The question everyone wants to know, what is the current state of the WFA?
- I don’t want to talk too much about the WFA right now. Not because it is in any kind of trouble or anything. In fact, I can tell you this, the WFA is not dead. Right now I am working with promoters and fighters to try and make something happen, but I don’t want to say anything about it right now.
Are you planning on fighting again?
- Right now I am more focused on training the fighters at my school. Of course if the opportunity was there and the money was right I would jump back in there. I feel as healthy as I ever have and have been training consistently, but I would need a few months at least to train for it.
Who do you currently train with?
- Right now I am training Marvin Eastman and Eric Pele among others. I have trained with Chuck Liddell for over 7 years so if he has a fight coming up expect that he’ll be down here training with me at some point.
What lesser-known fighter do you think we should be watching?
- Eric Pele is a tough fighter to look out for; he just won the KOTC heavyweight title. The thing with guys like Pele is that he is too heavy to fight in most of the other shows like UFC and others. So we are focusing on Pride and of course KOTC. Also, Marvin Eastman is coming off an unlucky loss to Vitor Belfort. It wasn’t Marvin’s night, and it was good for Vitor to come back that way, so there are no regrets, but Marvin is a top-level competitor and he will be back better than ever.
Does Pele have a title defense lined up?
- Not at the moment, but his next fight will most likely be in KOTC.
What is next for Marvin Eastman?
- Marvin’s next fight will be in the WFA, but nothing is finalized right now.
What is the most painful experience you’ve had to endure as of late in MMA?
- Well, as far as painful experiences, you fight and get hurt but I get hurt more in training than I ever have in a fight. The most disappointing thing for me to see as a fighter is how quickly the fans can forget you. Like when I guy like Chuck Liddell is out there beating everyone, and he takes a loss to Randy, then everyone starts saying he’s overrated or that he’s finished. Its not painful, but its disappointing.
You mentioned Chuck Liddell a couple times, were you directly involved with his training for the past Pride GP and his bout against Alistar?
- Definitely. Everything we planned for turned out. We expected him to be like some of the other Dutch fighters like Gilbert Yvel who I have worked with before. So we expected knees and we expected descent kickboxing. Everyone thinks Chuck has no ground game, but his BJJ skills are top notch. He definitely deserved to move up to Purple belt. Also, you saw him doing some takedowns; I think he was real comfortable in there. Chuck has an iron chin, just because you hit Chuck doesn’t mean anything. He took some shots like always, but he weathered the storm and finished in great form.
Do you have any specific plans for his upcoming fight against Quentin Jackson?
- Well, I know everyone reads these interviews and such so I’ll say this. I don’t think there is any area of Quentin’s game that is better than Chuck’s. It will definitely be an entertaining fight, and we will have to see what happens.
So is there anything special you plan on doing for Jackson?
- I know what Jackson’s strong points are, so does Chuck. We’ve seen his fights before, and we know what we’re going up against. That being said I think we will have a great game plan worked out for his next fight.
Thank you very much for answering these questions. I hope it was as fun as possible. I wish you well and I hope we can speak again in the future.
Jeremy Norrie
Jeremy@mma-fighter.com