Issue 186

December 2019

The now-retired former UFC heavyweight champ still doesn't pull his punches

Your roots in MMA go right back to the early days of the UFC. Can you tell us exactly how you got started in the sport?

I went to the first UFC in New Jersey with four of my friends. We actually got to the venue early. The security guards thought I was Gan McGee. Gan was fighting that night. I had a goatee and a shaved head. They said to me ‘Oh, you're here early. Go on in.’ I looked at my guys and said ‘Come on, let’s go. They think I am someone else!’ We got inside and realized that they thought I looked like Gan. 

So us four fans, who are so star struck, we walk into the arena four hours before the event and see Kevin Randleman in the cage warming up. Tito Ortiz was there. Ken Shamrock was there. The Miletich camp was there. We went around and took pictures and shook hands and stuff. 

We just hit it off with Pat. He saw how big I was and said how I should fight. I said, As a matter of fact, I do fight. I told him I had a hard time finding training partners and getting fights. I was fighting locally in Rhode Island and places like that. I would show up at fights – and that was when I was playing semi pro football – so I was 6’8”, 330lbs and juiced to the gills. Guys would look at me and say no way their guy was fighting me, at all. I would drive four hours to fight and the guy would see me and be like ‘Uh, no.’

So Pat gave me his phone number and invited me out to train. I ended up calling him. I went out in January of the next year and trained for a few weeks. He said I was pretty tough. I was big. You can’t teach six feet eight inches. He said to move to Iowa and see how it turns out. He said come on out. I went back to Maine and sold everything I own. I said goodbye to family and friends and headed to Iowa.

I didn’t think it was that tough of a decision at the time. I had a lot of positive role models like Marcus Davis who said that there was nothing for me here in Maine. I had done well on the East Coast. I had a regional title in Rhode Island. They said if I really want to see if I have what it takes then I should give it a try. If it doesn’t work out I could always come back to Maine. I had family and friends there. They said I would always have the opportunities here on the east coast, so I should take advantage of this bigger opportunity. 

I just got fortunate. I got with a great team and training camp. I got with a great manager. It all snowballed from there. I was very blessed and very fortunate and now Iowa is my home. I own a few houses here. I own a pretty big farm that I hunt on. I have my son, who is my world. Everything worked out.

You're not in the UFC Hall of Fame. Does that bother you?

To be clear, it’s not a true Hall of Fame. It’s a Hall of Dana White’s Fame. If you get along with Dana White and kiss his ass, if you are a ‘Yes, sir’ kind of fighter you will be in the Hall of Fame. 

Don’t get me wrong, I like Stephan Bonnar, he is a great guy but what the fuck is he doing in the Hall of Fame? Why? Because he and Forrest Griffin were B-level fighters when they fought and it looked awesome? Those two fighting was a glorified street brawl. I loved it. It was one of the best fights to watch. They went toe-to-toe and beat the hell out of each other on national TV and if it wasn’t for that fight the sport wouldn’t be as big as it is today. We are blessed to get that fight. Forrest became a world champion from it. I don’t know if he won that fight against Rampage but he got the nod. It is what it is. 

I don’t care about the UFC Hall of Fame. They smartened the hell up and finally put Pat in there. Shit, Jens Pulver deserves to be in it more than I do. Frank Shamrock deserves to be in it more than either of us do! I think the UFC Hall of Fame should be done the way the World MMA Awards are. It should be the fans voting and people like Fighters Only and companies that cover the sport and know the sport, that are not just going to play favorites.