Brad Doerges – Are you currently training for a fight?

Johnathan Ivey – Yes, in the end of December I’m hoping to defend my ECI (Extreme Combat International) Heavyweight title against Dan Severn.

Brad – Didn’t you fight Severn before?

Johnathan – I fought him before on real short notice and I lost a decision. I knocked him down in the second but on the judge’s scorecards he still won the second round. Kind of a bullshit decision. I would like to get a crack at him now.

Brad – With over 50 fights on your record you obviously love the sport, what got you into this sport.

Johnathan – Well I love it but it’s also the only thing I know. I was going to college to become a high school athletics coach. Then NHB just fell into my lap. I started out just power lifting and met a guy that was fighting in Hook N Shoot and he got me into it and 2 days later I was fighting. I fought my first fight with 2 days of training.

Brad – How did that fight go?

Johnathan – I won that fight in 44 seconds. I met the guy on a Wednesday he taught me guillotine choke and a key lock. I won the fight by guillotine choke. My arsenal has increased a bit since then.

Brad – I noticed that… you do a lot of leg locks, who taught you those?

Johnathan – I learned some of them from John Renken(Interview) he is a certified instructor under Erik Paulson and spent some time up with Jason Godschy up in Indianapolis. He kinda tightened me up with a lot of things. A own lot of it was on my I got together with Yves Edwards and kinda kept playing with them and now its something I can bank on. People always give me their legs… especially heavyweights.

Brad – How did you like training with Yves Edwards?

Johnathan – He is the real deal. I wouldn’t pick any over him at 155. He has had some tough breaks lately but he gave me the blue print on how to be a winner. When I first started I had no clue how to get ready to for fights. I remember back in 99 I was training to fight Jeremy Horn for the Hook N Shoot title and he is training with Matt Hughes and Pat Miletich and I’m training with Joe Schmoe the Redneck who watches UFC. It was really good to see how real athletes train for this sport.

Now I got my own team and I’m training with them and they are pushing me really hard so everything is going real well right now for me.
Brad – You have fought a pretty tough list of fighters; Jeremy Horn, Travis Fulton, Travis Wiuff, Jimmy Ambriz, Justin Eilers. What was your toughest fight?

Johnathan – Well the best I have ever fought was probably Jeremy Horn but without a doubt the guy that me like to fight the least was Justin Eilers. At the time I couldn’t take him down I had to stand with him and he made that fight miserable for me.

Brad – How did that fight with Horn go?

Johnathan – I had a rotator cuff injury that was aggravated during the fight so I couldn’t continue. When I fought him he was 230 and now he fights at 185 so he has gone down quite a bit.

Brad – From you YouTube videos I noticed that you do a lot of flashy moves in your fights and you roll into a lot of leg locks… are people surprised at your showmanship, speed and agility.

Johnathan – I think people like things that don’t look the same. A lot of fighters look like carbon copies of each other. Be different. (Kazushi) Sakuraba was different. Genki Sudo was different. A fight is a serious deal but it aint gotta be like life and death. You can have fun. I walk to the ring in disguise and take chances and give up positions to go for submissions. A lot of fighters are stalling out lately especially heavyweights… I would rather watch paint dry then to watch some of these guys fight.

Brad – Tell me about this new school you are training at in Tennessee.

Johnathan – SSF (Scientific Street Fighting) they opened a gym on college street. They got a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and a Muay Thai champion. It’s going great. SSF Gear has done so much for me right now. Opening a gym right in my backyard has really allowed me to see how far I can take my career in MMA. I’m really happy with Ron Dayley and everyone at SSF.

Brad – Are you teaching classes there?

Johnathan – Yeah I teach a MMA class and I also have been teaching privates. Everything is going great.

Brad – Any sponsors that you would like to thank?

Johnathan – Avant Labs www.avantlabs.com Bar 103 www.club103.org and SSF www.SSFgear.com