Issue 122
The former Shooto light heavyweight champion and one-time conqueror of Randy Couture reveals some of his secrets to success.
Q: What skills do you think a young fighter should possess if they’re truly serious about moving forward with a career in mixed martial arts?
A: Firstly, you need to have wrestling. The three most important components of mixed martial arts are kickboxing, wrestling and jiu-jitsu; and the most important one out of those three is wrestling.
I would have any young fighter taking wrestling practice as soon as possible.
Secondly, whenever you spar, try to abandon your power as much as you can. You should try and flow; use your technique instead of throwing wild shots.
Q: What should fighters look for in a potential MMA gym?
A: If I had a son and I was going to put him in an MMA gym, I would look at the instructor and I’d want to know a little background on what he’s studied. I’d also want a humble instructor; a guy that isn’t interested in trying to look macho or prove to his students how tough he is. I’d want a good role model.
Q: A lot of fighters have different ways of trying to relax before a bout, but what did you do to calm down?
A: I always had the fighting mentality that ‘today is the last day of my life.’ If I died in the ring I was ready for that and accepted it. So as far as cooling down was concerned, I found that it depended on who I was fighting. But if a fighter has a problem getting motivated then the thing that can really bring out their emotions is their ring music.
When I first fought I thought I needed more motivation so I came out to We Will Rock You by Queen. But then I realized that I didn’t really need anymore motivation: I needed to calm myself down. I’d go in there and try to kill my opponent, and I’d completely forget about technique.
I decided to go with something a little more calmer.
That’s why I went with a slower song at the end of my career. If you look at my fight with Big Nog, because of my mentality, the intensity of the situation and the fact that I thought it was my last fight, you’ll see me in the ring listening to music to calm myself down.
Funnily enough the song was F**k Her Gently by Tenacious D. It’s such a happy song that it lightened my mood.
Q: If you could give any young fighter advice regarding their career, what would it be?
A: As far as training is concerned, I’d say do a lot of sparring. You need to put in hundreds of hours of sparring. The second thing would be to try and not get too caught up in the sponsorship and money aspect of things. It takes away from the real reason as to why martial arts was created in the first place.
You’re supposed to be fighting for competition and your pride, not for a pay check and sponsorship. It’s easy for me to say that, though, because I fought for peanuts. I can’t say it wouldn’t have affect the way I fought if I’d been fighting for six-figure sums every time I got in the ring.
