Issue 079
September 2011
The 33-year-old bantamweight WEC and Pride veteran’s knocking on Dana White’s door for another UFC shot. With a 35-13-1 record and stories like these, ‘Big Frog’ deserves it
Through your 13-year career you’ve fought in the UFC, WEC and Pride. You’ve competed and cornered your fighters all over the world. Is there a crazy road story that sticks out in your mind?
“When I was fighting in Pride, guys would literally chase you down for your autograph. At first I didn’t know what they were doing. ‘Why are these guys running after me? Let’s pick it up.’ Eventually they caught up and they were just super-fans, they wanted everybody’s signature. Then one of the translators told me someone was asking if he could buy my fight shorts. I said, ‘No, I have to wear them for the fight.’ And they said, ‘No, he means your undershorts.’ I was like, ‘Er, no. I have to wear those too.’ The next day I woke up at the hotel and I went to open the door to go into the hallway and I noticed something was weird about the door. So I pulled it really hard and this guy fell into my room. He had been sleeping against the door. He was begging me to give him some shorts or anything. It was really weird.”
Your first fight is listed as happening in 1998. Was that really your first or were there unrecorded bouts before then?
“I had my first three fights all on the same day (November 1997). That was my first time stepping into a ring and fighting what was then called no holds barred. The 1998 fight with Henry Matamoros listed as my debut on Sherdog is considered my first pro fight. Around that point I’d actually had probably another 12 fights. We would do these challenges against other teams and have a handful of matches in one day. The rules were a little different but they were definitely no holds barred. Unofficially, I’ve had over 70 fights.”
Is there a part of you that misses the old days of MMA?
“Then it was for fun. [UFC lightweight] Bart Palaszewski and I were watching an old video the other day and he was like, ‘Man, remember when we used to just fight for fun?’ It’s still fun to me but back then I was always working toward a bigger goal and wanted to make it my career. Now I only have so much patience left.”
Is there any fight from your career so far that stands out as the toughest?
“In the early days I didn’t have a lot of challenges technically. It was always really tough guys where you had to get through one little storm and then you were home free. I remember the first time I got punched in the face by someone who really knew how to punch; it was in probably my fifth fight ever. We faced off and I was looking to take him down right away but he hit me so hard in the face it busted my lip, teeth and nose. I fell flat on my back and he came down and started pounding on me, and the next thing I knew I was in the bathroom and everyone’s telling me, ‘Good job.’ And I said, ‘What happened?’ They said, ‘Oh, you triangle choked him.’ Everyone was cheering for me in the men’s bathroom in this dirty old place and I thought I got knocked out. That was my first official win.”
After your most recent win in XFO in Illinois, your fourth win in five fights, you stated you wanted to rejoin the UFC or retire instead. Have there been any developments thus far?
“The dilemma is that the UFC has too many people under contract in my weight class. They’ve given me a little bit of a verbal that they want to try and fit me in, there’s just no saying when.”
How do you maintain your passion for the sport after such a long career?
“I think the biggest reason for my motivation is that I like change. I like things getting mixed up a little bit, and with the way the talent level is, the same fighter is different if you fight him a week later. There’s always new challenges. That’s the competitive side but on the other side I just have a life-long love for Gracie jiu-jitsu. Part of my biggest reason for fighting initially was to represent jiu-jitsu. I still have a desire to go out there and fight for respect.”
What’s the hardest part about the daily grind as a pro fighter and trainer?
“The hardest part is having more passion for the sport and more passion for my fighters than maybe some of them do themselves. I want the best for everybody and sometimes my expectations are a little higher than what some people are willing to put in.”
What are your plans after you finish fighting?
“My biggest goal is to build my team, both in MMA and jiu-jitsu. I want to compete in the jiu-jitsu world championships myself and accomplish certain things in the grappling world. I would like to have the number-one gym in the world one day, too. When we have a dozen guys in the big show people are going to start taking notice.”
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