Issue 085
February 2012
The 8-6 Oregon-born middleweight’s Team Quest roots have taken him onto M-1’s worldwide stage
You’re now fighting under the M-1 banner, how is that working out?
“I’ve been with M-1 for 18 months now, and everything is going great. They put on some great shows and there are plenty of good fighters too.”
You started out at Team Quest, but who are you training with these days?
“Right now I am training with Michael Bisping, Quinton Jackson and a bunch of others, the list goes on and on. But I am fighting out of HBUTC, that’s Huntington Beach Ultimate Training Center, in California.”
You came into MMA from a wrestling background, right?
“Actually, I never really got into wrestling, or any sports for that matter, when I was in high school or at college. I jumped in at Team Quest and started wrestling and fighting with those guys and learned the Team Quest way and then built my way up from there.”
You’re 22 now. What age were you when you started training?
“I walked into Team Quest aged 16 and haven’t looked back. I was just fascinated by the sport and I wanted to take part.”
So you’ve trained nothing but mixed martial arts from day one?
“That’s correct. I started kickboxing, wrestling, jiu-jitsu all around the same time, at Team Quest. But I guess the wrestling side of things was what has stuck best. I enjoyed all aspects of the sport, but the grappling side seems to be my strong point.”
Did you do any martial arts at all growing up?
“My father and my uncle trained kajukenbo, which is like a Hawaiian kempo, which is pretty crazy. You train eye gouging and hair pulling, all kinds of crazy s**t; whatever it takes to win a street fight. So I used to hang out with those guys and do a little bit when I was younger. But no other martial arts training back then at all.”
How did you end up studying down at Huntington Beach?
“I started training down here because Michael Bisping gave me a call and asked me to come down and train with him, as he prepared to face ‘Mayhem’ Miller in the TUF Finale. I was training with Quinton in Denver when he was preparing for the Jon Jones fight, and I had trained with him for both the Machida and Matt Hamill fights too. I guess ‘Rampage’ recommended me to Michael and when I got the call from him I jumped at the opportunity.”
So what does 2012 hold for you?
“Hopefully, a few wins again. I have big aspirations in this sport and I want to keep progressing as a fighter and, also, keep on winning. I’ve not enjoyed the kind of year I had hoped for in 2011 but I ended it with a win, on a high, and now I’ll move forward. I am training hard and, hopefully, that hard work will pay off in 2012.”
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