Issue 035
March 2008
The medieval city of Avignon doesn’t have much of a presence in the world of mixed martial arts. Located in the south of France, it’s best known for its wine, weather and women. Furthermore, with MMA competitions banned throughout the Western European republic, few would expect Avignon to be the type of place to produce a world-class fighter, yet somehow, it has.
His name is Samy Schiavo (10-4-0) and he has just obtained what many see as the holy grail of mixed martial arts contracts, namely a four-fight deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). While younger men would celebrate for days, the 32-year-old lightweight, a true veteran of the sport, sees it as just another step forward in a career that’s spanned over eight years.
“I’m 32 years old and I’ve had a lot of different experiences,” says Schiavo. “I fought in the first cage fighting event in Europe, back when it was old school MMA, I fought in Japan. I’ve also had so many bad experiences, I tore both my knees, I broke my hands, I’ve had neck injuries and dislocated shoulders. At the end of the day I’m happy to be in the UFC, and it’s very important to me, but it’s only another step in my life.”
Schiavo emerged onto the mixed martial arts scene in 2000, but it wasn’t until 2004 that he began to gain real recognition in the UK, following a TKO victory over Paul Sutherland (10-6-1) at Cage Rage 5. Unfortunately his success was short lived. Three back-to-back losses followed, in what was one of the most difficult periods in Schiavo’s career.
“A lot of fans think we fighters are superheroes,” says Schiavo. “We live in a cage, don’t eat, don’t have girlfriends or personal problems, but we do. Some of those losses came from personal problems, some came from bad gameplans, but I never surrendered. After my last loss in Japan I decided to change. I analysed with humility why I lost.”
What followed was a six-fight winning streak, all first round stoppages. It was more than enough to grab the attention of the world’s top MMA promotion, who’s scouts were busy scouring all four corners of the Old Continent for tomorrow’s stars.
Schiavo is rumoured to be making his debut against one of the promotions top lightweights, the always-entertaining Clay Guida. While some MMA insiders are predicting him to lose even without knowing his prospective opponent, Schiavo brushes it off as anti-French talk. “French fighters don’t have it easy,” says Schiavo. “We don’t have many big-name managers or teams, so we cant choose our opponents. A lot of promoters use French fighters when they have to pull someone off a card, or they bring them in to lose.”
So if he had a choice, who would be the French MMA veterans dream opponent? “Mickey Mouse!” jokes Schiavo. “And a $1 million contract for it! No, seriously, I don’t care, just put another fighter in front of me, and I’ll beat him.”
