Issue 148

December 2016

New York welterweight Ryan LaFlare won't let injury spoil the state's MMA rebirth.

UFC Welterweight,

Team: Long Island MMA/Blackzilians,

Record: 13-3-0.

Even though he’s injured, Ryan LaFlare is counting down the days to UFC 205 like everybody else in the New York MMA scene.

Speaking from his own gym – Long Island MMA in Farmingdale – LaFlare tells why it’s a great thing for fighters from his area and why he’ll be back to his best when he’s fit enough to fight again.

How excited are you that MMA is coming to New York?

It’s incredible. It finally legitimizes the sport and my profession as a whole and I am looking forward to my first ever fight in my hometown.

I’m bummed that I won’t be healthy and able to fight on this first card in the state, though. But I’ll be making some calls to get on the next one.

Have fighters like Matt Serra and Chris Weidman inspired a generation of New Yorkers?

It’s awesome. We are all from Long Island. I have known Al Iaquinta for eight years and we fought amateur together.

I went to college with Chris Weidman. You train and work with these guys for so long and you don’t realize how good everybody is compared to the rest of the world until you get the chance to prove it.

Now it’s like us guys from Long Island are tougher than we thought.

You are notorious for being a gym rat. Who do you enjoy training with?

I’ve always liked training. I do my striking at Long Island MMA and I’ve trained at Bellmore Kickboxing.

Costa Philippou and I have had some pretty crazy wars. We help each other get better.

His style is completely opposite to mine. When we spar we go at it. Sometimes he is hitting me really hard and other times I am taking him down and overwhelming him with my wrestling and crazy pace.

What’s been the most valuable fighting lesson you’ve learned?

The loss to Maia was great for me. Before that fight, I was high on myself. I thought I was unbeatable.

I went out to Brazil genuinely thinking you couldn’t and wouldn’t take me down. I was way overconfident. I never prepared properly for my fights and I got taught a valuable lesson that night.

It humbled me. And ultimately when I become world champion it will be in part thanks to that night I took a beating from Demian Maia.

How do you look back on that defeat now?

Listen, I lost to one of the best guys in the world, so there’s certainly no shame in that result.

He has an excellent ground game and was able to hold me down for long periods, but he’s a world-class grappler so you have to respect that. I also broke my hand punching him on top of the head and that really hampered my performance.

I’m not making excuses – the better guy won and he’s on his way to a title shot soon – but my hand blew up like a volleyball.

I couldn’t even get my glove off back in the locker room after the fight.

If you could choose anyone in any weight class, who would you fight?

There are people that I liked to watch fight and I would emulate them before I was in the UFC.

I would love to fight Georges St Pierre someday. Whoever is going to help me get that championship the fastest is who I want to fight.

Does it concern you that your finishes have dried up since you joined the UFC?

The main thing is that I’m in entertaining fights, like my last fight with Mike Pierce. I had that fight won on the scorecards, but in the closing minute or whatever I stood with him and we got into a gun fight for the fans.

That’s what it’s all about. Sure I’d like to get back in a run of finishes, but it’s not like I’m in fights that aren’t enjoyable. I’m fighting tough guys who are well rounded like myself and they’re good matchups.

I know the finishes will come again, but right now, as long as the fans are happy and I’m winning then I’m fine with that.

Which of your 12 wins are you most proud of?

I am very critical of myself. After every one of my fights I go back and watch it and see all of the things I could have done better. It sounds like I am full of myself but I constantly want to get better.

I actually believe I am losing every fight.

Remember, it’s a fight. You are getting hit for the duration. I remember all the times I was getting hit. I am trying my best to win and do everything I can do and it works out or it doesn’t. If it goes the distance I always feel like I lost.

My coach is like, ‘Man you won every round.’ ‘Oh, did I?’ I think the Court McGee fight gave me some notoriety. People started realizing who I was after that fight.

How did a snowboarding accident lead you to jiu-jitsu?

You don’t go skiing during wrestling season. I don’t know why I did it. Coach gave us a weekend off.

I went snowboarding and had a really bad accident. I ruptured my spleen. I cracked my ribs. I had a concussion, the whole nine yards. I was out of commission for almost nine months.

I didn’t even finish my semester at college.

I transferred colleges and started playing lacrosse and doing jiu-jitsu.

A lot of the guys on the wrestling team were messing around with jiu-jitsu at the time and it just stuck. I’ve been doing it ever since.