Because 7 opponents back out of fighting me in my first KOTC match. I don't try to play that up, though. Guys have backed out of about 2/3 of my fights.
I'm always training in standup. Everyone wants to standup with me. I figure with one year, if I can make a 50% increase in my standup, it's better than making a 2% increase in my ground. My standup is much better than it was but people don't know it because I don't do much of it in my fights.
My super-model girlfriend. I'm always with her. I scuba dive and go to the beach. I'm focused on my career and sport so I don't go out much. I don't go out to bars and stuff. Maybe that's kind of boring.
Pride:
Your opponent is known for his striking. What do you have to do to offset that?
I'm going to be aggressive but he's a counter fighter. I don't think he's just going to run in on me. Even if I get on bottom, it will be harder for him. I think he will circle and be patient, looking for the KO eventually. I'll be aggressive but smart aggressive, not foolish aggressive.
The PRIDE name is associated with more action. My styles is that if I can't win by submission or KO, I don't feel that I won. If I lose by decision, I don't feel that I lost. I know that there's an L and a W but I don't feel I lost. All of my victories have been by submission. I'd rather know that I put the work in and that I really won.
I think he was winning. It was a decent fight. Whether it was his mistake to keep the triangle locked or maybe he was just surprised that Jackson picked him up that high. When you're over someone's head, 9 feet off the ground, that's not good. He was inverted. Rampage went backwards and then slammed him straight on his head. I can see how he got knocked out. I think it was a good fight. It was a surprise ending and that's what makes the sport intertaining.
1 judge gave it to me so it wasn't like I completely lost. He's a tough fighter and a very neutralizing fighter. If you're a good striker, it's going to be tough to knock him out. If you're a really good jiu-jitsu guy, he's not going to beat you in jiu-jitsu but his arm positioning is really good and he knows what he's doing. He's got a nullifying style. I actually hit him with the hardest shots of the fight but he hit me with a lot of smaller shots. The big problem was this cut. What happened was 3 things. One, I lost a lot of blood, like a liter of blood. Two, it was in my eyes. I've never had blood in my eyes. It's like a greasy windshield. Three, he was trying to hit my cut. I could see that there was someone in front of me but I didn't know if he was 2 feet away or 4 feet away. One time I kicked but I fell on my butt. It looked like I was pulling guard but I wouldn't do that. I just couldn't see. It was really strange. One time I threw a punch and I fell. I had blood all over my body, slipping on my blood and I couldn't see. I threw a front push kick and I fell. It's like when you're walking down stairs at night and you think there's an extra stair but there's not and you stumble. Really, it was a very good fight. 4 rounds. I can say objectively that if you take away the blood factor and how it looked, I wasn't hurt at all. I didn't have any bruises on my face. I actually feel I won 3 of the 4 rounds. That's just my opinion, though. I got the L and he got the W. He's a good fighter and it was a tough fight worth 10 fights of experience.
