Issue 177

April 2019

The Californian fighter on chaos in the ring and at home, plus the toughest training regime of all

Interview: Tony Reid

You’ve said your biggest test to date was the recent fight with Ricky Bandejas. What was your mindset going in there?

I see all of my fights playing out the same way. I stay calm, cool and collected yet putting out a high pace. Calm, cool and collected to me is what others call chaos. You will see a lot of high pace chaos but that is where I focus the most. 

How do you stay calm in the midst of that chaos? 

Drilling with T.J. Dillashaw. Just the quality reps with Duane Ludwig and T.J. Dillashaw and the rest of my training camp. Tiki Ghosn as my management. All of my coaches, they all put me in different realms. I go from a slow pace, a controlled pace to a chaotic environment. So we are able to make adjustments throughout any time and type of fight.

You said your fight with Bandejas would be East Coast versus West Coast. Are we starting an East Coast versus West Coast beef in MMA?

I think the East Coast guy is always going to want to shut down the West Coast guy, especially in his hometown. I know that’s how it was when I was at Purdue. Any time I wrestled anyone from the East Coast they were like, “This is a California kid. I am going to beat his ass.’ Alright. I would go in there and smash the guy. It’s always fun. It brings that different type of feel and environment. I love it. 

There were five brothers and one sister in your house. What was that like growing up?

There was this long hallway we had in our house. We used to get on our knees and play football with a tennis ball. We would run down and tackle each other. My poor mom would walk in the house after work, there would be so many holes in the drywall in the hallway from our heads going through it. Once someone’s head went through the wall then we would start beating each other up because we got mad. Then we would try to work together and figure out a way to hide the hole. Obviously, being a kid you think you can hide the hole but little do you realize that mom will find it when she gets home. The football game ended when someone’s head went through the wall and then the wrestling and fighting started. 

You won many titles in King of the Cage. Now at Bellator you made a name at 145 and now you’ve dropped to 135. Do you have multiple weight class title aspirations in Bellator?

In King of the Cage I was trying to win a title for every brother I had. I wanted to be the brother that did the most. Absolutely, I readjusted my goals after the loss and I have come up with new aspirations and career goals. I see it every morning in my window, to be a multiple division champion in every promotion I fight for. If Bellator becomes my permanent home, I hope that when I retire I hold multiple titles in multiple weight classes for them.

You made a recent post after training with Duane ‘Bang’ Ludwig that said “Hours with Bang to perfect being a martial artist.” Can you elaborate on that comment?

Growing up wrestling I was always around coaches that wrestled. Getting into MMA I kind of did the same thing, working with Joe Stevenson, Cub Swanson, Joe Benavidez, T.J., these guys have guided me a lot through my career in what to do and what not to do. Along with Joe Herrera and Bang Ludwig, pioneers of the sport, being in your corner and overseeing things, they really know what the true meaning of being a martial artist is. Knowing your lineage. Knowing why you bow before you go onto a mat. Knowing why you clap your hands and say “Oss”, it means to push and endure. All of these things have a meaning. When you’ve spent hours with a coach and they educate you more and more about what martial arts is, it’s hard to disrespect the sport. It becomes your lifestyle. 

  My kids are watching me leave the house every day and they ask where I am going. To come home and have answers for them on what it means to be a martial artist, I get to explain that. Spending the hours with Coach Ludwig to become a true martial artist, that’s what it means. It’s like a warrior going out in the mountains to try and find themselves and find the true warrior way. That’s what we do with our coaches and training partners. We find the true warrior way and the true history of being a martial artist. 

What is the best gym story you can share with us from your time with the group of killers you train with?

I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t mind me sharing this but it’s when I got T.J. Dillashaw out here doing my strength and conditioning with me and with Sam Calavitta. I told T.J. it was going to be like nothing he has done before. He said it couldn’t be that bad. We had a similar coach in J.D. Hawkins who was an animal lifting. T.J. said he had dome some of J.D.’s lifts and said it wouldn’t be that bad. I was like ’OK. I’m just letting you know that you might be throwing up a few times.’ (Laughs) We finished with a core workout to warm up and he is over there hurling, calling for dinosaurs. Throughout the whole workout he threw up four or five times, first starting out with Coach Cal. It was cool. It put me at ease because I have never thrown up working with Coach Cal. I dry heaved but I don’t consider that throwing up. As long as I am not blowing chunks that’s not throwing up to me. 

  We have all been through the garage now. Even Mark Munoz says that it is a different level in the garage. I have known Coach Cal since I was born. He and my dad were good friends since high school. He has taken over my MMA training and it’s just been awesome to see our growth as a team.