Issue 172

November 2018

The undefeated Bellator welterweight opens up about world title ambitions and his MMA baptism by fire.

Although it’s still very early in your career what fight from your undefeated start stands out most to you?

I was most happy with the Matt Secor fight. I got to show my stand-up. I got to throw my leg kicks. I was on the ground with a black belt.

He was good. He wasn’t just a straight jiu-jitsu guy. He has given a lot of guys a lot of problems on the ground. I was able to cut him up. I just dominated him and beat him up on the ground the whole time. He never had a second to do anything.

I was proud of that performance, the way I competed, the way I took risks. I was happy with that one.

You want to be a world champion by 27. What is it about the age of 27?

I got into this sport when I was 23. You have to set some goals for yourself, something to stick to.

For me, that’s what it was. It was sticking to 27. That gave me three or four years to get there. I felt like that was a good number. I felt like, at 27, I would be where I need to be in my career, skill-wise.

I’m right there. I’m 25 years old. That gives me about another five fights over the next two years to climb the ladder and position myself for a title fight.

Speaking of the Bellator welterweight title, there is a highly anticipated tournament kicking off to crown the champion. Are you interested in how this plays out?

Of course. They are all competitors. They are all the best guys in the world at 170. This is the best of the best. It’s exciting to watch and see what they are doing.

My biggest question is how long is this tournament going to take? Rory [MacDonald] is going to fight for the 185 pound title. He sat out for a while after the Lima fight, which was a brutal fight.

I’m wondering how long this tournament will take to complete. It’s not going to happen overnight. It’s going to take a while. We will get to learn a lot from watching and seeing where these guys are at. I will see where guys are good at and where guys can be exposed.

You have said that you are more concerned with getting better in your downtime between fights than the fights themselves. Can you speak to the point of focusing on getting better day to day?

The biggest thing I learned in wrestling is that it’s all about the small improvements. In wrestling it’s about getting better in the summer. When you are in high school and college you have your three or four months of downtime in the off season. That’s when you saw a lot of guys improve. If you take advantage of that time you are going to grow your skills.

With fighting it’s the same way. You take your little downtime and take your two or three weeks and live a normal life for a little bit and then go back and improve small technical details.

I have seen a huge growth in the last 16 months since I moved to Florida. It’s night and day from when I first went in there. I’m excited to see what the next 12 months, 24 months, what I can improve on and the small details where I can become more comfortable and that can really help me in the long run.

Coming from your decorated wrestling background to working with such a high-level striker and coach in Henri Hooft has made significant improvements in your skill set.

How great is it to be under his tutelage?

Even today it was light sparring and I am going in there with some of the best strikers in the world. We have kickboxers come in from all over the world and we work with these guys. We get to stand up with some of the best kickboxers in the world. Some of the best strikers in MMA are in that gym.

For me, it’s a huge confidence boost because I have been in there with the best of the best. When you’re tired and not feeling great but you learn to continue to move and keep your hands up and get comfortable. You start to pick up some things on one guy that you can do.

Then it’s the next guy. All of a sudden you are doing great things against kickboxers. That was a big learning curve to pick those things up, growing my confidence and being comfortable.

You continue to give back to the wrestling community and continue to inspire kids there. Simply put, who inspires you?

The biggest inspiration I had to first get into MMA was Georges St. Pierre. I loved watching him. I had that same style. I was in the gym and messing around in eighth grade and my freshman year in high school. With Brock Lesnar being a hometown guy I got to spend time with him and high-level guys. I sparred with Tony Ferguson when I was a senior in high school.

Georges is one of those guys who game planned and I feel like my style emulates him as far as passing on the ground, the way he sets up a takedown and things like that. I really like watching him. He is a good human being from what I’ve seen. He had one of the most successful careers ever and now he is doing his own thing. Then you have Robbie (Lawler) in my day-to-day life, one of the greatest welterweights of all time, who I get to spend a lot of time with.

You spoke of mixing it up in the fight game in high school. You had three amateur fights in high school. What are your takeaways from those early days?

I had my first fight when I was 16 years old. There was no commission. I was out working and I got a call and they said I could fight if I could be there at 7 and weigh in. I was 16 and I fought a 25-year-old Marine with BJJ training.

It was three, three minute rounds. I was out there throwing superman punches and spinning back kicks. I got caught in an arm bar and I had to pick him up and slam him.

I won by unanimous decision. I learned a lot. My second fight I just took the guy down and knocked him out. My third fight was against another BJJ guy. He hit me with a knee that woke me up. He caught me in an ankle lock and I fought out of it. It was about staying calm. I went the distance in those two fights and it taught me a lot. I have been fighting for a while. I have experience. I’m used to being here. This is nothing new.

You are close to Brock Lesnar. He is a very private and sometimes misunderstood person. Is there a story you can share to enlighten us as to who the real Brock Lesnar is?

People don’t know the real Brock. He is a small-town guy who ended up making it big with his looks and tactics and everything else.

People don’t realize, this is a guy, when I was with him, he didn’t like to be noticed. One time we were driving back from a training session. This younger girl was pulled off alongside the road. She had a flat tire. We fixed it and she said ‘Aren’t you…’ and he’s like, ‘Nope, nope. Take care. Have a nice day.’

He goes home and likes to watch the Hunting Channel. He is very relaxed. It’s when people come out and say he’s arrogant and a cheat, he really doesn’t care. He has a few select friends and family. That’s his small, core group, He doesn’t really care what anyone else thinks.

Deep down Brock is a great guy. He has done a lot for our community of Webster. He has donated and given a lot back to the community. He’s a good guy but good guys don’t sell tickets.