Issue 005

July 2005

Stephen Quadros ‘The Fight Professor’ answers your letters

Dear Stephen,

One of the guys at the gym just showed me Fighters Only. Whoa, it rocks! I am new to watching Mixed Martial Arts. My favourite fighters are Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture and Matt Hughes. I have seen the UFC about four times on Pay Per View and I love it. A friend of mine showed me a few Pride DVDs with you on them. Very impressive, Mr. Professor! Most of the top fighters in the UFC seem to be really cool and down to earth people. I know you never worked for the UFC but have you ever been around any of these guys or do you know any great behind the scenes stories about them? Thanks in advance.

Daniel Forrester, Toronto, Canada

Hi Daniel,

I was actually a judge for UFC 8 in February 1996 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. I was scheduled to be a judge for UFC 9 as well but I landed a guest-starring role on a TV show so I couldn’t make it. I do, in fact, know Chuck, Randy and Matt. They are excellent choices for your favourite fighters. These three guys are as good as it gets in the UFC! 

I first met Matt Hughes when he cornered Pat Miletich during Pat’s fight with Jose ‘Pele’ Landy in World Extreme Fighting in Rome, Georgia in January 2000. After Pele beat Miletich, Matt and the Brazilian developed a big rivalry that culminated in their grudge match in Kuwait in February 2001. I was there doing the play-by-play for the one time Middle Eastern tournament, which not only featured Matt and Pele but also Dave Menne, Carlos Newton, ‘Big’ John McCarthy as the referee and Bruce Buffer as the ring announcer. Dave Menne ended up winning the tournament. But after he did, there were attempts to intimidate Team Extreme — which included Miletich, manager Monte Cox, Menne and Matt Hughes — by another team who thought their competitor should have won. This resulted in Matt, Pat, Dave and Monte having to switch hotels. In early 2002, when I was editor of the Fightsport With Stephen Quadros magazine, I had Matt flown out for a photo shoot. One of the great photos that never made the story was one of Matt arm wrestling team-mate Robbie Lawler. Matt has always been a very low-key and personable guy. To me his second fight with Frank Trigg made him a legend.

I met Chuck Liddell for the first time in 1999 when I was doing commentary for a local MMA show that he fought here in Los Angeles. I interviewed him in the cage after his match. He and I joke about that now. His trainer John Hackleman used to fight for the gym I trained at, The Jet Center. Chuck also fought in Pride (he KO’d Guy Mezger in 2001) when I was still commentating for the company. Then in 2002, when I was working as fight technical advisor on ‘Cradle 2 The Grave’ (Warner Bros.), I hired Chuck, Randy and Tito Ortiz for this big cage fighting sequence in the movie. In addition to training hip-hop artist DMX for the film, I coordinated the fight between Chuck and Tito. Because they were both relatively new at screen fighting I had them do moves that they were familiar with, MMA type stuff —punch, kick, takedown, sprawl, reversals, etc. Of course, most of the fight ended up on the editing room floor because the scene was more about Jet Li and Tom Arnold walking through the crowd.

Chuck is a very humble guy with great abilities in MMA. I am glad he has finally become champion. He also loves heavy metal music! I originally met Randy when he cornered Dan Henderson for his Pride fights. It was an honour to meet ‘Captain America’ because I believe he represents athletes and champions with character and poise. To me Randy is a real life hero and one of the greatest UFC champions ever. Working alongside Chuck, Randy and Tito on ‘Cradle 2 The Grave’, before they all fought each other in the UFC, was very interesting. Watching Randy’s character call out Jet Li in the film was priceless. Sometimes when I see Randy we share a laugh about that.

Thanks for your letter, Daniel.

Hello Stephen,

A quick question, do you think strikers now dominate MMA?

Thanks.

Edgar Frost, Birmingham, England

Greetings Edgar,

Your question is very much to the point. I like that.

It is true that compared to the early days of MMA (1993) there are many more knockouts. In the beginning there were lots of submissions because most stand up fighters knew nothing about the ground. Now that everyone has exchanged knowledge to the point where everyone is basically aware of everything, it is a much more level playing field. 

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that strikers dominate the sport, though. There are still plenty of submissions. I don’t know any statistics, but that kind of analysis would be pointless in my opinion. And any top fighter who is perceived to be a ‘striker’, like say Wanderlei Silva, also has knowledge of wrestling and jiu-jitsu. Understand also that some promoters are ‘encouraging’ fighters to concentrate more on stand up because they perceive it to be more exciting. But I don’t entirely agree. I have not seen a boring ground fight from Kazushi Sakuraba or Genki Sudo yet. The ability to be exciting is something that a fighter either has or he doesn’t. The thing that dominates in MMA is a competitor imposing their will on their opposition, whether that is with striking or grappling.

Thanks for writing.

Hi Stephen,

How are ya mate? I’m loving the mag. It’s a lot better than some I have seen. I notice that the UFC and many organisations don’t have tournaments any more. I like tournaments, myself. What is your take on tournaments as opposed to regular, one-time matches?

Thanks.

Derrick Strand, Sheffield, England

Hi Derrick,

I like both tournaments and single fights. But I feel if the sport of MMA is going to truly become successful in mainstream culture worldwide it has to have a strong amount of tournament content. Even if the tournaments are spread out over days or a season, the sport needs to use this format to be considered equal to basketball, baseball, soccer and tennis. Besides aligning MMA with other successful sports that use the tournament structure, an added bonus is that if you don’t have a super charismatic personality in the tournament it doesn’t matter because the tournament itself captures the public’s imagination. But I also enjoy an occasional ‘super-fight’ with a good history and storyline.

Thanks, I appreciate your letter.

Thanks for all your enquiries.

Sincerely,

Stephen Quadros

‘The Fight Professor’