Fighters Only

Issue 111

February 2014

The former UFC heavyweight champion shares his long video games history with Fighters Only

Q. It’s well known you’re a big fan of video games, Josh. When did you start and what was your first console?

A. “My first console was an Atari 2600. Video games were a huge part of culture when I was growing up in the ‘80s.

“Unlike now where most people are so used to seeing video game consoles, when they came out in the ‘80s it was a new wave of entertainment. It was new to kids, but especially to parents because they didn’t have this sort of thing when they were young.

“Soon we had arcades and home consoles. Now the consoles have evolved so much that they’re even more powerful than the arcade machines were at the time, like when the Dreamcast came out.”

Q. Do you ever do a lot of online gaming or do you prefer playing by yourself or with friends?

A. “I haven’t done a ton of online gaming but I did do a lot of text-based multiplayer online role-playing game stuff a while back.

“I used to play this game called Gem Stone 3 a long time ago. I also played Counterstrike, Diablo and I played a lot of Desert Combat back in the day as well.”

Q. Not a lot of people know this, but a bunch of designers have used your likeness for video games. What’s that experience been like?

A. “I’ve been in a bunch of fighting games and professional wrestling games over in Japan, like all the Fire Pro Wrestling games and so on. I’ve also been in King of Colosseum II, a few of the early UFC games and a K-1 Dynamite game too. I’m also a character in Beautiful Katamari that can be rolled up.

“The character of Travis Touchdown from No More Heroes is based on me too. That game was created by Goichi Suda. The character looks like Johnny Knoxville, but everything about him is inspired by me from when I was fighting over in Pride.”

Q. You’re probably the only MMA fighter who can actually say that. How did that come about?

A. “A friend of mine brought it up because he knew Goichi Suda and I was pretty shocked when he told me about it. I really thought it was crazy.

“But then I looked it up and found a YouTube video of him talking all about it.

“One of my fighters, Shayna Baszler, actually had the game and was playing it. She was telling me that this guy starts as a low-grade assassin and then climbs up the ranks to become number one for no other reason.

“As you move along in the game you learn a bunch of moves which are basically suplexes and you can collect anime goods and toys to put all over your apartment. It was really cool to see.”