dirk5
11-01-2011, 15:33
former K-1 World Grand Prix finalist turned professional mixed martial artist, Dutch fighter Antoni Hardonk went 8-6 in a MMA career than began in 2001 - sharing the Octagon with notable opponents Frank Mir, Chieck Kongo and Pat Barry - before ‘retiring’ in 2010.
Fighters Only staff writer Simon Platt caught up with the original ‘Mr Wonderful’ as he took time out from a “super hectic” diary to talk of a potential comeback, the current heavyweight scene, and the new darling of internet forums - Alistair Overeem.
FO: Thanks for taking time to speak to Fighters Only. First off can you tell us what you have been up to since we last saw you inside the Octagon (Hardonk’s last fight was in October 2009 against Pat Barry at UFC104: Machida vs. Shogun)
The last year has been super hectic. Since my last fight I have been busy with my business partners to come together and find a location for the gym, (Hardonk is a partner and trainer at the Dynamix Martial Arts, Santa Monica, California), get the construction done and get everything arranged.
Then we started to teach, build the clientele, build the team and then I had some fighters coming over to train with me - I’ve just been super, super busy. Although it’s not like I’m officially retired, I still have some fights on contract with the UFC. So a year ago I took a break, I took a hiatus.
Right now I’m thinking about maybe I could do a few more fights but then I’ve just been so busy that so far I didn’t really have a chance. I guess that’s a good thing though, that’s a good luxury to have I guess?
FO: So is their a possibility we might see you back competing in 2011?
You know what, It was always on my mind to do a few more fights. I consider myself still young in MMA (Hardonk is 35 in February). I’m very fortunate in that I’m physically still healthy and I still feel that I’m developing myself. I still feel that I’m getting better.
FO: Is there a particular fight that appeals to you if you were to fight again?
No. I never look at the fighter or who I’m fighting. For me fighting is nothing personal. It’s more the journey. About getting myself ready, preparing myself the best I can and getting myself in a good physical (and) mental state. I don’t really look at other fighters or fights in that way.
FO: You mentioned your Dynamix gym earlier, what fighters have you been training with?
Right now I’m training with Jared Hamman (11-3 UFC light-heavyweight). I train with (30 fight veteran) Vladmir Matyushenko, then last year I was helping Stefan Struve (25-4) in the summer. He came by for a few months to prepare for his fight. (Struve scored back-to-back stoppages over Christian Moorecraft and Sean McCorkle in the latter half of 2011). I’ve also been working with Spencer Fisher (24-6 UFC lightweight) for a bit.
It’s fun to work with all these guys that are already good fighters and are already experienced and on a high-level. I really love to work with other fighters and I think I can add something to their fighting and help them to get the best out of themselves.
FO: Stefan Struve’s become something of a fan favourite recently, someone that goes out there and gives everything inside the cage. With the heavyweight division getting increasingly stacked in recent years, how far do you think he can go?
I think that Stefan is extremely talented. I do think though that he is still like a raw rock and he needs a lot of polishing. Everybody see’s that he’s tall (Struve is 6’11) with this reach, and on the ground he’s got those long arms and legs that he can use.
He’s strong, physically athletic, a tough guy who has the right mindset - the will and the mental toughness. But I think in fighting there’s so many subtleties and sometimes he makes things very complicated for himself. He manoeuvres himself in difficult positions and I think that there’s a lot that he can do to get way, way better than he is right now.
FO: The heavyweight division, more than any other, has a very high turnover of champions with no fighter every achieving three consecutive title defences.
Do you think current champion Velasquez is the man to change that? Or can you see dos Santos winning that fight? (The two are scheduled to fight sometime in 2011, a definitive date pending the champions recovery from a shoulder injury).
That’s a tough one. I don’t know who’s gonna win that fight but I do think that Velasquez is gonna be a very strong force in the coming years for a long time. He is extremely talented. He is a strong boy, very technical, very well-rounded and also it seems he is very self-aware and smart that way. So I do think he is gonna be a big champion and gonna be around for a long while.
FO: Was you surprised by his performance against Brock Lesnar (Velasquez (T)KO’d Lesnar to the surprise of many, though not all, in emphatic fashion at UFC 121).
No. Not at all. I wish I had put money on it! Everybody was thinking that Velasquez was too young and not ready for it yet, (the title shot), but I saw the weaknesses from Brock Lesnar’s side and I also assumed that Cain Velasquez was the man to show those weakness, show those holes in Lesnar’s game.
FO: Keeping on the subject of heavyweights, fellow Dutch fighter Alastair Overeem recently won the 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix and then finished Todd Duffee just weeks later in under 20 seconds at Dynamite!! 2010. How highly do you rate Overeem, and do you think we’ll ever see him clash heads with any of the UFC heavyweights?
I think that Alastair is a very strong competitor in both kickboxing and in MMA. I do think though that he is a little bit overrated right now because the last two years he hasn’t really fought any big names in MMA.
I’m aware of the whole controversy of what Dana White was saying (White questioned his ranking as a top ten heavyweight given the ‘quality‘ of past opponents, a familiar criticism frequently levelled at Fedor Emelianenko). But I think that Dana White has a point. FO: Lastly, on the subject of K-1, there is a strong Dutch contingent currently competing. How do you see the futures of both Peter Aerts and Gokhan Saki?
I’m a big fan of Peter Aerts. He’s a great fighter. He’s been around for so long it’s phenomenal. I’m a little bit worried though, you know? Fighting on that level for so long with Peter Aerts’ intensity! That’s not healthy! He’s not very old (Aerts turned 40 in October) and if you look at the numbers (102-28-1 kickboxing record) he can go a few more years.
But he has been fighting in so many tough fights, so many strong fights, so many champions for the last 20-25 years. I enjoy every fight that he is in and every performance. He always gives a great show and a hell of a fight but I think that he should start thinking about retiring in the next couple (of fights).
As for Saki he is a very good fighter. I really enjoy watching him fight. Actually years ago I was supposed to fight him but he got injured and pulled out and that fight never happened. But I think right now in the K-! circuit he is one of the most technical guys in there.
He’s dealing with people that are much taller, much bigger reach, much heavier and carrying much more mass but the way he moves is dealing with it very well and I really enjoy watching him.
Fighters Only staff writer Simon Platt caught up with the original ‘Mr Wonderful’ as he took time out from a “super hectic” diary to talk of a potential comeback, the current heavyweight scene, and the new darling of internet forums - Alistair Overeem.
FO: Thanks for taking time to speak to Fighters Only. First off can you tell us what you have been up to since we last saw you inside the Octagon (Hardonk’s last fight was in October 2009 against Pat Barry at UFC104: Machida vs. Shogun)
The last year has been super hectic. Since my last fight I have been busy with my business partners to come together and find a location for the gym, (Hardonk is a partner and trainer at the Dynamix Martial Arts, Santa Monica, California), get the construction done and get everything arranged.
Then we started to teach, build the clientele, build the team and then I had some fighters coming over to train with me - I’ve just been super, super busy. Although it’s not like I’m officially retired, I still have some fights on contract with the UFC. So a year ago I took a break, I took a hiatus.
Right now I’m thinking about maybe I could do a few more fights but then I’ve just been so busy that so far I didn’t really have a chance. I guess that’s a good thing though, that’s a good luxury to have I guess?
FO: So is their a possibility we might see you back competing in 2011?
You know what, It was always on my mind to do a few more fights. I consider myself still young in MMA (Hardonk is 35 in February). I’m very fortunate in that I’m physically still healthy and I still feel that I’m developing myself. I still feel that I’m getting better.
FO: Is there a particular fight that appeals to you if you were to fight again?
No. I never look at the fighter or who I’m fighting. For me fighting is nothing personal. It’s more the journey. About getting myself ready, preparing myself the best I can and getting myself in a good physical (and) mental state. I don’t really look at other fighters or fights in that way.
FO: You mentioned your Dynamix gym earlier, what fighters have you been training with?
Right now I’m training with Jared Hamman (11-3 UFC light-heavyweight). I train with (30 fight veteran) Vladmir Matyushenko, then last year I was helping Stefan Struve (25-4) in the summer. He came by for a few months to prepare for his fight. (Struve scored back-to-back stoppages over Christian Moorecraft and Sean McCorkle in the latter half of 2011). I’ve also been working with Spencer Fisher (24-6 UFC lightweight) for a bit.
It’s fun to work with all these guys that are already good fighters and are already experienced and on a high-level. I really love to work with other fighters and I think I can add something to their fighting and help them to get the best out of themselves.
FO: Stefan Struve’s become something of a fan favourite recently, someone that goes out there and gives everything inside the cage. With the heavyweight division getting increasingly stacked in recent years, how far do you think he can go?
I think that Stefan is extremely talented. I do think though that he is still like a raw rock and he needs a lot of polishing. Everybody see’s that he’s tall (Struve is 6’11) with this reach, and on the ground he’s got those long arms and legs that he can use.
He’s strong, physically athletic, a tough guy who has the right mindset - the will and the mental toughness. But I think in fighting there’s so many subtleties and sometimes he makes things very complicated for himself. He manoeuvres himself in difficult positions and I think that there’s a lot that he can do to get way, way better than he is right now.
FO: The heavyweight division, more than any other, has a very high turnover of champions with no fighter every achieving three consecutive title defences.
Do you think current champion Velasquez is the man to change that? Or can you see dos Santos winning that fight? (The two are scheduled to fight sometime in 2011, a definitive date pending the champions recovery from a shoulder injury).
That’s a tough one. I don’t know who’s gonna win that fight but I do think that Velasquez is gonna be a very strong force in the coming years for a long time. He is extremely talented. He is a strong boy, very technical, very well-rounded and also it seems he is very self-aware and smart that way. So I do think he is gonna be a big champion and gonna be around for a long while.
FO: Was you surprised by his performance against Brock Lesnar (Velasquez (T)KO’d Lesnar to the surprise of many, though not all, in emphatic fashion at UFC 121).
No. Not at all. I wish I had put money on it! Everybody was thinking that Velasquez was too young and not ready for it yet, (the title shot), but I saw the weaknesses from Brock Lesnar’s side and I also assumed that Cain Velasquez was the man to show those weakness, show those holes in Lesnar’s game.
FO: Keeping on the subject of heavyweights, fellow Dutch fighter Alastair Overeem recently won the 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix and then finished Todd Duffee just weeks later in under 20 seconds at Dynamite!! 2010. How highly do you rate Overeem, and do you think we’ll ever see him clash heads with any of the UFC heavyweights?
I think that Alastair is a very strong competitor in both kickboxing and in MMA. I do think though that he is a little bit overrated right now because the last two years he hasn’t really fought any big names in MMA.
I’m aware of the whole controversy of what Dana White was saying (White questioned his ranking as a top ten heavyweight given the ‘quality‘ of past opponents, a familiar criticism frequently levelled at Fedor Emelianenko). But I think that Dana White has a point. FO: Lastly, on the subject of K-1, there is a strong Dutch contingent currently competing. How do you see the futures of both Peter Aerts and Gokhan Saki?
I’m a big fan of Peter Aerts. He’s a great fighter. He’s been around for so long it’s phenomenal. I’m a little bit worried though, you know? Fighting on that level for so long with Peter Aerts’ intensity! That’s not healthy! He’s not very old (Aerts turned 40 in October) and if you look at the numbers (102-28-1 kickboxing record) he can go a few more years.
But he has been fighting in so many tough fights, so many strong fights, so many champions for the last 20-25 years. I enjoy every fight that he is in and every performance. He always gives a great show and a hell of a fight but I think that he should start thinking about retiring in the next couple (of fights).
As for Saki he is a very good fighter. I really enjoy watching him fight. Actually years ago I was supposed to fight him but he got injured and pulled out and that fight never happened. But I think right now in the K-! circuit he is one of the most technical guys in there.
He’s dealing with people that are much taller, much bigger reach, much heavier and carrying much more mass but the way he moves is dealing with it very well and I really enjoy watching him.