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 Question #1 Welcome to GAMMA Sambo, nice to have you here. Early in your career you was tooted as being a massive prospect at Infinity, holding onto the title there, but things started to go wrong when you tried out on the ITFL tourney.
Your previous manager ended up releasing you. How do you think Yamashita Craven has revived your career?
Hey there, Mentor. First of all it's great to be here at GAMMA! I've always aspired to fight with this org. and I can't believe I've made it this far in my career. I really think it was my Infinity days that got me off to such a good start, which is how I've been lucky enough to get where I am today. During my time at ITFL I just wasn't able to pull things out in my favor. I was still young then and training my skills. Luckily for me, my current manager still had faith in me as a free agent. He signed me to his own org. in Hilo, and set me up with some fights. I had been trainingand managed to win every fight. I'm so thankful for the opportunities I've gotten!
Question #2 You made a permanent move up to 170lbs and it seems to have paid off. Do you think your relative lack of size is giving you an advantage?
Well Mentor, I think that depends on how you look at it. My greatest strength has always been fighting on the ground. By bulking up earlier in my career, I was forced into fighting a lot of taller fighters. Generally 170 fighters are taller than 155 fighters. This of course makes things easier for me in the ground game, giving me better leverage - but makes me an easier target on my feet, as my reach isn't as good as taller fighters. I have considered cutting back down to 155 but it hasn't happened yet, I'm on a roll right now at 170!
Question #3 You have always been a submission specialist, but in your last 4 fights (including the one in GAMMA) you finished off 3 of them via submission. Should we expect more of the same?
That's a good question. Lately I've been working on my striking in the gym, so that I can be more versatile in the ring. Of course BJJ is still my specialty, but it should be known that I have been working on my striking lately. I can hold my own on my feet!
Question #4 In your first fight you beat Orkan Dogu late in your fight. Was it your strategy to drag the fight to take advantage in some way?
Actually looking back at it, that would have been a great idea - Orkan is 10 pounds heavier than I am so naturally he would have run out of steam faster than me. I actually feel silly now, that I didn't think of that. But no, at the time, my strategy was just to keep my distance and counter. I was expecting the fight to come down to decision, and so I really just wanted to be as efficent as possible in order to have a chance after the third round. Of course, I made it a point to try to take Orkan down, as BJJ is both my strong point and his weak point. So no, it was not a part of my specific strategy to drag the fight out - I just found an opening before the fights end and I took it!
Question #5 In your upcoming fight you have a challenge of Scott Page. Where do you think you have an advantage?
That's a tough question. The matchup between me and Scott is a pretty interesting one. We're the same age and essentially, of the same skill levels in BJJ, MT, Boxing etc. - What makes me nervous about Scott is his versatility. He seems to be a ground fighter mainly, but has won 3 fights by KO as well. Scott also looks like a tough target to KO or sub, losing most of his fights by decision. I think the most obvious advantage I have is my BJJ, although his is good as well. He is a black belt after all. Another factor that could lead to a victory for me, is my experience. I've already fought 24 MMA fights in my career, while Scott has only fought 19. I really think that will be the deciding factor.
Thanks for having me Mentor - like I said, I'm very excited to be here and I can't wait for my fight next weekend! Good luck to Scott, he's going to need it!
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