Midwest Fight Report » Interview

Exclusive: James Irvin Talks Pills, Curses, the UFC, and Getting Robbed by Ken Shamrock

ben — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 15:49:23 +0000

("When the first thing a doctor says to you is 'Can I get an autograph?' it's pretty easy to get any drugs you want." Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

By CagePotato contributor Jason Moles

Coming off a loss to Jorge Oliveira in December, James Irvin returned to action last weekend at Gladiator Challenge: Young Guns 4 — and he would have gotten his much-needed rebound victory, if it wasn't for the meddling of celebrity referee Ken Shamrock. (Seriously. You can't make this stuff up.) Freak occurrences have plagued Irvin's career from the beginning, and that night was no different. "The Sandman" recently gave us on opportunity to chat with him about his anti-climactic match against Mike Crisman, his battle with painkiller addiction, and his plan to make another run in the UFC.

CAGEPOTATO.COM: First and foremost, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to talk with us at CagePotato. Tell me a little about the physical toll your body has taken after fighting three times in the past four months.
JAMES IRVIN: It's been good for me. It's tough, but I've been doing this for ten years. In shape, out of shape, and back into shape again. Kinda like what Chris Leben said — it keeps me sharp. I fight again on February 20th and have two fights in March, one in May. I train best when it's intense and there's nothing more intense than training for a fight.

Speaking of fights, your last one ended after an inadvertent illegal knee to the head of your opponent. As a result, Ken Shamrock ruled the fight a No Contest. What really went down in the cage?
Honestly, three weeks ago Ken turned down a fight with me, so as soon as I saw that he was going to be the ref I had a bad feeling. He kept coming back to the locker room to give us his version of the rules like this was my first rodeo. As for Crisman, I beat the brakes off this fool. I KO'd the guy and walked away before Shamrock even got there, and two minutes later, he says I illegally kneed him and it's a no contest. It's cool. I don't have a scratch on me, and [Gladiator Challenge promoter] Tedd Williams says I can rematch Crisman in May.

Exclusive: Jake Shields Doesn’t Feel Like the Underdog Going Into UFC 129 Fight With GSP

ben — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 14:58:49 +0000

Jake Shields talks UFC 129 vs Georges St. Pierre - Watch more Funny Videos

By CagePotato contributor Brian J. D’Souza

The April 30th UFC event at the Rogers Centre in Toronto will play host to pound-for-pound king Georges St. Pierre, a French-Canadian superstar who helps move everything from action figures to videogames for his UFC bosses. Jake Shields hasn't quite reached that level of mainstream acclaim, but when he faces off with GSP at UFC 129, he'll be carrying a 15-fight win streak thanks to an arsenal of tools that could be the wildcard against an experienced champion who has yet to show any stylistic weaknesses nor signs of decline.

Catching up with Shields during a tour of Ontario, the friendly Cesar Gracie team member seems to effortlessly surmount a packed schedule of seminars, media appearances, interviews, photo shoots and autograph requests with a smile and his positive attitude. A former welterweight champion in Elite XC and middleweight champion in Strikeforce, Jake wants to add the most important belt to his collection — the UFC 170-pound title.

Shields won’t play into a war of words with St. Pierre in the grand tradition of B.J. Penn, Dan Hardy and Josh Koscheck. “He’s a great guy. I don’t know him that well, so I’d have no reason to suspect him as being fake,” Shields says.

As he once told FIGHT! magazine’s Danny Acosta, “When you’ve been in fights, fighting 10 people at once, people with knives and bats and guns and whatnot, it definitely takes fear away in the cage,” however, on this day, Shields shied away from elaborating too much on his tumultuous youth.

Bum Rush Nugget: Phil Baroni Represents ‘Real Fighters,’ Calls Out Minowaman for One More Battle

ben — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 20:23:34 +0000

(Forget money and fame – Phil was fighting back when the prize was a weird trophy and a semi-attractive Japanese chick. / Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

When we learned that the match between UFC veteran Phil Baroni and 23-year-old prospect Brad Tavares would indeed be aired before the UFC 125 pay-per-view broadcast this Saturday, it reminded me of our last chat with the New York Bad Ass on episode 11.1 of the Bum Rush Radio Show. Baroni has reached that point in his career where youngsters are trying to make their names off of him, and he has to beat them if he wants his own name to retain its value. I asked Phil if he felt like the last in a bygone generation of fighters, considering that so many of his rivals are no longer competing. And I thought his response was worth sharing again...

Bum Rush Nugget: Stephan Bonnar Explains Forrest Griffin’s Media Hostility

ben — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 21:42:47 +0000

(See, Forrest? You used to *love* microphones... / Photo courtesy of milwaukeemma.com)

When we hosted Stephan Bonnar on the latest edition of our Bum Rush Radio Show, we ran through the standard set of questions about his training for tomorrow night's fight against Igor Pokrajac, his opinions on TUF 12, and his future as a broadcaster. But considering Bonnar's long history with Forrest Griffin, we couldn't resist asking for his take on the question that's been plaguing us lately: "Why is Forrest such a dick to reporters?" Bonnar's candid and insightful answer is after the jump. If you haven't already, please give the new episode a listen, and subscribe on iTunes!

Bum Rush Nugget: Stephan Bonnar Explains Forrest Griffin’s Media Hostility

ben — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 21:42:47 +0000

(See, Forrest? You used to *love* microphones... / Photo courtesy of milwaukeemma.com)

Exclusive: The Cyborgs Discuss Their New Gym, Home Life, Future Opponents + More

ben — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 14:05:06 +0000

The Cyborg Family - Watch more Funny Videos

Cristiane "Cris Cyborg" Santos and Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos — aka The Most Violent Couple on Earth — have been hard at work at their new Chute Boxe Team Cyborg gym, which they operate out of Cleber Luciano's school in Huntington Beach. CagePotato West Coast correspondent Ruben Vera recently caught up with them to get an update on their lives inside and outside of the cage.

Neither fighter knows who their next opponent will be in Strikeforce, but they're both training hard just in case an offer comes along. In a perfect world, Evangelista would get rematches with Gegard Mousasi and Melvin Manhoef. Cris doesn't care who she fights because she doesn't have anything personal against anybody — even Erin Toughill, who keeps calling her out. ("Even a bird can talk," Cris says.) Though she would be happy to go up in weight in fight Erin's big ass, if it came to that.

As for their domestic life, Evangelista claims to do most of the cooking at home, and all of the cleaning. "Never clean!" Cris admits. In a fight between them, Cris would win because Evangelista would never hit a woman. On their iPods, Evangelista jams out to an audiobook of the Bible. Cris prefers "Waka Waka."

Exclusive Interview: Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller Calls Nick Diaz a Bitch, Discusses ‘Bully Beatdown’ and Brock Lesnar

ben — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 20:25:33 +0000

Ruben Vera catches up with Jason Mayhem Miller - Watch more Funny Videos

CagePotato's West Coast Correspondent Ruben Vera recently got some time with Strikeforce/DREAM star Jason Miller, and if there's one thing you should take away from this interview, it's that BULLY BEATDOWN RETURNS NOVEMBER 4TH!!! Okay, now that the shameless plug is out of the way, we can get down to business. Mayhem is rather upset that Nick Diaz has the gall to talk shit and throw water bottles at him backstage after Strikeforce events, but won't step up to fight him in front of a paying audience. He also runs down his DREAM.16 fight against Kazushi Sakuraba, his recent trip to Brazil, bringing MMA to a new audience with Bully Beatdown, and UFC 121's marquee matchups. Some highlights...

On Nick Diaz: "Man, this guy's a paper champion, get out of here with this. What the hell? So he beat up a 155-pound KJ Noons, and 'ohhh, you gotta come down to 170, bro.' Get out of here! Like, okay, what exactly does that mean? The only fight anyone wants to see is me and Nick Diaz. Outside of the UFC, that's the only fight that people are talking about, here in America. I'm sorry, that's how it is. You broke it off, you jumped me. You did it, you asked for it, you talked about, for years, guys with painted hair who bark at themselves. Who are you talking about? You didn't call out names. I'm calling out names! Nick Diaz is a bitch...he wants it, but he doesn't. 'Oh, come to my gym and fight me.' Come to your gym and fight you? Really? That's what you're saying now? Get out of here, man. Step in the cage and fight me, you know? It's ridiculous."

Exclusive Interview: Cain Velasquez Loves Fedor, Waxing, and Us

ben — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 16:30:25 +0000

Cain Velasquez talks to CagePotato.com - Watch more Funny Videos

Just a few days out from his UFC 121 heavyweight title fight against Brock Lesnar, #1 contender Cain Velasquez sat down with our man Ruben Vera to answer some tough questions. For instance, what exactly is Cain going to bring to the table that'll make him different than the other top heavyweights that Brock has already smashed? Velasquez also discusses the looming threat of Junior Dos Santos, the responsibility of being the new Latino standard-bearer in the UFC, and his appreciation of Fedor Emelianenko. Plus: UFC 121 picks, where Cain falls on the tweezers vs. waxing debate, and just like with Phil Baroni, Ruben somehow manages to get Cain Velasquez to say that "CagePotato is the best." Damn, bro...are you holding these guys' families hostage or something?

Exclusive Interview: Cain Velasquez Loves Fedor, Waxing, and Us

ben — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 16:30:25 +0000

Cain Velasquez talks to CagePotato.com - Watch more Funny Videos

Exclusive Interview: Phil Baroni, ‘Too Old for the Jersey Shore’

ben — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 14:26:57 +0000

Phil Baroni Sits down with Cagepotato.com - Watch more Funny Videos

With his fight against Brad Tavares booked for 1/1/11, Phil Baroni has two options in front of him — victory, or possible banishment from the UFC. Our friend Ruben Vera tracked down the New York Bad Ass at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, and grilled him on everything from his brawl-based gameplans to his cardio problems to his fondest MMA memories. Honestly, it's one of the most revealing interviews with Baroni that we've ever seen. Some highlights...

On his gameplan for Tavares: "You know me. I've been doing this for ten years, there's no surprises. I'm gonna do what I do best."

On his conditioning struggles: "It's genetic, dude. I've been training cardio for the last ten years, hard. It's genetic. You got a guy like Cain Velasquez who just don't get tired. He can just train all day. Even a guy like Koscheck...I don't think there's anything I'm not doing that other guys are doing. I have a lot better punching power than those guys. And I think I'm faster, I have more fast-twitch. I know I can beat them both in a race. But in a longer duration, those guys can keep going, and that's one of the things that separates us...It seems like a lot of the Mexican guys have real good cardio, throughout history and in the UFC. Diego Sanchez has great cardio, Cain Velasquez, a ton of guys. I don't know what it is, man, but I do the best with what I got."