback against Rich Franklin. Don’t underestimate that guy.

I think this weekend is going to be an introduction to Vitor Belfort for a lot of people. For those who haven’t seen him in some time, it’ll be a chance to see him in top form again and for those who have never seen him fight before, it’s going to be a wake-up call.

D’you know who might be the most underrated right now? Gray Maynard.

That guy - I’ve been out there training with him, he’s a really close friend of mine – that guy’s a killer. He’s an unbelievable wrestler, he such a hard worker and he’s putting the rest of his game together, so he’s definitely somebody who not everybody knows about that everybody should be talking about.

So then we’ll put him as Best Prospect because that was the next one.

Alright.

If I wasn’t a fighter, I would be a ...

Well, I was going to school to be a paramedic before this, but I don’t know if that would have worked out, so I don’t know. Who knows, man? Maybe a porn star or something.

I’m sure I’m not the first person to ask you this and I will certainly not be the last, but do you think we could see Stout – Fisher III?

I would love to do it again. The way I see it, it has to happen eventually; we’ve got two fights, I won the first, he won the second, they’ve both been really close, really exciting fights.

I get asked about the rubber match at least once a week, so I welcome the chance to get in there and do it with him again, have it one more time and settle the score. I’ve got all the respect in the world for Spencer Fisher, but yeah, I definitely think we need to fight again.

He’s got a tough test ahead of him at UFC 104 against Joe Stevenson. Any early predictions?

You know what? I think that’s a bad matchup for Spencer, especially with Joe over at Greg Jackson’s camp. It really helped him put together a great gameplan for his fights now and going back to his roots.

Joe’s a great wrestler and Spencer has had a tough time with wrestlers in the past, so – Joe’s a really good friend of mine too – so, I’m gonna have to probably pick Joe on that one.

It might come as a surprise to some that you’re just 25-years-old, since we’ve seen you in the UFC for the last three years and change.

Do you feel like you’re just now entering your prime and poised to make a sustained run in the lightweight division?

Absolutely, yeah., I think it’s about time for me to start moving into that position. I think I still need to make some improvements, get a couple more wins on my record, so that’s what I’m thinking of doing right now. I’m taking it one step at a time.

Right now, the next step for me is to get this win against Phillipe and keep building on that, keep getting wins. This fight would put me at 4-4 in the UFC should I win it and I know I’m not going to get a title shot with a .500 record, but I look to keep piling up wins and get up there within the next two years.

Not to look passed Phillipe Nover or anything like that, but who do you want to get into the cage with moving forward? Who would be next if you could select your own opponent?

I’d really like to fight Spencer again to be honest with you.

It makes sense; you’re both in that big middle ground and the rubber match is needed.

Alright, a little more fun stuff.

First, let’s get your predictions for the UFC 103 card.

Franklin vs. Belfort?

Belfort; I think he’ll be too much for Rich. I think he’ll beat him to the punch the whole fight, be too quick for him.

Cro Cop vs. dos Santos?

I’m a huge Mirko Cro Cop fan. I’m really hoping for him that he’s going to pull this one out. I think his experience will help him get the win.

But dos Santos is dangerous; we’ve seen him get a couple big knockouts.

Kampmann vs. Daley? Obviously you’re going with the Xtreme Couture fighter?

Yeah, and the reason for that is I think Martin is going to be too tough for Daley. He’s a fantastic fighter and great kickboxer, but Martin is tough. I can tell you that firsthand.

Hard worker, he’s going to come into this fight in great shape; he’s been training for this fight for a long time, and Daley’s taking it on short notice. Don’t get me wrong, he’s going to have his hands full, but Martin’s going to come out with the win.

If wins this fight, is Kampmann next in line for GSP? It started as a #1 contender fight against Mike Swick...

I think that would have made more sense and really, this is only his third fight at 170, so really, I don’t think it would hurt him to get through this fight and maybe face Swick afterward for that #1 contender spot still.

And you know Georges St-Pierre is a beast and as tough as Martin is, I think anyone that’s going to fight him could use all the work that they can get in advance.

Koscheck vs. Trigg?

Yeah, Trigg’s been in the gym, he’s been working really hard and he’s a good enough wrestler that he can neutralize Koscheck’s wrestling. He’s a hard hitter and he’s a lefty, so he’s going to be tricky in terms of stand up. We’ve seen him get knocked out a few times, so I’m hoping Trigg can knock him out.

And also Tyson and Hermes? Was that the other one you were going to ask me about?

Yeah that’s the next one.

Yeah, that could be semi-main event. That’s going to be a fantastic fight. I think it’s the fight on the card that I’m looking forward to the most.

Tyson is a great friend and a long-time training partner of mine and Hermes Franca I think is a tailor-made Fight of the Night.

Obviously, I’m picking my boy Tyson; he looks great in the gym right now. He’s on fire and I’m looking forward to seeing him fight Hermes.

That’s the second vote for that fight as a potential Fight of the Night. I did an interview with Ryan Loco last week and he also pick that fight. He also mentioned that Tyson has a giant ass.

So as a good friend and training partner, I need confirmation for everyone out there as to whether Tyson Griffin has a gigantic ass.

(Laughs) He’s definitely got a big booty.

Your nickname of course is “Hands of Stone,” a moniker made famous, no offense, by Roberto Duran. If the two of you squared off in a battle for the name, who comes away with the win and the name?

I might shoot for the takedown in that one. If that ever happened, I might get another submission.

As much as “Hands of Stone” is a very apt nickname for you, your last name also presents some interesting options. Ever thought of changing it up and going by Sam “The Beerman” Stout? Think of the endorsement opportunities.

(Laughs) That’s my nickname in the off-season, after the fight.

Favorite beer? Let’s get you an endorsement deal here...

I’m not going to bite the hand that feeds me, so I’ll say Bud Light.

Alright, last two...

If you could fight anyone - past or present - who would it be and who would be the winner?

Hitler.

If you could play matchmaker for one day, regardless of organizational ties or anything like that, what three fights would you make and why?

I’d like to see Fedor and Lesnar, because obviously there is no bigger dispute in the heavyweight divisions about who is the best.

I’d like to see Georges take some time off and put on the weight to come up and fight Anderson Silva. I think that would be fantastic to see.

And I’d like to see Sam Stout – Spencer Fisher III.

The Brock – Fedor fight makes everybody’s list.

Well that’s the only one left that there is any dispute about, right?

Any shoutouts you need to give? We do reach a guaranteed audience of 47 people…

(Laughs) I want to thank Shawn Tompkins. I want to thank Keebo Robinson, my jiu jitsu coach, Rowan Cunningham, my jiu jitsu coach back home in Canada.

Nick Johnson, my wrestling coach and all my training partners at Xtreme Couture in Vegas, Xtreme Couture in Toronto and my home gym, the Adrenaline Training Centre that’s owned by me, Mark Hominick and Chris Horodecki.

Thanks again for doing this and good luck Wednesday.

Thank you.

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