KOTB Interview with Ezekiel Puchowski

Fighter profile of Ezekiel Puchowski by

Hey Ezekiel, thanks for joining us between sessions at A Hero’s Journey here in Rio. Your manager runs that gym, if I’m not mistaken. How’s everything going over there?

AH! My pal Dr. Jones, I'm doing well and blessed to be here in Rio! As far as the gym goes it’s going swell! Getting new guys all the time. I'm actually the assistant manager for the gym so getting paid to be involved with what I love is awesome.

You’ve avenged your only career loss in your last bout, does it feel good to get that off your shoulders? Are things cool between you two now?

Definitely, especially with the circumstances surrounding the fight, which I won't bring up. Also, while I have you, I'd like to address an issue people have brought up about the fight. It was 100% not fixed. My manager took Thiagus under his wing when it seemed like the whole MMA world turned their back on him due to the scandal. Nobody wanted to work with him, managers or coaches. That being said, he came to our camp freshly off PEDs. You could clearly tell it impacted his stamina & physique heavily. Even the coaches put him through hell in hopes that the "Ex-steroid junkie" would leave. I gotta tell you, though, he’s got heart to have stuck it out. He’s part of the family at the gym now and I'm very happy to say that he’s a very close friend now.

Silva dropped down to MW after his defeat to you. You’re also one of the smaller men in the division right now, do you foresee any future moves down weight for yourself? Or do you enjoy the speed benefits as the lighter fighter?

Actually, yes, I was contemplating a weight class change. My issue is grappling with some of these big lugs. Some of these guys have so much of a weight advantage it wouldn't matter if I were an Olympic wrestler I still couldn't take them down. We'll see how the fight with Guy goes and then we'll talk.

What’s your assessment of the champ, Guy Mourtneant?

He seems like a classy, well spoken guy ... No pun intended *loud chuckle*

But seriously, he’s a terrific fighter. Its gonna be interesting because he uses his clinch offensively for dirty boxing and I use my clinch defensively in between combinations as sort of a break to regain full wind... But I doubt I’ll catch a break during this fight *hahahaha* I wish him the best of luck and let the better fighter win! *haha*

Thanks, Zeke, always great to hear from you. 

Article views: 112
» Donate to this author