Issue 180

July 2019

The veteran fighter on talking trash, taking a punch and being ready to mix it up with just about anyone.

Your most recent trip into the Bellator cage didn’t go quite as planned as you suffered a TKO loss at the hands of Fedor Emelianenko in the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix Semi Final at Bellator 208. We all talk about the aura Fedor has around him. I can imagine it’s an entirely different aura when he is winging punches about your head and face in a fight. What are your takeaways from the fight with Fedor and the experience as a whole?

I left there with a little bit of confidence. I got whipped. I am well aware of that. I still felt like there was some opportunity there. That’s the main thing I remember, just having some regret. If I could have just got to a few better positions. At one point I was in a good position and I got greedy and went for something else and gave it up. I only have regret. I never look back at anything and am happy with it, wins or losses. I feel like I am a pretty happy person but competitively I have found over time that I am a real pessimist.

I remember at the post-fight press conference you talking about the power of his punches. Some said that Fedor was past his prime but he looked as good as we have seen in him a long time. Would you agree?

Yeah, I agree. ‘Past his prime’ is always a fun one. I don’t even know what that means. What is ‘a prime’? I can tell you as far as the punches, specifically, that they were really fast. I knew going into that fight that he was fast but I did have one question. Is he fast or is he fast for a heavyweight? There is a big difference. I can tell you, he is just flat-out fast! When you talk about the punches, the speed is what hurts so bad. That is what kills. He was so powerful, oh my gosh. He hit me so hard! When I say speed, it makes the punch harder but it makes it harder to block. If it’s quicker it’s harder to block. There are ways to take a really hard punch as a professional fighter. You can roll with it. You can get your hand up there. It’s going to be hard and solid but you are going to be OK. His were so quick it was hard offensively and defensively.

At the time of your fight you mentioned that you might have laid a blueprint for Bader to beat Fedor, which is exactly what happened. It appears that you did just that. What are your thoughts on Bader taking the Grand Prix tournament and becoming a champ-champ?

Bader had a great run. He’s a very nice guy. Good for him. There was a little bit of jealously there, too. I will admit that. We all wanted to win it. The other side of the coin was, as a fan, I wanted to see more. The same thing would go for Bader and Mo. I was really looking forward to that match. You really wanted to see some exchanges. You really wanted to see some minutes. It just didn’t happen. Cejudo and Dillashaw would be a similar example some moments and some rounds there. I was watching the fight as a fan and not a competitor. As it was the finals I was watching as a fan and as a fan I was bummed. I wanted to see more.

You and Fedor had a really cool exchange where he gave you an outfit, which is a tradition in wrestling. You said you owed him one. Did you ever get him an outfit?

No. I will have a gift for Fedor the next time I see him.

Bellator has presented a number of opportunities for you to check some dream fights off the list with wins over Wanderlei Silva and Rampage Jackson, fights with Tito Ortiz and the aforementioned Fedor Emelianenko. Is that what gets the juices flowing at this point, to have super fights against fellow legends?

No, not for me. I just want to compete. I want to compete in any matches I can get, anywhere I can get them. If I had an opportunity to go grapple somewhere I would go grapple. If I could find somewhere to fight I would go fight. I fully concede with your observation that that’s with your observation that that’s how I have been matched up, with some guys that have been around with that name notoriety. I’m not looking for that. I’m just looking for a match. If I got called out by a younger, lesser-known guy he’s only going to have to say it once. If he wants that chance and sees some opportunity there, he is calling out the right guy because I will do it.

We know Bellator held the Heavyweight Grand Prix. Now we are seeing more and more tournaments in various weight divisions. Are you down to participate in future tournaments?

I really thought the grand prix was great. I am enjoying it playing out at 170. If they came back up to light heavyweight or somewhere where I can participate I would very much like it. I thought it was very fair. I know fair isn’t a part of life let alone our sport. That’s also why I liked it. Everyone gets a shake. There is no politics. Here we are. It’s a big risk for the promoter and it looks like the promotion has found a way to make it succeed. That’s a really long answer to your question but yes, man, I would never pass up a chance to be in a grand prix.

You may very well be the greatest trash talker, self-promoter and, as you say, truth talker in MMA history…

Fascinating that you say ‘may’. I have had a couple of other people use that same phrase lately, as though somewhere I got passed up. I would really like to know who these other guys are that you seem to think can hold a stick better. I will happily show up and go on stage with them but they will leave there looking like fools. They will be out of there quicker than Khabib was when Conor was walking in for their press conference and using excuses and everything else. I hear the word ‘may’ sometimes but I’m not really sure who else we are including in that. God bless them but I don’t know who it is.

That’s where I was going. Being the O.G., the kingpin, the writer of the trash-talking book, who do you see in today’s fight game that can hold a candle to you?

Well, we brought up Conor a minute ago. He has taken things in a totally different direction and that has been very, very fun. I will tell you who was underrated. I always enjoyed the hell out of Rampage’s work. I always found him to be extremely charismatic and funny. He always brought the right energy. He never let you down-whether it was before or after a fight. He was always an entertaining guy that I never really thought got his credit and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because he started getting thrown into A level movies, maybe people thought he got the pat on the back that he needs. I always thought he was always overlooked. Ben Askren is a great one. As far as self-promotion, you have to throw Colby Covington in there. It doesn’t matter if you think it’s great or cringeworthy. Self-promotion just means you are promoting… yourself. He has had to go out and hire people. He hires cameramen. Quite literally, he’s doing it himself. I think you have to look at some of those guys.

As far as the mic skills and the pro-wrestling-inspired promos, how often did you come across people in your career that just didn’t get it?

Oh, the majority of it. I always dealt with that. Whether it was fighters or fans, I remember the days when the promoters thought I was crazy. They never understood. I was the smartest guy in the room. It finally came to the point now that it’s mimicked and copied but yeah, I definitely went through that!

Were there certain people that you thought should be getting it that weren’t?

Kind of everybody. I thought everybody should get it. I remember when promoters didn’t even want to line me up for interviews because I was the crazy guy. They couldn’t trust me. I was nuts. There were things like that. I’m looking around like, guys, you have to be kidding me. Are you seeing all of the people that are here? This is a press conference. This is an open workout. Do you see how many people are here? 'Yeah, but they hate you.' Yeah, but do you see how many of them hate me? Let’s focus on the number. 'Oh, OK.' Eventually, they all started to come around.