Archive for the 'Interviews' Category

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Inoue and Sotiropoulos both begin and end their seminar with classic jiu-jitsu escapes. Among the simple and fundamental movements that every black belt masters, escapes are especially valuable to the beginners in attendance who often find themselves in bad positions.

Inoue remembers when he learned how important it is to win the battle for positional dominance, and how it led to one of the most controversial moments of his fighting career.

The first bout between Enson Inoue and Joe Estes took place twelve years ago in Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall, but Inoue laughs, “I remember it like it was last month.”

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The PRIDE & Shooto legend and the budding UFC & TUF6 star talk to Total-MMA about their different martial arts paths and fighting spirit they share

“We always say, we’re cut from the same cloth,” Enson Inoue says with a smile. The pioneering MMA legend is about to begin conducting a jiu-jitsu seminar with current UFC star George Sotiropoulos at Fisticuffs Gym in Vancouver, WA. The two are friends from the days when Sotiropoulos was cutting his teeth in Guam, fighting MMA at a show promoted by an old friend of Inoue.

“When I first met George, I looked at him,” Enson begins. “He was to fight this guy Sergio, this famous jiu-jitsu guy. And look at George, he doesn’t look like this mean dude. He looks like a nice guy, you know. I mean, he’s not a nice guy.”

“Hey! Come on now!” Sotiropoulos yells in a sarcastic protest.

Enson continues, mimicking George’s Australian accent: “‘Hey! I know you, Rites of Passages! Yeah!’ He wants to shake my hand… and I think, oh my God, this guy’s gonna get his ass kicked.”

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I’m worried about my Canadian friends. While Pete Sell and others are questioning Georges St. Pierre’s mental health, it’s his fans I’m concerned about. Everyone is whispering about his chin. He got knocked out by the lightly regarded Matt Serra. And the rematch has St. Pierre backers more than a little nervous.

Relax. Remember after the second Matt Hughes fight when everyone was confident that St. Pierre was a world beater, a modern Frank Shamrock who would grow into the sport’s best fighter? He’s not that guy anymore. He’s better. And his trainer says his chin is rock solid.

“Oh my God yeah. That shot that really hurt him hit him on the back of the head,” Greg Jackson said. “It never hit him on the chin. He’s spars at the Grant Brothers gym in Montreal with these World Champion boxers and they nail him. They nail him. He has a really good chin. He just got caught. Keith Jardine actually has a really good chin too. But he can get caught as well. Anybody can get caught if you’re hit in the right spot.”

The myth of the MMA Superman has been exposed many times. At the dawn of the decade both PRIDE and the UFC had fighters that were deemed too hard headed to be KO’ed. But Kazayuki Fujita was stopped by Wanderlei Silva. And Wesley “Cabbage” Correira has been stopped a number of times, most notably by Tank Abbott. The tiny 4 OZ gloves make it impossible for anyone to be an unstoppable Tyson-esque killing machine. They magnify the puncher’s chance significantly. So while it remains possible for Matt Serra, for anyone, to beat Georges St. Pierre, it isn’t very likely.

“What Georges did in that fight was, he bent down at the waist and got hit right behind the ear,” Jackson said. “And it knocked his equilibrium off and he never really recovered from it. Georges has a great chin and I’m sure Matt Serra’s going to hit him at some point and everybody will be able to see it.”

The St.Pierre that meets Serra for the second time will be a different fighter. He’s training full-time now at Jackson’s gym in New Mexico and it’s been the perfect fit for St. Pierre as a person and as a fighter. When he steps into the Octagon this time, he’ll be ready.

“I was there for the (first) Matt Serra fight and I could see that he wasn’t there mentally. He had partied too much and he wasn’t focussed,” Jackson said. “There’s a certain confidence that Georges has when he’s ready and he didn’t have it that night. He was nervous. But it wasn’t my place to say anything. I wasn’t the lead guy in the corner where the metal meets the meat. After that fight he wanted me to be the lead guy, so we’ve done Koscheck, Hughes, and now Serra again.”

The training at Jackson’s is perfect for St. Pierre. He was working with mostly Canadian training partners in the past, but as is common for big fish in small ponds, was having trouble finding people who could push him to the limit. Jackson will push St. Pierre. Physically and mentally. When he arrives in New Mexico, St. Pierre comes with a notebook full of philosophical and mathematical questions to discuss with Jackson. Then he’s ready to work.

“That’s where their teammates come in. Because they’re really competitive guys. Their teammates will really push them,” Jackson said. “Instead of sitting back on their laurels, a guy like Georges St. Pierre, comes down and they train and their teammates can really push them. Hold them down, tap them out, rock them with punches, or whatever it takes. The team is a real key element at that point, because you’re able to say ‘Your this great guy but so-and-so just whacked you in the head. You can’t have that happening and it’s because you’re doing this or that.’ I just try to keep them improving, keep them focussed on constantly getting better, constantly looking for a new challenge. Even if it’s outside the cage. Trying to keep them interested-that’s my job.”

Fighting in front of his home town fans, against an opponent who upset him and then sent minions to embarrass him in the media, should be plenty to keep St. Pierre interested. After a win we may see the young Canadian challenge Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva.

“Each fighter has an personal growth plan. We look at the holes in their game and that I try to bring up to the next level,” Jackson said. “If you want to , say, beat Anderson Silva, you’ve got to be able to strike with him or you’re not going to beat him. You have to at least be strong enough in every aspect to hang with the guys who are really good in that aspect. That way you can game plan around it. Otherwise, you’ll just be desperately looking for the one hole or opening and they’re able to capitalize on that desperation. Georges is just the epitome of that. He’s so good at everything that it makes my job easy.”

Bob Sapp is a born entertainer. He’s got an engaging personality and a great laugh. Combine that with his unusual physical size and you’ve got something, certainly enough for a career as a B-Movie villain. Sapp was going to give Hollywood a try. While in Hollywood, Sapp was within a signature of a WWE deal. They planned to bring him in and use him both as a pro wrestler and as wrestling’s representative in the world of MMA.

“K-1 was playing games, games that would consequently lead me to have one of the best years of my life and would save my career. Because I came over here and left K-1, got ready to sign with WWE, a huge contract with WWE, and they threatened to sue WWE. WWE backed out, thank God they did, because my partner was going to be Chris Benoit,” Sapp said. After a narrow escape from being partnered with a child murdering pro wrestler, Sapp’s persistent good luck led him further and further up the Hollywood food chain.

“I was supposed to be on the Anna Nicole Smith show, that’s why I first went out to California. It didn’t work out because she was sick and didn’t show up for the scene the next day. However, I caught the attention of one of the producers from the movie Elektra. I did Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel. That caught the producers from The Longest Yard. I’ve done 8 Hollywood movies so far and I just did Pros versus Joes,” Sapp said. “I’m 33 years old. Everything I’ve done, not only has it not required a job application, but every job I’ve touched has manged to make me well over six figures. Or in that six figure range. My first pro wrestling contract was like $120,000, you’ve got the fighting which is well over a $1 million, you’ve got all the movie work which is now adding up to be over $1 million. You’ve got the NFL in there too which is over a $1 million. It’s like ‘Bob, you’ve lived a huge and an incredible life.’ Everything I’ve done has been a kid’s dream job.”

Back in Japan, K-1 tried desperately to find the next Bob Sapp. Instead of looking for the most skilled and charismatic performers they could find, they tried instead to find another comical giant. Sapp considers the legion of giants and showmen to be acknowledgment of what he’s brought to the sport. The “giant” is back and it all started with Bob Sapp.
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The strong first year that saw Sapp thrash K-1 star Ernesto Hoost twice and almost beat Pride Champion Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera made Sapp a legitimate celebrity in Japan. Things got weird quickly. Soon he couldn’t even walk outside without an escort. “When I would walk down the street and everyone would start flipping over taxi cabs and going nuts,” Sapp said. “The police would ask me not to walk outside. It was nuts.” Japan had its share of gaijin stars in the pro wrestling and fighting industries, but none could compare to Sapp.

His life was pretty crazy. It’s amazing that he even had time to fight at all. He became a staple of the network Japanese morning and evening shows and was on the air every day, sometimes on multiple channels.

“I would eat breakfast early, go to sleep, wake up again at 8 AM. From there I’d go and do television shows from about 8 to 2 o’clock. From 2 to 4 I would eat lunch, from 6 to 9 I would have to do some more television shows and then some rest and go eat dinner. Then I’d have to do some commercials and television shows, some of the late night television shows. The next day I’d get up and go anywhere from a pro wrestling match or pro wrestling practice, then kickboxing practice, followed by MMA practice,” Sapp said. “A kickboxing or MMA match would be followed almost immediately by commercials or pro wrestling. Then the next day I’d have a full onslaught of television. It was hard. And that’s one of the reasons my records are going to stand. I don’t think you’ll find anyone who’s going to be able to work and do that much stuff. I did comedy shows and the only thing beating out my fights were my comedy shows. The entertainment I was providing was ridiculous. They had me doing absolutely everything and anything.”

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The training discussed in this article is a look at general Army training. I did not talk specifically with Tim Kennedy about his Special Forces training and we did not discuss his tour in Iraq. Opinions expressed are my own and not SSG Kennedy’s or the Army’s.

By Jonathan Snowden

For some fighters going to the resort town of Big Bear, California, for a few weeks before a fight helps toughen them up and get them focused. Army Staff Sgt. Tim Kennedy is not that brand of tough. Before the Army Combatives tournament in 2005, Kennedy wasn’t “roughing” it in cabin with his boys, he was completing one of the Army’s most difficult courses. SERE stands for Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape. One soldier I know who has been through Ranger and Airborne school and been in combat says it is the hardest thing he’s done in the Army. You start in the woods of Fort Bragg, on your own, with some of the Army’s top Special Forces soldiers trying to track you down. That’s the easy part.

When you are captured, and you will be, you are taken prisoner. Then they will break you however they can. Remember all of the atrocities at the Abu Gharib prison in Iraq? Forced nudity, stress positions, endless physical training, even water boarding? The Army does this to its own soldiers at SERE school to prepare them for the worse case scenario. So, one week before his fights in 2005, the Army tried to break Tim Kennedy. Despite this, he won the tournament. Tim Kennedy is that kind of tough.

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It’s a new day for Mario Sperry, the newest coach for the International Fight League.

The two time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Champion and 13 year veteran of MMA is busy creating not only a new competition team and school, but one in a new home, in a new country, and for a new organization. While plans for his Las Vegas school are being finalized, he’s imparting his wisdom to students at seminars across the US, like yesterday at Marcelo Alonso’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Seattle. The occassion marked Sperry’s fourth visit to the Emerald City to visit his old friend from the Carlson Gracie Team.

Pictured: Mario Sperry demonstrates an entry into an armlock at last night’s Seattle seminar

Working with MMA and BJJ champions like Rodrigo Nogueira and Ricardo Arona may seem like a world apart from conducting a seminar where he may be expected to help introduce the “gentle art” to a new student. But in conversation with Sperry, the two appear to have a surprising amount in common.

“I’ve always believed that jiu-jitsu is a very simple art,” the world champion begins, taking a break as the seminar breaks between its gi and no-gi instruction.
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By Jonathan Snowden

While promoters in MMA typically follow the pro wrestling model with a huge emphasis on promotional branding and over-the-top feuds, some of the sport’s biggest stars have quietly been studying their sister sport of boxing. In boxing, there is no brand that attracts an audience. The fighters are the stars and people pay to see Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad, not a “Don King Production.”

The role model for fighters everywhere looking to take control of their career, and their finances, is Oscar De La Hoya. De La Hoya used his own celebrity and drawing power to create his own company, Golden Boy Promotions. Now instead of a simple fight purse, Oscar gets a piece of the whole pie. He gets a cut from the PPV gross, the gate, the site fee the casino pays, the foreign broadcast rights, ringside advertising, closed circuit, everything. “You know, being a promoter now, it’s kind of like opening the door and finding out what really is inside the house, so to speak. You know, a fighter doesn’t know what’s going on when it comes to how to promote a fight and where the money comes from and now that I’ve been a promoter for four years, I’ve learned the insights of how this boxing world really works,” De La Hoya told doghouseboxing.com. “And one of the main reasons why I turned promoter is to educate the fighter and little by little, with my company, we can hopefully educate the fighters and the way they handle their careers.”

De La Hoya doesn’t have opponents, he has partners. Bernard Hopkins is now the president of Golden Boy East. Shane Mosley is president of fighter relations. These fighters are determined to take their name value and use it to make every penny possible in the waning years of their careers, while at the same time building a stable of younger World Champions to follow in their footsteps.

Frank Shamrock has been watching De La Hoya closely and is ready to make his own leap. After he completes his commitments to Strikeforce and EliteXC he will be ready to make the giant jump from fighter to promoter. The fight that he thinks is attractive enough to draw the money he needs to go it alone has been announced: Brother versus brother. Frank Shamrock versus Ken Shamrock.

“I think it’s going to be the event that opens MMA up to the mainstream world. And that’s brother versus brother. We’ve got a quarter and a year so far, when we’re going to do it and that’s first quarter of 09,” Frank said. “We’re talking to every major network and distributor and arena. We’re going to change the way that mixed martial arts is promoted and also the way that the talent are paid. Right now the companies own everything. They own the show, they own the fighters, they own the distribution, they own the product. They own everything. These guys go in as basically hired talent, so they go in and fight and walk away with whatever purse is negotiated.”
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