Issue 010
December 2005
A knockout from Stout and a retirement against Weir saw many begin to doubt his position as a top middleweight, and in this interview he reveals his plans to drop to welterweight, talks about his involvement with the upcoming Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) reality TV show (provisionally titled ‘House Rage’) and lets us in on the meaning of his tattoos. Sol’s next test will be at Cage Rage on December 3 against French fighter Xavier ‘Professor X’ Foupa-Pokam.
FO: How is the preparation going for the fight with Xavier Foupa-Pokam?
SG: The fight preparation is going fantastic. We’ve just opened the second gym of Zero Tolerance Fight Skool [featured in November’s issue of Fighters Only. Ed.] in Brighton, and it has created such a buzz. We’ve still got the original one but it is in Peacehaven and is a little out of the way. Now we’ve got the new one, we’ve had some really good people coming through the doors. There is a good freestyle wrestling coach and I’ve got a professional boxing coach who does all my pad work with me, so it is all slotting into place nicely. I’m lucky to have great sponsors, and I’d like to thank Xycom, Fight-Mentor nutrition and Rupert and Jamie Bannon at Lewis and Co.
FO: Do you know much about your opponent?
SG: Yeah, I was meant to fight him a couple of times before, and I fought his team-mate Jean-François Lenogue. He’s got good knees; he’s cool, but I don’t think he’s going to win this from me.
FO: You mentioned you’ve got the two gyms in Brighton, but you also make the regular journey to train with London Shoot.
SG: Yeah that’s right, I fight out of two camps. Obviously when I fight I represent my club, but London Shoot is where I do all my specific training. I work very closely with Alexis [Demetriades, one of the coaches at London Shoot. Ed.]. I’ve got all my team-mates there and they’re the best in the country.
FO: For the readers who aren’t aware of what London Shoot is, tell us the reason you travel from Brighton to London a couple of days a week to train there.
SG: The calibre there is the reason. I’m the king of the castle at my gym, I’ve got people who give me a hard time, but still… when I go to London its totally different. Now they’ve got two gyms together: one with the boxing ring and cage, the other with the wrestling mat. They’ve got top wrestlers training there, top Thai-boxers, and the top MMA fighters: Lee Murray, Alex Reid, James Zikic, Michael Johnson, Suley Mahmoud….
FO: What are your thoughts on the recent incident with Lee Murray?
SG: Its very unfortunate, but he’s proved how much of a survivor he is by coming back, and he’ll come back stronger. That guy has got the heart of a lion and he’ll take the middleweight division by storm. He’s back in the gym pushing his body and it’s responding well. He’s got top trainers and top surgeons working with him. He’s being well looked after and he’ll come back stronger than he was when he left.
FO: Cage Rage often features you quite high up on their cards. Are you happy that Cage Rage promotes you so much?
SG: Yeah! It’s nice to have the attention and it’s nice to have such a big organisation take a shine to you. As fighters we all try hard and want to be the best we can be, to get that kind of support from such a big promotion and the fans, it’s the best feeling in the world, almost as good as the pay cheque!
FO: What are your thoughts on the UK middleweight scene?
SG: It’s so good that I’m dropping down to welterweight!
FO: I was about to ask if this was your last fight at middleweight, as you recently announced your involvement with the new reality TV show ‘House Rage’.
SG: Yeah, I’ve always walked around at about 83kg. I’ve struggled to put the weight on sometimes. I always thought that as long as I was winning then I’d stay at middleweight, but after my last two fights with Curtis Stout and Mark Weir — well, with Mark Weir I actually put a load of weight on for that fight, I think that contributed to the way I felt that evening: I was sluggish and not fighting in my normal gear — I’ll be going into my fight with Xavier at around 82kg.
FO: So, what are you allowed to tell me about the ‘House Rage’ show?
SG: Well, 16 top welterweights are being put in a house to battle it out, with the winner getting a six-figure contract. I haven’t had anything in writing, but I’m assuming it’s going to go ahead. If it does, I’ll definitely be a part of it. All I know is what has been announced, that Paul Daley, Paul Jenkins, Ross Mason and myself are in.
There are so many good characters in the welterweight division that just watching the four of us banging it out will be value for money alone, let alone another 12 fighters! There are some really solid fighters in this country at the moment, but we’ve not had any international success with the welterweight division on a Pride or Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) level. Hopefully this show will let everyone know we’ve got a really stacked division over here.
FO: Now that you’re moving down to welterweight, how do you see yourself fitting into that category?
SG: Well I can’t just go in there and claim top of the tree. I regard guys like Paul Jenkins and Paul Daley as the top guys in that division. They’re both my mates, but when I step down we’ll have to settle it and see what happens. I’ll rank myself up there, but I’ve got to prove myself. Business is business. We’ll have to leave the friendship at the door, and when we pick each other up afterwards we can go have an orange juice in the bar.
FO: How old were you when you had your first tattoo?
SG: Oh god, I was about 13 or 14. I started off with my name, and then I got ‘Made in England’ on my back. Then, and I’m not afraid to say this, I got a Smurf of all things! I remember my old man asked me why I got it, and I turned around and said I didn’t know! He just winked at me — he found it so funny he let me off about it.
From there I’ve had little bits and pieces done, but everything I have done now I put a lot more thought into. The guy who works with me, Wurzel at Gunpoint, he helped make a lot of bad good! He covered up the Smurf and the ‘Made in England’, but he also connected a lot of things, made it work with the different pieces of my body. He helped make it flow.
My right hand side is dedicated to my family; I’ve got my son on that side, and I’m saving my chest for my next baby, who is three days overdue! You’ll be seeing another add-on there very soon!
The serpent on the right arm is because my son was born in the Chinese year of the snake, his birthday is on the back of my arm and his name, Ethan, is on my bicep. My right arm’s dedicated to him, and that’s going to be the one that knocks out Xavier!
