Going Full Circle With Ivan Salaverry, Part One
Posted by Tommy Hackett on July 18th, 2009
The classy veteran recalls the Pacific Northwest’s MMA glory days, and what is still to come
Pictured: Ivan Salaverry, left, guides his students in a boxing class
Ivan Salaverry, Seattle’s own classy veteran of UFC, Shooto, and K-1 competition, is holding court at his South Lake Union academy.
The ex US Marine sounds every bit the part as he barks out instruction, yet he’s still never far from a joke or a smile either. No surprise there; this is the man whose image is mainly etched in MMA fans’ minds for his cart wheeling and blowing kisses to the crowd after recording big wins in UFC, Shooto, and K-1. These were also familiar scenes from the “glory days” of Pacific Northwest MMA from the late 90’s to early 2000’s, when Salaverry and many other fighters based out of the region were at or near the top of the MMA world.
With his competition days over, Salaverry is now preparing his own students for MMA and grappling. His grappling students are in fact days away from submission wrestling competition at Liberty Events’ Revolution tournament in Bonney Lake, WA; where they will compete as a part of a unified team which will include students of Salavarry’s former instructor Marcelo Alonso. While better known for his days at AMC Pankration, Salaverry smiles when he recalls his earlier training:
“I have always wrestled,” he offers when asked about his earliest exposure to the martial arts. “High school, the Marine Corps. I did a bit of judo, but mainly I started training (Brazilian jiu-jitsu) with Glen Barber back in the day. Brian Johnson started there too. But I wasn’t really getting the training I wanted. Marcelo Alonso was the only true legitimate (BJJ) black belt in the Northwest, so I went to him. It was wonderful. Marcelo is a great guy and I had a great time there.”
“I was attracted to the Latin style,” Salaverry smiles, recalling his own Chilean heritage. “And the history behind him; he was part of that champion’s factory from Carlson Gracie (in Brazil): Ricardo Liborio, Murilo Bustamante, Allan Goes, and on and on. Many champions came from Carlson Gracie and influenced us, even now in the MMA world; and he taught ‘em! He’s an encyclopedia, an arsenal of technique.”
Pictured: Ivan Salaverry (left) cracks a smile as he attends to Jimmy, an assistant instructor, before a grappling class
Eventually Alonso granted Salaverry permission to leave and train at AMC, which at the time boasted a “Who’s Who” of Northwest MMA talent.
“He allowed me to go to AMC. From there I had a whole new crew that I worked with, and a much more violent situation! Walking in, having Josh Barnett, Dennis Hallman, Jeff Monson, Banji Radach, Aaron Riley… it was an incredible feeling walking into AMC in those times. You were nervous to walk in. A lot of studs, man. But it made me who I am. Day in, day out, getting tortured by Josh and rolling with guys like Monson. It was an amazing experience and I was lucky to see them days.”
Bouts in the US and Japan would soon follow, and Salaverry even eventually found himself on primetime television for the main event of the UFC’s first Ultimate Fight Night in 2005.
“The northwest kicked in some serious talent,” Salaverry recalls. “Randy Couture vs. Maurice Smith. Mo is older than dirt — been around forever! He had his crew that we cross trained with also. He had a lot of influence coming in from Japan and Brazil. He had that Kyokushin guys coming in from Brazil: Francisco Filho, Glaube Feitosa. Then he would have guys come in from Japan: that was the first time I met Akira Shoji – I love that guy; he’s a good friend of mine. The first time I saw Caol Uno and the Inoue brothers was with them. In the Northwest there were a lot of fighters, and there was a community of fighters that would come all over the world to see us. It was really cool.”
Salaverry’s final bout came last year. By then the Pacific Northwest wasn’t quite the hotbed it once was, as camps like AMC and Couture’s Team Quest split up and many of the top talent moved on to other regions. But he’s hopeful for the future, and describes the success of both amatuer MMA and events like Revolution as helping plant the seeds for the region’s future success. He’s particularly high on Revolution founder Jeff Bourgeois, whose approach differs greatly from some of the tournaments that Salaverry remembers competing in. Salaverry feels better organization will be critical to getting the Pacific Northwest back on the MMA map.
“Back in the day, they’d throw a mat on the floor, and a couple of guys would go at it,” Salaverry recalls. “The ref would be looking at chicks in the crowd instead of the match, and no one’s counting points. It was ridiculous.”
“Jeff came to me, Eric Dahlberg, and James Foster,” he continues. “He requested from us what would make a better tournament, and he made it happen. He’s got one of the classiest tournaments in the Northwest: jiu-jitsu, submission wrestling, kid’s divisions. Referees and timekeepers trained. People are getting to have their talent shown! People are watching and seeing, ‘Ah, this guy could be an elite grappler.’ That’s what you want to see; the next Josh Barnett, the next Dennis Hallman. All the talent, that was there in the early 2000’s, to come through.”
July 18th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Great stuff, Tommy.
July 19th, 2009 at 1:37 am
Great article, Tommy. I’m looking forward to part two!
July 19th, 2009 at 4:37 am
Nice interview. Salaverry seems a cool guy. I look forward to the next part!
July 19th, 2009 at 10:36 am
Tommy,
Really great content. Ivan is a class act. Looking so 4ward to the rest. i was gonna feature him as well, but I’m gonna need to wait for this to run it’s course. Much respect my friend.
Brett
July 19th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Thanks for reading all, and I really appreciate the kind words as well! I’ll definitely look forward to your feature on Ivan, Brett.
Part two will be up tomorrow. Hope you enjoy it.
July 23rd, 2009 at 1:59 am
I think that should be James Foster - not Greg Foster. Greg Foster was a shitty NBA player.
July 23rd, 2009 at 11:51 am
Oh man! Corrected. Thanks Clint! That is hilarious that this was up for about a week before anyone noticed. My apologies to Foster BJJ!! Argh!!